Los Angeles’ Union Station, a frequented COVID-19 testing site, will shut down on Dec. 1 for the filming purposes of “He’s All That,” Variety has confirmed.
On Monday night, homeless outreach and advocacy organization Ktown for All tweeted a screenshot of an email from Curative — the company that runs the testing site — canceling an appointment for testing due to “an event.”
“We apologize for the inconvenience and delayed notification but L.A. Union Station Kiosk site has had to cancel all appointments for Dec. 1 due to an event being held at this location,” the e-mail reads, noting that patients can use their appointment confirmations for any date and time in the future.
In the middle of a horrible and terrifying COVID spike, LA just cancelled all of its Dec 1 appointments at Union Station (one of the only transit-accessible facilities) with less than 24hrs notice because of A FILM SHOOT!! @MayorOfLA @metrolosangeles @lapublichealth WTF???!!??? pic.twitter.com/zwR36TH4G4
— Ktown for All ?❤ (@KtownforAll) December 1, 2020
A representative for Ktown for All told Variety that they were first alerted of the situation by one of their volunteers, who was scheduled to get tested tomorrow.
“While we are taken aback that one of the few centrally-located and transit-accessible testing facilities in the entire city would be shut down with less than 24 hours notice, in the midst of a deadly pandemic surge, I cannot say we are too surprised,” the Ktown for All representative said.
Representatives for L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, Curative and Union Station did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.
“He’s All That” is a gender-swapped remake of 1999’s “She’s All That,” and stars TikToker Addison Rae as the popular girl in school who seeks to makeover her socially awkward classmate, played by Tanner Buchanan. It is being directed by Mark Waters and produced by Miramax.
FilmLA confirmed that the film has been granted a permit to use the location, adding that the shoot involves exterior establishing shots and interior dialogue as well as a cast and crew of around 170 people. FilmLA said that they were not aware that the location was being used as a COVID-19 testing site.
Miramax declined Variety‘s request for comment. However, a source close to the film tells Variety that the production company had no knowledge that Union Station was a testing site and was not involved in the decision to film there. The source added that since learning of the disruption, production has asked that the testing company resumes its services on Dec. 1, though they maintain that filming was not going to take place near the testing kiosks.
L.A. County reported 5,150 new COVID-19 cases on Monday after establishing its second stay-at-home order, which was announced on Friday. Officials have warned that should the number of cases continue to rise, a stricter order will be put into place.
