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| Where Was My Brilliant Career Filmed? Netflix Series Locations Revealed. |
Netflix’s My Brilliant Career was filmed entirely in Australia, with the production travelling across South Australia and New South Wales to recreate the rural world of 1900 that shapes Sybylla Melvyn’s story. From grand historic estates and sweeping farmland to beaches, forests and dramatic mountain scenery, the series has plenty of locations doing more than simply sitting prettily in the background.
Adapted from Miles Franklin’s celebrated novel and following the story previously brought to the screen by Gillian Armstrong in 1979, the new My Brilliant Career is a period drama created by Liz Doran. Philippa Northeast takes on the role of Sybylla Melvyn, a fiercely independent young woman determined to become a writer at a time when society has rather more conventional plans for her.
Marriage, domestic expectations and a quiet life are placed in front of her, while Sybylla would much rather write her own future, preferably without anyone else holding the pen.
The story unfolds against the Australian countryside of the early 20th century, making the choice of filming locations particularly important. Sybylla’s ambitions are closely tied to the vastness around her, with open fields, imposing homes and expansive landscapes reflecting both the limitations placed upon her and the life she imagines beyond them.
The production therefore needed locations that could convincingly transport viewers back more than a century without looking as though someone had simply put a period costume on a modern-day suburb.
Principal photography reportedly began in June 2025 and continued through the Australian winter before wrapping in August 2025. The production also provided work for around 400 local cast and crew members and was reported to have contributed roughly A$17 million to the South Australian economy, making the series significant not only for Netflix but also for the region where much of its visual identity was created.
A major part of the production took place across the Adelaide metropolitan area, where modern production facilities and historic properties were combined to create the show's early-1900s setting. Adelaide Studios in Glenside was among the key production sites, giving the team access to sound stages, production facilities and the practical infrastructure required for a large period drama.
It is a rather useful reminder that while audiences see horse-drawn-era Australia on screen, there is usually a very modern collection of cables, equipment and people working furiously somewhere just outside the camera frame.
The production also travelled to Gawler West, where Para Para Mansion provided one of the most striking settings. The grand 19th-century property, with its period architecture, spacious grounds and historic interiors, suited the world inhabited by Sybylla and helped establish the social environment she encounters during her journey.
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Its stately appearance also gives the series the kind of period-drama grandeur that would be difficult to manufacture convincingly from scratch, although presumably nobody complained about having to film around such a magnificent house.
Another important South Australian location was Yallum Park Homestead, situated on Millicent-Penola Road several kilometres west of Penola. The historic two-storey Victorian mansion was used for scenes connected with the estate and provides a strong visual contrast to the open countryside surrounding Sybylla.
Its architecture and grounds help convey the comfort, privilege and social expectations associated with the wealthier world she enters, making the property more than just an attractive backdrop.
The wider Penola area also helped establish the rural character of the story, while Pine Hill supplied broad open landscapes and lush countryside.
Those pastoral surroundings are particularly suited to a story about a young woman trying to work out where she belongs, because the Australian landscape often feels almost like another character in the production. It is enormous, beautiful and completely uninterested in whether Sybylla has decided to follow society’s rules.
The production also made use of the Southern Barossa Valley, where rolling hills, farmland and expansive rural views added further depth to the series’ visual style.
The landscape provides the kind of timeless quality required for a period story, allowing the countryside to look largely untouched by the modern world. For a character whose imagination stretches well beyond the expectations of her surroundings, those wide views also carry a symbolic weight.
Filming was not limited to South Australia, with the production also reportedly shooting around Sydney in New South Wales. The Royal National Park, south of Sydney in the Sutherland area, was used for sequences involving natural landscapes, including forest and coastal settings.
Its combination of dense greenery, rugged coastline and open spaces offered the production another way to capture the scale and variety of the Australian landscape without repeatedly returning to the same countryside.
The Blue Mountains also feature among the reported New South Wales filming locations, with the production securing permission to film around parts of the dramatic region.
Its cliffs, waterfalls and mountainous scenery provide a noticeably different visual texture from the flatter farmland and estate settings seen elsewhere. The result is a broader portrait of Australia that makes the series feel geographically expansive rather than confined to one picturesque corner of the country.
The location choices also fit neatly with Sybylla’s emotional journey. The grand homes represent a world built around wealth and social expectations, while the open countryside gives her room to imagine something beyond those boundaries.
Forests, beaches, mountains and farmland constantly reinforce the idea of a country that is physically vast even when the social world around her feels remarkably restrictive.
Reactions to the locations are likely to vary depending on what viewers want from My Brilliant Career. Fans of period dramas will probably appreciate the historic mansions, rural landscapes and carefully chosen scenery, particularly because the settings help sell the period without needing to explain every detail.
Others may be more interested in the story itself and simply enjoy the fact that the Australian countryside gets plenty of screen time. Either way, the scenery looks set to have a considerable role in giving this adaptation its own identity rather than making it feel like a straightforward retelling of the earlier film.
For Philippa Northeast, the production was also a significant personal milestone. Following the completion of filming, she described stepping into Sybylla Melvyn as the dream role and expressed gratitude towards the cast and crew who worked on the series.
Her comments underline just how demanding the shoot was, with the production running without a shooting day off during her involvement. Period drama may look elegant on screen, but apparently the elegant dresses do not come with elegant working hours.
Ultimately, My Brilliant Career used locations across Adelaide, Gawler West, Penola, Pine Hill, the Barossa Valley, Sydney, the Royal National Park and the Blue Mountains to build its version of turn-of-the-century Australia. From Para Para Mansion and Yallum Park Homestead to wide rural fields and rugged natural scenery, the locations give Sybylla’s story a physical scale that matches her ambitions.
Now that you know where the series was filmed, which Australian location caught your eye most, and which one would you most like to visit after watching My Brilliant Career?