Stockton’s University of the Pacific doubles as the backdrop for HBO’s Rooster

Stockton’s University of the Pacific serves as the backdrop for HBO’s Rooster, starring Steve Carell, with the campus’s Gothic architecture and a nearly 200-foot white tower featured as Ludlow College. The series follows an author who becomes writer-in-residence while his daughter, a professor, navigates personal upheaval; Carell and producers say the setting evokes a New England vibe and a strong ensemble energy. The article also notes Stockton’s crime statistics, but local officials say violent crime is at multi-year lows, and the campus has a long cinema history.