20+ Curiosities about the backstage of great television series

Recording a series for television is not an easy task, especially when it comes to large productions. The meticulous work of costume designers, decorators, cameramen and voice actors is responsible for much of the success behind great emotional stories. And the role of the actors is not easy either, the recordings can take hours and the sacrifice to incorporate a character is arduous and exhausting.

We, from awesome.club, we love behind-the-scenes stories, so we’re excited to share with you some secrets and fun facts behind 10 famous series around the world. But we warn you: this post contains spoilers🇧🇷 Check out!

Each of the prisoners has a special tracker in her ear with an individual number. The main character, played by Elisabeth Moss, was numbered 1985, which coincides with the year in which the homonymous novel was published by Canadian writer Margaret Atwood. Almost all of the paintings in Commander Fred Waterford’s home are replicas of art that can be found at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The producers wanted to suggest that, once the government fell, representatives of the new regime certainly stole some works for their personal collection. According to Elisabeth Moss, the worst scene that was filmed was the childbirth in the second season. The actress said that the role of newborn Nicole was played by several babies. One of them was soaked with cream cheese and jelly to get the look of a newborn baby. Logically, the child didn’t like being all sticky, so she cried and screamed at the top of her lungs directly in the actress’s ear, disturbing her concentration.

Villanelle is a highly skilled assassin. She travels on missions throughout Europe and is therefore fluent in several languages, such as French and Italian. However, Jodie Comer speaks only English. And to complicate matters even more, the actress is from Liverpool, and has a strong British accent. In order to be able to adapt well to the role, she had to work with a vocal coach. “When we were shooting in Tuscany, I had a whole Italian crew there to help me. I said, ‘Guys, if I say something that doesn’t sound right, or I’m pronouncing it wrong, let me know,’ and that’s what they did.” In the first season, Villanelle and Eve meet in the kitchen at a point in the plot. In this scene, the assassin tries to cheer Eve up by pouring cold water over her from head to toe. For the following scenes, Sandra Oh, who plays Eve, had to keep her hair wet, and to do that, the actress took a gel bath to keep the effect wet. But the unpleasant fact is that the recordings lasted 11 hours. Then, between takes, the actress’ hair was sprayed with glycerin.

Some actors’ costumes were forbidden to be washed. In an interview, Sophie McShera who played Daisy, a kitchen assistant, said that the actors had special patches sewn into their armpits, which were washed separately. The ban on washing was introduced by costume designer Anna Robbins and her team to achieve maximum historical accuracy, as dry cleaning was not available at the time. Queen Elizabeth is a big fan of Downton Abbey. Because she lived through most of the story, she noticed some factual errors in some episodes. For example, the Queen noticed that in the series, a World War I soldier wore medals that were conferred only during World War II.

Director David Fincher shot manic Jerry Brudos’ 9-minute interrogation scene 75 times before he decided it was perfect. After each take, he approached the actors with a yellow notebook, full of comments. The director explained with what speed and intonation the lines should be delivered. A similar work was done individually with each of the three actors participating in the scene. The actor who played the serial killer was shocked by Fincher’s meticulousness and asked, “Are we going to do this after every take?” Fincher even created special conditions for actor Cameron Britton, who plays the manic Edmund Kemper. He ordered the entire team to ensure that Britton did not communicate with anyone on the premises. “Make sure Cameron doesn’t talk to anyone. He cannot fraternize with anyone. I don’t want this to be a social thing. He literally has to come from Pluto and be on the show,” said the director in an interview.

In the 100th episode, Lütfi Paşa hit Şah Sultan right in the face. That slap was real, although it was originally intended for the actor to hit his wife in the pretend fiction. But the actress, who played the role of Şah Sultan, insisted that it was for real: she wanted to feel that slap in the face and experience the real emotions of taking the blow. She needed it to better interpret the scene. And the actress was ready to do it for several takes, but luckily, the scene was filmed the first time. The episode of the assassination attempt on Hürrem Sultan, also known as Roxelana, would be performed by stuntmen. However, the main cast actors were so excited about the filming process that, in the end, they shot the scene themselves. Large stones made of Styrofoam were thrown over the actresses, they felt real pain, although it was nothing serious.

In the series’ recording studio, Henry Cavill nearly went blind. The actor admitted that this almost happened because of the contact lenses he wore for the role. The production recommended that he should only wear them for a few hours at a time, but the actor didn’t want to leave the character between takes. As a result, during filming in the Canary Islands, dust from volcanic sand got into Cavill’s eyes and scratched his cornea. It hurt when the actor looked into the light, so he hid in the shadows. Fortunately, his vision has not been compromised and he won’t need to visit the ophthalmologist any time soon. At the beginning of the series, Yennefer was a hunchback and had jaw problems. When Anya Chalotra filmed these episodes, she was required to wear a mouthguard, which, in turn, was a major nuisance. Because of this accessory, the actress had some wounds in her mouth, however, despite the pain, the mouthguard helped her to get into character.

Remember the scene at the end of Season 3 where Eleven reads the letter Hopper leaves and breaks down in tears? Millie Bobby Brown didn’t rehearse that scene. She said that she wanted to read the text for the first time directly into the camera, so her emotions were so sincere and real. Actress Millie Bobby Brown’s first kiss took place on set. When the scene was filmed, she said, “Is that kissing? Only that? That sucked!”

Justin Chatwin and Emmy Rossum, who play Steve and Fiona, respectively, are a couple on the show. They have a lot of screen time, and the show features a lot of intimate scenes featuring these characters. So filming these scenes is a real challenge for Emmy, as her partner loves to eat tuna and other foods that smell really strong just to play with her. Series creator John Wells forbade actors to bring script sheets into the recording studio. Performers should know all their lines perfectly.

Vatican authorities did not allow the film crew to enter the Holy of Holies, but that did not stop the creators of the series. 40 builders and 25 painters worked for nearly 2 months to create a life-size copy of the Sistine Chapel. Jude Law admitted that it was physically difficult for him to play Lenny Belardo. And all because of the Pope’s heavy clothes, which were literally two rugs embroidered with gold. The huge piece of metal on her head wasn’t comfortable either. “I could barely move and I have no idea how a 70-year-old or 80-year-old does that because I’m a pretty healthy 44-year-old and it was very uncomfortable.”

Ancient Viking battles were quite cruel, so the creators of the series wanted the battle scenes to look as real as possible. And for that it was necessary to use a lot of fake blood. In an interview, special effects specialist Tom McInerney shared what the process of filming these scenes was like: “We had to make approximately ten 50 liter barrels of blood for each battle scene and the challenge was to make something that didn’t stain the costumes or actors’ skin. We invented a new type of ‘blood’ made from sugar syrup and food coloring that could be removed easily”. Attention to detail was a hallmark of the series. The creators tried to make everything fit the context of the time. Including the soundtrack. Norwegian composer Einar Selvik didn’t use modern equipment to create it. He used Scandinavian instruments. For example, one of them was made from goat horns, and the strings of another were made from horsehair.

Have you watched all the series in our post today? Do you know any other curiosity about them? Tell us in the comments section.