#lis tv

A lot of you might have seen this photo by now posted by u/Emotional_UFO on the LiS subreddit. The only reason I'm two days late is because honestly, when I first saw this, I thought it was AI. The OP has never posted in the LiS subreddit before and their last post was two years ago. The diner looked like it was in a remote location by a lake instead of Steveston (the location of the previous set leak that I found where Arcadia Bay's main street is), and the most confusing part was I couldn't find any similar posts ANYWHERE. With the last set leak, it was in a populated area so locals were asking about the film crew in the Richmond subreddit, but I found it suspicious that somehow, nobody in Vancouver noticed a fake diner spawning on a random beach?

However, the last two days showed cast and crew in an area of Vancouver that matches the background of the Two Whales photo. Here's Dmitri M. Johnson and Silas Howard's recent stories, respectively, with the same rocky shore and mountain backdrop.

We already know that LiS is filming around Howe Sound, Vancouver based on previous photos shared by the crew, but the Two Whales photo might not be as remote as I thought. Instead, I think the set is at Sunset Marina in Vancouver. Multiple shows have filmed there before, and photos from alternate angles show lots of buildings, boats, and a parking lot. The 2019 Nancy Drew show on The CW repainted an empty restaurant here as "The Bayside Claw."

Adding onto the fact that all the text is legible in the Two Whales photo and no objects are melting into each other, the photo is very likely real! Down to the Pan Estates sign being accurate to the asset in the game:

I think the show is making Two Whales the signature restaurant in Arcadia Bay, so it gets its own location with a nicer view (which will also look better on camera) instead of being part of the main street. The nearby parking lot is also a good spot to film scenes like Max and Chloe breaking into Frank's RV in episode 3. Now I have to wonder what scenes they were filming last month in Steveston if not Two Whales...

Any Chasepricefield fans here??

One of the LiS directors, Silas Howard, posted this on his stories today (8/10/26). Thank you to @mal454 for sharing this on the subreddit! They're definitely prepping for the pool scenes in episodes 3 and 4 😄

The LiS subreddit is trash so I'll make a post here instead [if you do share this on Reddit, please credit me]: I think I know where this is located... St. George's School in Vancouver. These photos from their public website and Instagram match up pretty well with the red and white pennants, red and white lane dividers, red stripe of paint, and the record board on the back wall.

I don't know if the LiS show crew is only using the pool or the entire campus for filming, but if they are using the rest of the school, this could be our Blackwell Academy! It works out well because St. George is a K-12 private boys' school (which matches Blackwell's weird senior-only setup), and unlike most universities in Vancouver, it's currently empty for summer break and ideal for filming. Plus, it's stunning, and I can easily imagine key scenes from LiS taking place here (publicly accessible photos from here):

No, the LiS show team aren’t going to make Max or Chloe straight. Max and Chloe are big parts of queer video game culture and are known to be wlw icons. They would risk losing most of their audience if they retcon Pricefield or if they endgamed one of them with a guy. They know full well their audience is mostly queer women and they don’t want to alienate that audience, because that means less money for them.

Charlie Covell, the showrunner and exec, is nonbinary. They wrote for a tv series for E4 in 2015 called Banana, which was about queer youth. They wrote a film in 2015 called Burn Burn Burn, which had queer themes and a lesbian main character. They are not going to remove the queer theming from LiS.

Tatum and Maisy are both queer. Tatum uses she/they pronouns, and Maisy is dating Bella Ramsey. Live action Chloe Price dating Live action Ellie Williams is so perfect to me. That’s the epitome of wlw gaming right there. Pricefield is going to be played by two queer people and that’s something to be excited about!!

Again, there’s no way they’re going to remove the queer theming of Max and Chloe when they’re being played by two queer people who are being written and directed by a queer showrunner.

Not just Tatum and Maisy: Esther, who plays Rachel, is bi. Emily, who plays Victoria, is nonbinary and has publicly dated girls. Leisha Hailey, who plays Joyce, was in the L Word and used to date k. d. lang!!! This show is GAY AS FUCK! They are not going to have such a uniquely wlw and nblw cast and crew working on this adaptation of an iconic lesbian story just to straight-wash it.

