Leonardo DiCaprio Fans Flock to a Supermarket for a Phone That Was Never There

An ordinary supermarket in a quiet corner of Humboldt County, California, has unexpectedly become a tourist attraction after appearing in one of last year’s most talked-about films.

For nearly a year, fans of Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another have been flocking to the small Murphy’s Market in the town of Cutten. Some have even stopped traffic in the parking lot to take photos and recreate scenes featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, according to the New York Post.

There is just one small catch: the store does not actually have the main attraction that brings them there.

In the film, DiCaprio plays Bob Ferguson, an aging revolutionary who is trying to find his missing daughter. In one of the movie’s most memorable scenes, his character, dressed in a robe, a beanie and oversized sunglasses, desperately tries to make a phone call to an old comrade.

When Bob forgets the password needed to connect the call, what begins as a calm phone conversation turns into a full-blown meltdown at a pay phone. The scene quickly became a fan favorite and went viral online.

Since then, moviegoers have started making pilgrimages to Murphy’s Market, hoping to see the same silver pay phone and take photos beside it.

But it turns out the phone was simply part of the film’s set dressing.

Instead of the famous pay phone, disappointed fans are greeted by a far less glamorous PRIMO water bottle-filling station. Still, it appears to have become part of the tourist ritual, with visitors continuing to pose for photos beside it.

Store employees say some fans even put on mini performances in the aisles, attempting to recreate DiCaprio’s character’s frantic run through the store. Others head to the checkout counters in search of cheap sunglasses resembling the ones worn by the actor in the scene.

There is another unexpected attraction, too: the bathroom. According to employee Jennifer Sherman, the store still has a toilet seat that was installed specifically for filming.

On one occasion, fans became so caught up in filming their own scenes that they blocked traffic in the store’s parking lot.

It seems fans may eventually get a chance to see the famous phone after all — or at least a replica of it. Store employees are already discussing the idea of installing a fake pay phone so visitors can take photos beside it.