Hungary everywhere – in a new Netflix series, for instance
Hungarian buildings, goats and actors in the new series of Shadow and Bone.
Hungary has been the location of many huge Hollywood productions and smaller European art movies for quite a long time now. Many trendy films and series were shot in either Budapest or other smaller cities. The capital, for instance, seems to be the favourite spot of Marvel and its blockbusters. Almost all year long, we have the chance to bump into a world-known superstar.
Two of Marvel’s new stars spotted in Budapest
The newly debuted series of Netflix, Shadow and Bone, is the streaming site’s biggest hit so far this year.
Who else than Hungary gave place to this new fantasy that took the world by surprise,
together with one of the protagonists, Milo, the goat. More precisely, Ugri and Bugri, the two goats who play the lucky charm animal in the series. Despite their adorable faces, they were not the best colleagues to work with, as actors spilt some details in the Shadow and Bone – Afterparty short film, already available on Netflix. One of them was bleating continuously while his friend left his mark everywhere around the set.
When it comes to all the beautiful buildings featured in the series, there was less trouble. Despite not representing themselves in the episodes, very few alterations and post-editing works were done on them; thus, they all shine in their authentic glory. And they can all be easily spotted by a Hungarian eye.
Many scenes take place in Buda and on several locations of the Castle; in the streets of Szentendre and its Skanzen, the outdoor museum.
Among other locations, stands out the Museum of Ethnography, the Festetics Palace of Keszthely and the Exchange Palace in Budapest.
Furthermore, apart from the adorable, furry animals and the iconic Hungarian locations,
Hungarian actors and actresses had the chance to show the world their talent.
Klára Tolnai has been attracted to the world of fantasy ever since a kid, so it was not even a question for her to audition for a part. When she was called back to play Tabitha, naturally, she was thrilled.
As index.hu quotes her words, everyone was very direct and honestly interested in her as an actress. The set was very organised with an extremely professional crew and a setting so big she has never seen before. She complimented the director, Lee Toland Krieger, emphasising how well he led everyone and paid attention to all little details.
Klára was not the only Hungarian actor who had the chance to be part of a Hollywood production in her own country. Ádám Boncz studied acting in New York, where he continued playing for more than ten years. He only had a couple of days to get ready for his audition. As opposed to Klára, he had not previously read the books. Still, his performance must have been compelling as he landed the role of Semyov.
Similarly to his female colleague, he also had high words of the set and the general ambience. As most of the crew and the actors are relatively young, their energy and excitement motivated everyone. He also added that both the director and the showrunner created a very cosy, familiar and inspirational general mood.
It is always lovely to see Hungarian actors receive recognition but let’s not forget about all those working behind the scenes who do not always get screen time but are equally important. Krisztina Vellai, acrobat and air gymnast, had a major role. She was the stand-in and stuntwoman of Inej, played by Amita Suman. It was a unique experience for Krisztina as this was her very first movie set she had worked on. She was originally approached as an acrobat, but during the work, she received more and more responsibility and was included in more scenes than initially planned. Her favourite experience was having the possibility to shoot a demanding scene in the Festetics Palace, wearing nothing but a thin acrobat jumpsuit while the window was open in the middle of December, and everyone around her was shivering in coats and scarfs. Still, she loved every minute of it.
Currently, there is no information on where the second season will be shot. However, there is a big chance that the crew would return to Hungary as it is much easier to do so than to replicate the Festetics Palace in the United States.
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Source: index.hu