By Jefferson Geiger
Even if you haven’t stepped foot on Staten Island, chances are high that you have seen the iconic Gothic architecture of Wagner College on your screen. The location is a popular set for directors seeking to capture an archetypal school because it combines pastoral charm with proximity to Manhattan.
Wagner is visible in everything from foreign films like “Eurotapped” to heartfelt dramas like “The Visitor.” The institution also appears in television shows like “Blue Bloods,” “Bull” and “The Sopranos,” as well as a plethora of commercials.
If you’ve watched any of the following, then you already know Wagner.
"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"
In addition to being a filming location back in 2004 for “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” two episodes of the long-running “Law & Order: SVU” were filmed at Wagner. The school is first used as a set in “Swing,” the third episode of the tenth season, which aired on Oct. 14, 2008.
The episode includes Trautmann Square, while the Union’s exterior was turned into an emergency room entrance and the Beisler Lounge in Guild Hall was transformed into a dry cleaner.
Wagner is more visible in season 15, episode 16, “Gridiron Soldier.” In that episode, SVU uncovers disturbing activities in a New York City college football program when a high school player disappears after a recruiting trip.
Judd Apatow's 2020 film starring Pete Davidson is partly based on the “Saturday Night Live” alumnus's life in New York. It focuses on a high school dropout whose father died while fighting a fire, and he must come to terms with his mother dating another firefighter.
A movie all about Staten Island naturally used Wagner as a filming location, and on June 13, 2019, Wagner welcomed the cast and crew to film scenes in Foundation Hall, with a group of students invited to spend the day on set.
One of the better-known films to feature Wagner is “School Of Rock,” starring Jack Black, Joan Cusack, Sarah Silverman and Mike White. Directed by Richard Linklater and written by White, the 2003 film follows guitarist Dewey Finn impersonating a substitute teacher at Horace Green Preparatory School, which is actually Wagner.
Once at school as “Mr. S,” he opts to teach the students music more than other subjects, ropes them in to creating the band called School of Rock and helps the kids — spoiler alert — win the battle of the bands.
This 2010 HBO film tells the story of Dr. Jack Kevorkian, played by Al Pacino. Kevorkian was a pathologist and proponent of physician-assisted suicide who was convicted of second-degree murder.
The movie was directed by Barry Levinson, and Pacino won both a Primetime Emmy and a Golden Globe for his performance as Kevorkian. The filmakers transformed the Union for an art gallery scene, with students as extras.
The FX drama featuring Denis Leary as a New York firefighter stops in Staten Island for the episode “Play,” which aired on May 19, 2009, as the seventh episode in the show’s fifth season.
Among the program’s various plots, Tommy and Janet attempt to survive a weekend together at Katy's new prep school — or in this case, Wagner.
Pete Holmes’ semi-autobiographical HBO show is about the comedian trying to make a career out of stand-up after his wife leaves him.
The episode “NACA” has Pete and Ali going on a trip to a college comedy conference. Filming took place on the Cunard Hall loop. It is the seventh episode in the show’s second season, and it aired on Feb. 25, 2018.
Commercials
Companies like Goldfish, Garnier Fructis, Sperry, Kohl’s, Citibank, Dell, Adidas, Nike and more have filmed their advertisements at Wagner. Allstate’s series of “Mayhem” commercials — where Dean Winters plays the personification of mayhem and wreaks havoc on those lacking insurance — once used Wagner to stand in as a quintessential college. In the spot, Mayhem walks right in front of Main Hall as people get ready for a football game.
Meanwhile, an interior view of Wagner can be found in a Sour Patch Kids ad. Set in a lecture hall, the candies show their sour side by causing a scene, but then help a student answer a question correctly.
Bonus: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"
Though the 1966 movie version of Edward Albee’s Tony Award–winning play wasn’t filmed on campus, the story itself is very much tied to Wagner. Willard Maas, a member of Wagner College’s English department faculty from 1958 to 1963, and his wife, Marie Menken, were the real-life models for the fictional George and Martha.
According to Marie Menken, Albee was a frequent guest in their penthouse on Montague Street in Brooklyn, listening to the couple argue like they do in the play.
