VisitBritain and a Star-Studded Cast Are Inspiring People to ‘Visit the Real Star of the Show’

What do Tom Cruise (as Ethan Hunt in Mission Impossible), Zendaya (as MJ in the Spider Man movies), Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant (in Notting Hill), Paddington, and Daniel Radcliffe (as Harry Potter) have in common? Each is connected to movies filmed in the UK. These actors and more are typically considered the stars, but […]

Feb 5, 2025 - 23:24

VisitBritain and a Star-Studded Cast Are Inspiring People to ‘Visit the Real Star of the Show’

What do Tom Cruise (as Ethan Hunt in Mission Impossible), Zendaya (as MJ in the Spider Man movies), Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant (in Notting Hill), Paddington, and Daniel Radcliffe (as Harry Potter) have in common? Each is connected to movies filmed in the UK. These actors and more are typically considered the stars, but a new video from VisitBritain called “Starring GREAT Britain” shows that the country is more than just a backdrop — it’s the “real star of the show.”

Launched in January, the video is part of an initiative to draw travelers to the UK who love movies and shows that feature real-world places in the country. It incorporates footage of tourists visiting iconic landmarks with clips from some of the biggest cinema filmed in the UK in the last couple of decades (and the star power associated with that cinema). Essentially, Britain is one expansive film set where the line between the real world and the on-screen world are blurred.

According to VisitBritain, more than 90 percent of potential visitors to the UK want to go to a filming location on their trip. It aligns with the trend of “set jetting” (traveling to see film locations) in a big way. Hollywood isn’t the only place people are traveling to immerse in movies and shows, after all.

The project was led on the creative side by Tom Hooper, the filmmaker behind Academy Award winner The King’s Speech. A wide range of partners were involved, including major studios (like Disney, Netflix, Paramount, Sony, Universal, and Warner Bros) and the tourism boards of VisitEngland, VisitScotland, Visit Wales, and London & Partners.

The short video is a very British, tongue-in-cheek take on some of the cinema Americans love most. It’s reminiscent of how iconic magazine editor Tina Brown (New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Daily Beast) described the differences between New York and London — “Tansatlantica,” as she puts it — in a recent newsletter: America has earnestness and organization, but lacks a proper British sense of irony. (“Shoot, not him again,” a bird watcher says as Tom Cruise parachutes through the frame. “Bloody Tom Cruise. He gets everywhere.”) Here, the humorous British approach to set jetting very much works as an inspiration engine for film lovers to hop on a plane to the UK.