“Like a soldier returning from war”

Tatum Grace Hopkins in Mia Isaac’s story (7/27/26)

If you're like me and want to check out the Life is Strange live action cast's previous works before the show drops, I've compiled them here! Including specific episodes, platform, ratings, and genre.

This is not a comprehensive list, only the cast's more recent works that they had big roles in, which will be closest to how they will look and act in Life is Strange. Their IMDbs will be linked if you want to see their full filmography. Happy viewing!

Tatum Grace Hopkins (Max)

Meek (short film, YouTube, unrated, drama, tw: SA)

Maisy Stella (Chloe)

My Old Ass (film, Amazon Prime, R, coming-of-age)

The End of Oak Street (upcoming film, unrated, sci-fi/adventure)

Esther McGregor (Rachel)

Obi-Wan Kenobi (TV series, episode: "Part II," Disney+, TV-14, sci-fi)

High School (TV series, Amazon Prime, TV-14, coming-of-age drama)

Babygirl (film, HBO or Hulu, R, thriller)

We Were Liars (TV series, Amazon Prime, TV-14, drama/thriller)

Clean Hands (upcoming film, unrated, crime drama)

Mia Isaac (Kate)

Don't Make Me Go (film, Amazon Prime, R, drama)

Not Okay (film, Hulu, R, comedy/drama)

Gray Matter (film, HBO, PG-13, sci-fi)

American Horror Stories (TV series, episode: "X," Hulu, horror)

Black Cake (limited TV series, Hulu, TV-MA, drama)

Emily Carey (Victoria)

Get Even (TV series, Netflix, TV-PG, thriller)

Geek Girl (TV series, Netflix, TV-PG, drama)

Platform 7 (TV series, Amazon Prime, TV-MA thriller)

House of the Dragon (TV series, HBO, TV-MA, fantasy)

Billy Barratt (Nathan)

Invasion (TV series, Apple TV, TV-MA, sci-fi)

Bring Her Back (film, HBO or Hulu, R, horror)

Gone (TV series, YouTube TV, TV-MA, drama)

The Chaperones (upcoming film, unrated, comedy/drama)

Faly Rakotohavana (Warren)

Secret Society of Second Born Royals (film, Disney+, PG, adventure)

Unprisoned (TV series, Hulu, TV-MA, comedy/drama)

Tom Cullen (Jefferson)

Black Mirror (TV series, episode: "The Entire History of You," Netflix, TV-MA, sci-fi)

Knightfall (TV series, Netflix, TV-14, historical drama)

Becoming Elizabeth (TV series, Amazon Prime, TV-MA, historical drama)

Downton Abbey (TV series, Netflix, TV-PG, historical drama)

House of the Dragon (TV series, HBO, TV-MA, fantasy)

Leisha Hailey (Joyce)

The L Word (TV series, Paramount+ or Hulu, TV-MA, drama)

The L Word: Generation Q (TV series, Paramount+ or Hulu, TV-MA, drama)

Raúl Castillo (David)

Looking (TV series, HBO, TV-MA, drama)

Atypical (TV series, Netflix, TV-14, coming-of-age)

American Horror Stories (TV series, episode: "Organ," Hulu, horror)

Class of '09 (limited TV series, Hulu, TV-MA, thriller)

Task (TV series, HBO, TV-MA, crime drama)

The Walking Dead: Dead City (TV series, Netflix, TV-MA, apocalyptic horror)

Owen Teague (Frank)

IT: Chapter One (film, HBO or Amazon Prime, R, horror)

IT: Chapter Two (film, HBO or Amazon Prime, R, horror)

Black Mirror (TV series, episode: "Arkangel," Netflix, TV-MA, sci-fi)

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (film, Hulu, PG-13, sci-fi/adventure)

The Whisper Man (upcoming film, Netflix, unrated, crime thriller)

Evil Genius (upcoming film, unrated, thriller)

No, not at all! I love these types of questions, so feel free to ask!

