Where Was The Truman Show Actually Filmed?

In the 1990s, Jim Carrey was one of the biggest stars in the world. From 1994's "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" and on, it was blockbuster after blockbuster. The now 60-year-old actor dazzled audiences alongside Cameron Diaz in "The Mask," then went to "Dumb and Dumber," "Batman: Forever," "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls," "The Cable Guy," and "Liar Liar" over the span of four years (via IMDb).

1998's "The Truman Show" was something slightly different from Carrey's recent roles of the era, as although it was certainly comedic, there was an element of dark drama and seriousness that Carrey brought to his character of Truman Burbank. In a way, it became one of his first dramatic roles, but certainly not his last.

"The Truman Show" follows Carrey's Truman through his daily life as an insurance salesman in Seahaven Island, a dream community that feels a little too good to be true. As Truman starts to become suspicious of people's behavior and odd happenings around him, he slowly discovers that his life as he knows it is fabricated.

The film was beloved by audiences and critics, and many have wondered where the cast and crew actually shot "The Truman Show" given that Seahaven seems like it has to be a manufactured set. Here's what we know about where "The Truman Show" was actually filmed.

"The Truman Show" used the small city of Seaside, Florida as a stand-in for the fictional Seahaven Island in the movie. In reality, Seaside isn't an island, although it is certainly a well-crafted beach town with perfect white picket fences and manicured homes (via Fodor's Travel). The community was built back in the 1980s and designed to be an ideal place for a family to settle down. Clearly, the location scouts for the movie were onto something with this place.

Seaside is also not far from Panama City Beach, which served as another spot for shooting (via Republic World). It isn't clear exactly which scenes were shot in either place, although it's likely that nearly all of the scenes in and around the town of Seahaven Island outside were shot in Seaside. Either way, the use of these Florida locations certainly gave the feeling to audiences and critics that these places were too good to be true, therefore supporting the plot of the film.

Although nothing is confirmed as of yet, Jim Carrey told Collider in a 2020 interview that he would be behind bringing a version of "The Truman Show" to modern television, as he believes it is more relevant than ever, given that he believes everyone "has their own little Truman Show world" in the age of social media. In the meantime, though, fans will have to settle for booking a vacation to Seaside.