Borgia Shooting Diary – 2nd Season

First Team Foundation is proud to announce, beginning this week:

 

Borgia Shooting Diary – 2nd Season. 

In this Blog and on a weekly basis you will find: opinions, impressions, interviews, pictures… from within the set. We'll show you what, how, when, where and above all we'll meet the main characters of this series which some are beginning to take as example of a new European production model.

And we will do of the hand of Assumpta Serna and Scott Cleverdon to meet historical characters and the actors who bring them to life. We will read their impressions, we will send them questions and ask them for pictures of the shooting. In short, we will try to live Borgia shooting from within thanks to this couple of actors who are always looking for ways to show us the best filming production and the best cinema.

Do you know our Borgia Facebook page?

My first week of shooting. 

By Assumpta Serna 

Changes: More time to shoot the scenes. We started talking more with the directors. The director who did the first two episodes, Dearblah Walsh, Irish, she’s great. She’s always asking for the actor’s point of view. She really knows what she wants and above all, she knows exactly how to communicate it to us. She gives us a lot of energy and confidence. She has a great sense of humor with the team. Watching her at work is a pleasure.

New actors in the series. I have three: the one who plays the famous musician, Josquin des Pres, who is German. The poet Pietro Bembo, who is played by an Italian actor, Marco Cassini, and finally, Michelle Tate, who has arrived from the Royal Shakespeare Company to play a secret character. Marco Cassini 'Bembo' is very young, very good actor; he listens in life and on the set. His character in the series will be a success because the character has a romantic and poetic side, but also shows the profoundness of honesty. The series needed a character like this and Tom knew it. Michelle is a great actress. I loved hearing her command of English; she infects my enthusiasm for the project.

Tom Fontana and John Doman on a break during the Borgia shooting

We have the same Czech makeup team, the same Italian hairdressing team, but now we have one more hairstylist, Ferdinand, who is always smiling and friendly. We still have the same camera, and the same Czech assistants. Olda is my favorite first assistant director.

I went to have dinner with Michael Fitzgerald, a great English actor, who spoke to me about the surprise of working with Scott.  He said what a good actor he is, and how intelligent, generous and fun he is. Isolde also said in his German accent: Scott is sooo funny. 
 

It's nice to work with the two of us together after 17 years. We comment on the actors, on the scenes, about the technicians, how they have gone about shooting the scene and why ... It is wonderful to have been married for 17 years with an actor. In these 17 years I speak English at home, I realize that it has helped me to work without any fear. The trick is not to pretend to speak without an accent, but to speak English that people can understand; Scott knows a lot about this...

Scott Cleverdon in his role of Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba

He can do a Spanish accent in English. Not all actors do it. But the character of the Great Captain both in writing and in interpretation has great dignity. Unfortunately, the Spanish always have a bad reputation. Finally there is a Spanish character that’s not a cliché.

I have just had a drink with Christophe to talk about my character, the German director who is filming episodes 3 and 4. Hopefully production is also made according to the English director Metin, who I enjoyed working with so much in the last season.

I am always learning during filming, especially as I realize I need to keep working. I love my job as an actress! It's a nice way to get to know yourself. It's so nice to play and act with words, with emotions and to dance on camera, being a skilled actor and to be involved in the scene, with a team that encourages you to do better with every take. This happens so rarely ... I hope that this series is a success. 

I will keep you updated. Assumpta Serna

© Fundación First Team 2012 (www.fundacionfirstteam.org)