The Netherlands loves Hollywood movies — but did you know the love is mutual? As it turns out, Hollywood loves the Netherlands (or, well, mostly Amsterdam) just as much.
Here’s a list of seven times that the beautiful lowlands have starred in Hollywood movies alongside famous actors we all know and love. ⭐️
1. Ocean’s Twelve (2004)
Wait, so you’re telling us George Clooney, Matt Damon AND Brad Pitt were in Amsterdam at the same time?! And we missed it? Well, yes, it was in 2004, but still. 😳
In Ocean’s Twelve, a group of criminals goes to Europe to stage a heist to avoid problems with the U.S. authorities.
While in the Netherlands, they, of course, can’t resist a stop at an authentic Amsterdam coffeeshop. The scene below was filmed at De Dampkring, one of the most famous coffeeshops in the Dutch capital.
Besides this, the film crew also shot scenes at the central station in Haarlem, the KattenKabinet, the Hotel Pulitzer, and the city hall of The Hague, keeping them in the Netherlands for a total of three weeks.
2. The Fault in our Stars (2014)
Based on the best-selling book by John Greene, The Fault in Our Stars was an instant success — especially among those of us who were angsty teenage girls at the time of its release. 👀
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TFIOS was famously filmed at many different Amsterdam locations — including the Rijksmuseum, the Anne Frank House, and tram number 4 🚋 — after its main characters travel to the city to meet a fictional Dutch author.
The most famous of these Amsterdam filming locations (for some reason) is a bench located at the intersection where Herengracht and Leidsegracht meet.
After the film was released, the original bench mysteriously disappeared — but, luckily, it has since been replaced. 🤨
3. Spider-Man Far from Home (2019)
Now, this is a tricky one because Spider-Man Far from Home’s “Dutch” scenes were actually filmed in Prague, in an unknown courtyard that was made to look like a Dutch countryside town square — Broek op Langedijk, to be exact.
This means Tom Holland didn’t actually have a chance to explore his namesake. 😔
Despite getting the location wrong, the makers of Spider-Man got many things right about Dutch culture: such as their excellent English skills, their passion for football, their friendliness, and the fact that they say leuk a lot (the producers must have read our ultimate list of Dutch quirks 😉)!
READ MORE | 11 movies about Dutch culture to watch
And rest assured, the scene where Peter Parker (Tom Holland) gets picked up from the tulip fields in a private jet was all computer generated — no tulips were harmed in the making of this film. 🌷
4. Dunkirk (2017)
Dunkirk is set during WWII and centres around soldiers trying to escape the town of Dunkirk in the north of France during a difficult battle with German forces. What many people don’t know is that some of the film’s combat scenes were filmed on the Dutch IJsselmeer, near Urk. 🇳🇱
READ MORE | 8 unmissable movies about the Netherlands in WWII
The village of Urk, which, for the most part, is strictly religious, welcomed director Christopher Nolan under one condition: to respect Urk’s Calvinist values, there would be no filming on Sunday, as it is considered a day of rest.
There was one little problem for Urk locals: there is no movie theatre in the town of Urk. If they wanted to see Dunkirk on the big screen, they had to travel to a bigger city nearby. 🍿
5. James Bond – Diamonds are Forever (1971)
Even James Bond, a true Hollywood legend, has been to the Netherlands before, in Diamonds are Forever — the seventh film in the 007 series. 🎞️
READ MORE | 9 Dutch actors in Hollywood you probably didn’t know were Dutch
In Diamonds are Forever, the actors cruise the Amstel on a narrowboat. Here, they learn about the Skinny Bridge, which is located between the Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht and connects the Kerkstraat above the canals.
It seems like they’re getting the typical tourist experience — except that this usually doesn’t include a dead body being pulled out of the canals. 🕵️
6. The Hitman’s Bodyguard (2017)
The handsome Ryan Reynolds and the picturesque Amsterdam canals — does it get any better than that, ladies? 👏
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Then, of course, some shooting, some fast vehicles, and a lot of action. That just about sums up The Hitman’s Bodyguard, parts of which were filmed at Amsterdam locations such as the Rijksmuseum, the Nieuwe Achtergracht, the Lijnbaansgracht, and the Plantage Kerklaan.
The film’s famous canal chase scene even did something good for Amsterdam — besides Ryan Reynolds, that is. 👀 In preparation for the scene, the canals had to be cleaned of hundreds of bikes that had sunk to the bottom so that the stuntmen could safely fall in.
READ MORE | Bike fishing: a Dutch occupation you never knew existed
7. Who am I? (1998)
Last but not least, we have Hollywood’s all-rounder Jackie Chan in Who am I? — of which he is the writer, director, lead actor, AND stunt man. Lekker bezig, Jackie!
Parts of Who am I? were filmed in Rotterdam — at the cube houses, but most famously at the Willemswerf building.👇
Yes, you saw that right, that’s Jackie Chan himself, sliding down the Rotterdam skyline! To film this scene, he was secured with a harness and cables and simply jumped off the ledge. 😳
Do you know any more blockbusters that were filmed in the Netherlands? Let us know in the comments!
