Ben Barnes and his luxurious fabric coats are ready to amaze you Shadow and bone, which premieres this Friday on Netflix.
Adapted from Leigh Bardugo’s best-selling fantasy trilogy, the series follows Alina (Jesse Mei Li), an orphaned teenager whose life is turned upside down when she demonstrates the ability to invoke light. Her newly discovered gift puts her on the path to General Kirigan (Barnes), a powerful man who has been looking for someone with her talents.
As the charming leader of Grisha – a secular group that practices Little Science, aka magic – Kirigan possesses the ability to invoke and manipulate darkness. Alina’s calling power compliments hers and is the key to her mysterious plans for Fold: a dangerous expanse of land shrouded in impenetrable darkness, which also connects the capital Ravkan to its port cities on the west coast.
In books, Kirigan is best known as Darkling. But in the Netflix series, he operates under the name Kirigan for reasons that will become clear once you delve into the first season with eight episodes. Despite the name change, Barnes says his interpretation of the recognized character is not comparatively different from that of his book counterpart.
“I would say that on the outside, it feels like it’s on the page,” Barnes told TVLine. “It simply came to our notice then [with the Grisha army in the Fold]I called Leigh Bardugo that night and said, “I feel like I’ve come out of the pages in the story.” “While Barnes appeared in literary adaptations such as The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and Dorian Gray In the past, “I’ve never felt so visceral.”
Kirigan uses his charm and authority to get closer to Alina, whom he takes under his wing, to improve his newly discovered skills. As the story unfolds, viewers will learn more about Kirrigan’s motives behind the extreme actions he takes for what he believes protects Grisha, who were once persecuted and now live as royalty in a grand palace with the king. Ravkan.
“He doesn’t think his methods are unjustified given his difficult situation,” Barnes said. “I think it’s very difficult to tolerate his behavior by modern standards, but it raises interesting questions if we forgive people more if we understand why. We forgive people more if we believe that [he has] humanity and we believe that [he has] a kind of nobility on the agenda to protect its people? Or if he has the potential to change and love someone again? ”
Showrunner and writer Eric Heisserer (The box of birds, Arrival) combines elements of Six of the crows, a companion to the book trilogy, which focuses on a group of thieves, aka Crows, in the city of Ketterdam. The crew consists of Kaz (Freddy Carter, Pennyworth), a rising star among the crows who is willing to do anything for the right price; Inej, aka Wraith (Amita Suman, outpost), a skilled spy who can move without anyone noticing; and Jesper (Kit Young, Effort), a nice shooter with a gambling problem who joins the crew to pay off his numerous debts. The anti-hero trio offers much-needed comic ease, as well as several action-packed sequences as they try to traverse Fold.
Young, who plays Jesper, reveals that stepping into a complex fantasy world with a dedicated international fan base is intimidating. He says he felt a nervous energy while filming one of his first scenes on set. “I was holding these books and this coin, and both hands were shaking. I don’t know if it was the pressure [it being] the first time I have to be really this guy or just knowing it means a lot to people, ”Young recalls.
“The part of the story that Kit puts aside,” Carter says, “is that on that day, he had to hit himself in the back in a chair, risk hitting his head, tossing a coin.” feet in the air and fire a gun within two seconds. He had many things. ”
Suman also acknowledges that he is fully aware Shadow and boneits massive popularity when connected to the project. Before entering the set, he made sure he read the books and did a workout – he just completed a stunt training course in theater school – to capture Inej’s fast-paced, acrobatic fighting style on screen.
“I didn’t go to the gym much. I wasn’t active, I wasn’t in shape, so when I finished reading the books, I knew I had a lot of work to do “, shares Suman. “I said to myself, ‘I can’t respect this character if I don’t train physically and feel what Inej feels like doing all the espionage and fighting the scenes.’
While Inej is known for carrying a set of small knives, Kaz’s trademark is an ornate cane with gold tips, which he proudly displays throughout the series. Functioning both as a walking aid and as a handy fighting weapon, the beautiful object made has great significance for Bardugo, who was diagnosed with osteonecrosis and once uses a cane to move.
“I had a lot of conversations with [Bardugo] about how he wanted to see someone walking with a cane, but he wasn’t a bastard, ”says Carter. “Kaz is an antihero and does some morally questionable things, but he is certainly not a bastard. I think it was very important to Leigh [Bardugo], and then later to me, to make it something he was very proud of and loved for himself and never stopped him from doing anything. ”
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