Los Angeles, Vancouver, Atlanta and New York City are all hotspots for television filming, but for his new FX drama, "The Bastard Executioner," Kurt Sutter went somewhere off the beaten path -- Wales.
The Welsh countryside provides the backdrop for Sutter's new series about a former warrior in the fourteenth century -- Wilkin Brattle (played by American television newcomer – Australian Lee Jones) -- who assumes the identity of an executioner.
Early moments on the project prior to filming taught Sutter ("Sons of Anarchy") that there were things he was just going to have to roll with, including the unpredictable UK weather.
WATCH: Kurt Sutter & Paris Barclay: Challenges Of Filming ‘Bastard Executioner’ In Wales
"At this point we've incorporated it into the show," Kurt told Access Hollywood at the recent Television Critics Association Summer Tour, when we sat down with him and fellow EP and director, Paris Barclay. "I always go back to the first time we scouted. Within 20 minutes we had bright sunshine -- we were all taking off jackets -- torrential rain, wind from f***ing hell, I don't know where that came from, and then snow. ... Within 20 minutes. … So when we shoot, you'll see some scenes and it'll be rain and then, you know, without a lot of time cut, it won't be, but I think that's just the nature of the weather that exists there, so we've sort of learned to embrace it and we get wet and muddy."
While many of their scenes are filmed inside the studio, the outdoor locales have provided inspiration for the actors – Lee and "True Blood" alum Stephen Moyer, who plays ambitious Chamberlain Milus Corbett. And, they noted, it's an enjoyable place to work.
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"It is gorgeous, but I don't really get to see a lot of it. … But it's great to be there and focus on the job at hand and so much of the history is there in the landscape," Lee told Access. "There are castles everywhere."
"And dragons. They're even on the sides of buses. They're everywhere," Stephen added (the Welsh dragon appears on the national flag). "I'm working a lot as well, but I get like, possibly the odd day, and there is so much to see. It's beautiful, beautiful country and it's so lush and you know, I'm there with my family and my kids are crazy about it because it's literally castles and dragons everywhere you look. And it's so nice to be away and just being able just to concentrate on just purely the work."
Lee and Stephen had their first meeting as cast mates not long before filming began.
"We met just before we started shooting," Stephen told Access. "One of the luxuries of this was when we all got to Wales, we did text – it was like doing a play. We did a week of text of, 'What does this mean? Who are you? What are you doing? How do you relate to this character? ... Historically where are we? What's going on historically in this period? Etc. etc. etc.,' which is such a privilege. You don't usually get a chance to do that with television or film, and so we all sat round tables and talked about sh**."
WATCH: Lee Jones & Stephen Moyer On Joining ‘The Bastard Executioner’
Not long after he was cast in the lead role of Wilkin Brattle, Lee had to tackle medieval training.
"As well as doing all that text work, I got thrown straight into boot camp really," Lee said. "I got sword fighting, horse riding. I only really knew the head from the a*** of a horse. I had no idea."
Stephen said medieval boot camp helped the cast grow closer.
"Another cool thing they did was made everybody kind of do that stuff and stuck 'em on horses with swords and that's another way of getting everybody to bond. Lee's character is kind of head of the gang, of his gang. I'm not part of that group, and… I think that was great for everybody sort of going to riding school every day in the afternoon doing sword stuff and it kind of built up that camaraderie that you kind of like," Stephen said.
While the cast bonded, producers continued to tackle the challenges of making a show set in medieval times.
"Sometimes you can't find the right beach or the right castle... so you've got to go further away," Sutter said.
"But it's also the clothes and the hair and the hats," Barclay added. "On 'Sons,' we could do a lot of shopping at Levi's, but we're not able to do that, so everything's got to be made -- every sword, everything that you see that's medieval, we're not buying them at the medieval store, so somebody's got to make all this stuff, so that takes some time too."
"The Bastard Executioner" airs Tuesdays at 10 PM ET/PT on FX.
-- Jolie Lash
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