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DePauw stands in for fake Indiana college in ‘Billions’ TV episode
DePauw University made an unusual cameo appearance Sunday night on one of the highest-rated cable television dramas, “Billions.”
Appearing on the Showtime drama as the physical embodiment of the fictional college “Indiana A&M” -- alma mater of the show’s chief protagonist, Mike Prince (played by Corey Stoll) -- the university is seen in a long static shot focusing on Holton Memorial Quad and its stately Roy O. West Library, Asbury and Harrison hall components.
DePauw was not identified in the shot nor acknowledged in the credits. Nor did its iconic East College building even get a bit part in the episode.
With the trees full of green leaves and no construction activity in sight, the panoramic shot was obviously taken prior to the beginning of renovation work at the DPU library last summer.
The faux football stadium of Indiana A&M was also shown briefly and certainly was not DePauw’s Blackstock Stadium. A much larger venue with two-level seating on both sides of the field and a spacious layout of end-zone seats surrounding by greenery behind them -- save for a several-story structure in the middle of the expanse beyond it -- stood in for the fictional school’s stadium.
The university enters the picture and plotline in episode 6 of the series’ sixth season as Mike Prince -- portrayed as a business titan with a small-town Indiana background who went to New Castle High School and was the state’s Mr. Basketball his senior year before becoming Indiana A&M’s biggest alum -- tries to get the school’s board of trustees to invest a huge endowment in his hedge fund.
At about the 20-minute mark of the segment, Prince huddles with school president Stuart (don’t-call-me Simon) Legree, as identified by the nameplate on his desk.
As he’s turned down, Prince offers, with a twist in the song lyrics, “I’ve got some real Indiana, John Mellencamp anger here ... When I fight authority, authority doesn’t always win.”
Recently renewed for a seventh season in 2023, “Billions” stars Paul Giamatti, whose credits include the HBO miniseries “John Adams” and the wine country comedy-drama “Sideways.”
DePauw sources contacted Monday had no idea on how the photo of Holton Quadrangle ended up on “Billions.”
In all likelihood the producers probably found the photo on a website somewhere and thought it looked generically like an Indiana college campus.
“We do have a beautiful campus,” a DePauw official commented to the Banner Graphic.