For changing a character’s gender: it could work, but it would require massively rewriting or rethinking the show. Max and Chloe work as female protagonists because LiS is a game that condemns misogyny and sexual assault and the main villain is a male sexual predator. The opposite scenario can exist, but statistically, female victims are more common. It would also change how the audience clocks the queerness, since male Pricefield would be way more obvious if they were holding hands and sleeping in the same bed by halfway through the story. On a meta level, LiS was special for having two queer female protagonists in a video game in 2015; that was part of its selling appeal. That would be lost if Max was a boy.

In my TV show brain dump, I actually am hoping for some race swaps to diversify the cast, because LiS1 had an almost all white cast. The only POC were side characters who didn’t influence the plot much (Wells, Ms. Grant, Brooke, Stella, Hayden, etc). The characters that I thought couldn’t be race-swapped were:

Jefferson: not only would changing the main villain to a POC be horrible misrepresentation, Jefferson’s character relies on his white male privilege to work. He’s a rich and famous artist who was able to pose as a harmless hipster teacher and manipulate his victims.

Nathan: same reason, his character is built around his privilege, but his family also reeks of “white politician who needs to keep up appearances” which was why they neglected his mental health until it was too late.

David: he’s a paranoid, right-wing war veteran. His views on guns, recreational drugs, women’s rights, and child rearing (like thinking it’s okay to hit Chloe) are exactly why he clashes with Chloe.

That’s why I was surprised when Raul Castillo was cast as David. There’s a risk of depicting a man of color as an unsavory, sexist, conservative, generally unlikable guy for audiences who are less likely to give him a chance. However, like I said in an earlier post, it’s not like non-European cultures are exempt from sexism and homophobia. I don’t think the white showrunners will dive into the topic of conservatism in Latin American culture specifically, but it’s not the most egregious change in the world either. We don’t know how his character might differ from the game version yet.

Characters I do think can afford to be race-swapped are Kate, Victoria, and Warren (and Max and Chloe, if they hadn’t already been cast). Their race doesn’t affect their individual plots. I’d hesitate on Rachel (see here), because her canon story (being groomed, drugged, and murdered) just feels extra cruel to put a young girl of color through and audiences are gonna be extra unfair to her. For people I’ve seen on social media whining that appearances are important— no they’re not, it’s about how well an actor can bring their character to life, and I’m sick of people saying that Maisy Stella’s height will ruin her portrayal of Chloe. Give her a chance! For counterarguments about the setting: yes, it’s rural Oregon, but Blackwell is an expensive private boarding school with students from all over the country, and it’s not like rural Oregon is a racial monolith either.

For making straight characters queer- hell yeah, this series can never be too gay! I already think it’s funny that Leisha Hailey (an out lesbian irl who’s been on The L Word) is playing Joyce. I joked before, why not make Warren gay as a treat? Then he doesn’t have to be the pathetic nerdy boy with an unrequited crush (because I’m positive Pricefield will be canon in this show).

FOUR new actors were announced today for the Life is Strange TV show on Amazon Prime. We got all of the major adult characters!

Tom Cullen and Owen Teague are probably the biggest names on the project so far. Cullen and Teague have been on Black Mirror, Cullen will be in House of the Dragon season 3 and has also been in Downton Abbey. Teague has also been in both IT movies. What I'm most surprised by is that Owen Teague was born in 1998, so Frank is going to be young, way younger in this adaptation. I have a feeling the show might delve more into Rachel's history with Frank via flashbacks if that's the case.

Leisha Hailey is a musician and was in The L Word. She definitely could pass for Maisy Stella (Chloe)'s mom, but a lesbian actress playing a straight mother is a... choice 😅 But hey, more queer talent on this project!

Raúl Castiilo is known for being on Looking on HBO and will be in The Walking Dead: Dead City, which Lauren Wolkstein (a recently confirmed director of Life is Strange) will also be involved in. His casting is the first to not match the race of the original character, which makes me wonder if David will still be an uptight conservative man in the show, how Chloe might clash with him in different ways, or if he'll even have the last name "Madsen." Joel and Tommy were played by Hispanic men in The Last of Us on HBO, but race played a smaller role in the post-apocalyptic setting to the point where their characters background and personality were unchanged from the games, so I really have no clue what TV David will be like.