#SPOTTED: “LITTLE ITALY” 🍕 FILMING IN TORONTO STARRING EMMA ROBERTS + HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN

Think Romeo & Juliet… meets pizza! Those of us who saw 2014’s entertaining Toronto-made Dr. Cabbie will be thrilled to know that our friend Vinay Virmani is back again, this time as Co-Writer and Producer of LITTLE ITALY. The Rom-Com currently in production in Toronto, has taken over its namesake district these past couple weeks and suffice it to say, we can’t wait till it’s delivered!  If all the buzz on publications like Just Jared, US Weekly and The Daily Mail is any indication, you are too! 🍕

Little Italy centers on two dueling pizza shops, Vince’s and Sal’s, the families that own them and a blossoming romance between Nikki (Emma Roberts) and Leo (Hayden Christensen), whose families own the competing restaurants. It is impossible not to chuckle at the signage on-set. Vince’s claims to be the best. Sal’s? It’s even better!  There’s also a chalkboard sign greeting you at the door to remind you this in case you even think about going to Vince’s.

Donald Petrie (Miss Congeniality, Grumpy Old Men, How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days) directs the Film, while Producers are Pauline Dhillon, Ajay Virmani and Vinay Virmani. The Film’s cast features several familiar faces including Danny Aiello, Alyssa Milano, Andrea Martin, Gary Basaraba, Adam Ferrara, Jane Seymour and more!

We had the pleasure of popping by the set to say “hi” on a couple occasions while it filmed on College St. at a showroom space transformed into the two central pizza shops for the shoot. While it filmed quietly and non-intrusively among the downtown bustle, fans would queue hours across the road with great anticipation for a taste of that star power.

We loved seeing again Christensen, whom we honestly can say is channeling full-on Italian here and this Film is him as we’ve never seen him before, having built a diverse and accomplished résumé over the years. He was just beginning a long day of work when we saw him and he was so gracious to stop for a minute to chat. Perusing Instagram, he has been more than accommodating to his still very ardent fans who were visiting the set daily.

Roberts also has been very giving too to fans and we were thrilled to have a quick minute to chat and goof around. We are a huge fan, especially in some of her more recent work like Scream Queens, The Blackcoat’s Daughter and Nerve, and we also follow her’s and partner Karah Preiss‘ awesome reading Blog, Belletrist.

And did you know that Alyssa Milano also stars in Little Italy? She was a vision sporting some super-vibrant colours and she’s just as awesome as we remember her back in 2010 when she made Sundays at Tiffany’s here in the City. She reminded fans that she will be doing a baseball-related signing next weekend here in Toronto. Follow her Instagram for more here.

Virmani, in perhaps his most ambitious challenge to date, tells us the Film wraps later this month and gave us a sincere thanks for our support and we promise to be there when Little Italy sees its release! We hope you’re just as excited as us about this one.

The Cast of Little Italy say ‘cheese’🍕!

Poppin’ by for some pizza! 🍕 So excited to see #LittleItaly starring #HaydenChristensen x #EmmaRoberts. Written and produced by our friend #VinayVirmani. Think Romeo & Juliet-meets-pizza…

A post shared by Mr. Will Wong 📸 (@mrwillwong) on Jun 8, 2017 at 12:20pm PDT

So much fun with this girl earlier on the set of #LittleItaly! 🍕 #EmmaRoberts

A post shared by Mr. Will Wong 📸 (@mrwillwong) on Jun 9, 2017 at 7:21pm PDT

With #AlyssaMilano on the set of #LittleItaly. She remains one of the most gracious, personable working actors ever.

A post shared by Mr. Will Wong 📸 (@mrwillwong) on Jun 9, 2017 at 3:46pm PDT

With #AdamFerrara on the set of #LittleItaly. You might remember him from #NurseJackie and #TopGear?

A post shared by Mr. Will Wong 📸 (@mrwillwong) on Jun 9, 2017 at 3:49pm PDT

 

… and this Boomerang was every topping on the menu and then some!

Pizzaing with this beautiful, intelligent woman. Words cannot express my excitement to see #LittleItaly! 🍕 #EmmaRoberts (@littleitalyfilm @eonefilms @emmaroberts)

A post shared by Mr. Will Wong 📸 (@mrwillwong) on Jun 9, 2017 at 1:44pm PDT

p.s. She was eating a Margherita.

eOne Films will release Little Italy, out 2018.

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(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)