'Royal Pains' stars reveal their favorite Long Island shooting locales
Paulo Costanzo as Evan Lawson and Reshma Shetty as Divya Katdare on "Royal Pains" Episode 509, "Pins and Needles." Credit: USA Network
Dr. Hank Lawson has been making house calls in Southampton for five years now.
It's been that long since the cast of the USA Network's prime-time show "Royal Pains" has been filming on Long Island. This season's finale is Wednesday, and a sixth season is on the way.
Set in the exclusive world of the Hamptons elite, the story centers on Lawson (Mark Feuerstein), who leaves New York City to become a concierge doctor to the rich and famous.
Outside of the places they film — a little in the Hamptons and, because of logistics, much more in Huntington and Nassau — the actors say there isn’t enough time off-camera to get to know and enjoy the Island as much as they’d like. But their affection for Long Island is strong.
"The guy who drives me to the set is now a dear friend of mine," says Feuerstein. "And we say that, in five years when the show is gone -- hopefully more, hopefully 10 years -- we will take a driving tour of all the places we've shot on location. It is so meaningful and moving to us."
Here's what the show's stars have to say about some of the more recognizable spots where they have filmed on Long Island.
In fact, so many of the scenes are shot at Oheka, "It feels like our living room at this point," Costanzo says.
There's a sense of history that permeates the walls built by Otto Kahn, a Jewish industrialist who made his own home after being shunned by Gold Coast clubs. Many of the actors, writers and directors of the show are Jewish, Feuerstein notes.
"It's so iconic for our show," Feuerstein says. "I always jump at the chance to stay there."
Ben Shenkman, who plays Dr. Jeremiah Sacani on the show, has spent time on the East End in his in-laws' Water Mill home for years.
"One of our favorite places is Flying Point Beach, where the bay meets the ocean," he says, as well as Halsey Farms, where he and his family get fresh vegetables and fruit most days.
Candy Kitchen, an old-fashioned diner in Bridgehampton, is a fave of Feuerstein and his three kids for breakfast, "where my kids inevitably make too much noise and the very patient owner, Gus, gives us the high sign to quiet down a little while slipping them a Tootsie Roll -- always great with eggs."
Oyster Bay town hall is the facade for the Hamptons Heritage Hospital, and the firehouse was recently shot as a polling center. The town's historic community hall bandstand on Audrey Avenue shows up often, including in Season 2, when Paige Collins (Brooke D'Orsay) returned as a regular on the series.
Feuerstein says a high point of last season was directing his own father in a scene outside the "hospital." His dad played an ice cream vendor whose goodies were used to bring down a victim's temperature, the actor said, just another great lifesaving moment for the TV doctor.
"The people are so kind, and so open to us filming," she says.
Old Westbury Gardens was the location for the "Pins and Needles" episode, where Evan's debate for village council takes place, and Sands Point will always be remembered by Feuerstein for a scene where a valet impales himself on a fence and is saved by the quick thinking of Dr. Lawson.
As for Sands Point, Feuerstein says it's all about the water view. "Sands Point is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen," he says. "That location will always be etched in my brain."
There are other places that may look familiar to Long Islanders watching "Royal Pains." Here are a few, according to the show's location director, Michael Fucci:
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