Home for Ellen Wong is Toronto, but the Canadian actress is happy her latest gig, The Carrie Diaries, shoots in New York.

“It’s imperative. New York has its own character, and you just can’t displace that, it can’t be done,” she told Playback as she was in Toronto to promote CW’s prequel to Sex and the City, which will air here on Citytv from Jan. 14.

No snub to Toronto, but Wong argued that a series about young highschoolers in 1984 having their eyes opened to the glamour and grit of Manhattan needs to be shot where the show takes place.

“The aura in the city helps us as actors feel that we’re there. I’m in awe of where I am,” she said of filming in the Big Apple.

Wong’s comments add to the creative debate in Hollywood between shooting where a show takes place, or outsourcing to a city like Toronto and Montreal that can double as Manhattan or Chicago.

The Toronto native plays a sweet, geeky Jill “Mouse” Thompson, best friend to a teenage Carrie Bradshaw in the prequel to Sex in the City based on the book The Carrie Dairies by Candace Bushnell.

Before her co-starring role in the CW series, Wong had roles in a number of Toronto-shot projects like This is Wonderland, Combat Hospital and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, where she performed opposite Michael Cera.

“I am very proud to be Canadian, especially in Toronto, where we have great tax credits that opened up a major industry for us and which is alluring for the studios,” she argued.

Going forward, Wong said she’s dividing her time between Toronto and New York City, while also keeping a foot in Los Angeles to expand her career stateside.

“The Americans are the leading mecca for film and TV. So to be able to be a Canadian and have a voice in something so influential is definitely a good thing,” she insisted.

The Carrie Diaries, from Warner Bros. Television and CBS Television Studios, debuts on Citytv on Jan. 14.