Forget the Oscars, the movie every Netflix subscriber was watching this weekend was Damselthe new action-fantasy film starring Millie Bobby Brown.
Directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and written by Dan Mazeau,Damsel Brown stars Elodie, the princess of an impoverished kingdom who agrees to marry the prince of another land (played byWith love, Simonstar Nick Robinson) in exchange for money for his people. Then her new husband throws her into a pit with a fire-breathing dragon. How rude! Elodie realizes that she was nothing more than a sacrifice for this vengeful, talking dragon (voiced by Shohreh Aghdashloo). Now, she must use her wits (and her surprisingly utilitarian wedding dress) to survive.
Since its streaming launch on Friday, Damsel has been ranked number one on the list of Netflix’s top 10 most popular movie titles. And as more people see the movie, more people want to know: Where was he? Damsel filmed?
Continue reading to learn more about the Damsel filming locations.
Where was it Damsel filmed?
The Netflix movie Damsel was largely filmed on a soundstage in Troubadour Meridian Water Studios in London, England. The cave where Brown spends most of his screen time was a set, but the fact that the rocks were fake didn’t make the experience any less grueling for the young actor.
In an interview for Damsel production notes, director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo spoke of the difficulty of filming in such a small space, with the camera so close to Brown’s face. “Filming in those cave sets was a challenge for Millie because it’s not easy for an actress to have the camera so close to you and be completely emotionally naked, showing them the pain, the horror, the emotion, the fear, every detail. ”Fresnadillo explained.
In that same interview, Brown added that although they were filming on a soundstage, “everything seemed real. We filmed in these warehouses in London. And when you walked in, you really felt immersed. It couldn’t be faked. There is no green screen.” (There were actually some green screens, according to behind-the-scenes photos provided by Netflix.)
Still, we understand what Brown was saying. That said, although Brown thought the caves were “wonderfully designed, very complex and very tactile,” he didn’t like filming in them.
“It was difficult to get through them. It was difficult to fall into them. It was hard to scream because no one could hear you. You couldn’t see anything. It all seemed so real,” she said. “I’m also a bit claustrophobic, so some scenes were difficult for me. The tunnel scene where I fall face down is a really cool shot, but I was so scared that we rearranged some things and I had my assistant and my brother behind me, holding on to my legs. “They would take me out when the anxiety got too much.”
For exterior shots of the castle and surrounding grounds, Damsel filmed on location in Portugal, in cities and regions such as Tomar, Batalha, Douro, Vila Nova de Foz Côa, the mountains of Serra da Estrela and Sortelha. The castle’s design was inspired by Manueline architecture, a style unique to Portugal.
As production designer Patrick Tatopoulos said in the press release interview, the exterior shots were “less dark than what we’re used to seeing. It’s warmer and more extravagant than the gloomy castles typically used for fantasy stories with dragons. And that was the trick: Áurea had to be a very nice place to be in the outside.”
There you have it! Damsel It may take place in a fantasy world, but the set and filming locations were very real.