New York has been a backdrop for a century of film and television, but Rockefeller Center keeps showing up as more than scenery: it's the plot point. The tree reunion in Home Alone 2, Buddy's confession to Jovie in Elf, Hawkeye's Christmas Eve fight scene: all of it happens here, on the same plaza and the same ice New Yorkers skate every winter. Below, a rundown of the productions that used Rockefeller Center as a set, plus a few notes on the spots you can actually visit, or book, yourself.

Tina Fey hosting the 2021 Golden Globes at The Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center

The Rainbow Room, 2021 Golden Globes

During the pandemic, NBC moved the Golden Globes' broadcast home base to the Rainbow Room, 65 floors above Rockefeller Plaza. Host Tina Fey presented live from the room's Art Deco dining room while co-host Amy Poehler joined remotely from Los Angeles. It's one of the few times the room's interior, usually reserved for private events and dinner reservations, played to a national audience instead of a private one, and a reminder that Rockefeller Center's rooms and rooftops double as working sets as often as they do event space.

Elf, The Rink at Rockefeller Center

The scene most people picture when they think of Elf isn't Gimbels or Central Park: it's Buddy, in his felt suit, working up the nerve to tell Jovie how he feels. That happens on The Rink at Rockefeller Center. The rink you'd skate today is the same one: same ice, same view of the tree above the entrance to 30 Rock. The Rink turns 90 this season, with a new Skate House opening alongside General Skate, and 60-minute sessions starting at $22.

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Rockefeller Plaza

Kevin's tearful reunion with his mother at the end of Home Alone 2 takes place at the base of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, with the plaza lit behind them. It's one of the most quoted holiday-movie endings shot in New York, and it's also one of the most misremembered: the ice-skating scenes elsewhere in the film weren't shot on this ice. The tree, the plaza, and the crowd watching it light up were. If you want the version of that scene without the crowd, VIP Skate gets you priority entry to the ice plus its own heated lounge, a quieter way to see the same view Kevin got.

Jeremy Renner filming Hawkeye on The Rink at Rockefeller Center

Marvel’s Hawkeye, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, and The Rink

Marvel's Hawkeye recreated Rockefeller Center in painstaking detail for its Christmas Eve fight scene — right down to laser-scanning the real plaza to get the ice, the tree, and the buildings exactly right, even though the sequence was built on a soundstage.

Jennifer Lopez filming Marry Me at Rockefeller Center

Marry Me, 30 Rockefeller Plaza

Jennifer Lopez's Marry Me used the 50th Street entrance to 30 Rockefeller Plaza for a grand exit sequence, the NBC Studios doors doing double duty as a red-carpet backdrop mid-film.

Empire, The Channel Gardens

Taraji P. Henson's Cookie Lyon got the Channel Gardens as her backdrop, the seasonal plantings between Fifth Avenue and the plaza giving the show one of its more unexpectedly serene frames.

The Killers performing on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon

The Killers on The Tonight Show, Top of the Rock

When The Killers played The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in fall 2021, the band performed from Top of the Rock instead of the show's usual Studio 6B set, turning the observation deck into a rooftop concert venue with the Midtown skyline as the only backdrop.

Jennifer Hudson filming Respect in front of Radio City Music Hall

Respect, 30 Rockefeller Plaza Lobby

Jennifer Hudson's Aretha Franklin biopic used the Art Deco lobby of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, the same marble and murals that have been photographed since the building opened in 1933. If you want to get up close and personal with the art, there’s a Rockefeller Center Tour just for you.

Billions, Top of the Rock

The Showtime series shot from the observation deck to capture its Midtown skyline in a single uninterrupted frame, the kind of view that's hard to fake on a soundstage.

Project Runway, 620 Loft & Garden

For nearly two decades, Project Runway staged its runway shows at 620 Loft & Garden, the rooftop event space overlooking St. Patrick's Cathedral. Few sets in the show's history have done as much work as that skyline view behind the models.

Saturday Night Live, Studio 8H

SNL has broadcast from 30 Rockefeller Plaza's Studio 8H since 1975, and its holiday episodes have cut to The Rink for cold opens and cameos more than once over the decades. The 2016 film Collateral Beauty also used the rink for several scenes, part of a longer list of productions that treat the ice as its own location rather than a backdrop. (Always wanted to go? Find out how to get tickets to SNL here.)

Frequently Asked Questions

Where was the ice-skating scene in Elf filmed?

At The Rink at Rockefeller Center. The Rink is open to the public every winter under the Christmas tree.

When does The Rink open for its 90th anniversary season?

General Skate opens October 10, 2026, with the new Skate House and VIP Skate following on November 14. The season runs through March 27, 2027.

Can a production actually film at Rockefeller Center?

Yes. Rockefeller Center works with film and photo crews on locations across the campus, from the plaza to its rooftops. Productions interested in shooting on-site can reach out through the film and photo locations partnership page.

Keep your eyes peeled for the Rockefeller Center campus in television, films, and photoshoots over the next year. We’ll share more updates once they're live, but for now, we have to keep a few secrets…

Rockefeller Center has a variety of settings and architecture for movies, televisions shows, and photoshoots. Find out more about Rockefeller Center film and photo locations here.