HERSHEY FILM SHOT IN PA. BLENDS HISTORY AND WHIMSY | WE TALKED TO AN ACTOR AND WRITER ON THE SET
The lives and love story of Milton and Catherine Hershey are being brought to the big screen in a new film shot in Pennsylvania, featuring actors Finn Wittrock and Alexandra Daddario.
Daddario, whose mother is from Philadelphia, said she didn't know about the private school founded by the Hersheys before taking on the role. The Hersheys loved children but couldn't have their own. Daddario said she drew on personal experience to play the part.
"I know what it's like to struggle to have children, although I do have a son, and I'm very blessed, but I think that it's this wonderful impulse that she had, that both of them had," Daddario said.
The film showcases the Hersheys as beautiful people, both inside and out, with Daddario noting the elegant costumes.
"They seem very expensive, I can't imagine the budget. They're really gorgeous, custom-made for me, a lot of them, some of them are archival, so they are actually 100 years old. So, it's really been quite something to wear," she said.
A Hershey community archivist, Tesa Burns, is even on the set. She is involved in ensuring historical accuracy on set.
"As historians, we are very invested in making sure things are factually correct," Burns said.
While much of the film is historically accurate, screenwriter Sharon Paul did take some artistic liberties. She revealed that the character Tobias Thornhill, a rival chocolate maker, is a fictional villain.
"Oh, he was made up, he was completely made up," Paul said. "We of course have the comparison made, this is the real-life Willy Wonka and we kind of love that because there is a whimsy to the story. There is this sort of larger than life element to Milton and Catherine," Paul said.
Burns added, "The company that he represents is real. The American Caramel Company was a real company that Milton Hershey sold the Lancaster Caramel Company to in 1900."
The film's setting is not entirely accurate, with most scenes shot in western Pennsylvania.
"When you have towns like Harmony and Ligonier that really have preserved aspects of their communities that look like the 1890s, it makes this wonderful, beautiful set," said Suzanne Jones, of the Hershey Company.
Some filming did occur in Hershey, including a scene at Founder's Hall with the Milton Hershey School's graduating class of 2025.
"It was the last scene of the movie and the first scene we filmed, and we filmed it right in Founder's Hall, with the entire graduating class of 2025 of Milton Hershey School," Jones said.
The film captures the Hersheys' lasting legacy in a 90-minute movie. But for those in the Susquehanna Valley, they can visit the town and learn about the Hersheys firsthand.
TOP STORIES FROM WGAL:
Lancaster man sentenced after 2023 deadly armed robbery
York County police ask for help to find missing man
Crashes pile up on I-81 as rain moves through the Susquehanna Valley
Pa. native killed while fighting in Ukraine
Months-long bridge closure to disrupt traffic and businesses
READ THE FULL STORY:Hershey film shot in Pa. blends history and whimsy | We talked to an actor and writer on the set
2025-06-16T22:33:21Z
