If you are one of the die-hard Grishaverse fans, crazy about either Six of Crows duology or The Grisha Trilogy or both, this is just the article for you (and if you stumbled upon it by accident, STAY; I promise you’ll want to read all of these books by the end of it and then count down the days til the show drops with us!). The frenzy surrounding the show is reaching sky high and there is no way you haven’t heard yet that we are getting a Netflix TV show!
There are few things that get booknerds as excited AND frightened at the same time than book to movie/TV show adaptations! The thought process of every single lover of book that is to be adapted is usually the same:
- First comes the joy: It is finally happening! We’re getting a movie/TV show! *tears of joy*
- Followed closely by: But what if they mess up the storyline? What if they don’t do justice to the characters? What if the casting is off?!
- In time comes the realisation that suddenly your precious book will become more widely known and that people who’ve never even read it will form opinions on it based solely on the movie/TV show. THE AUDACITY!
So it’s safe to say that every adaptation news rocks the book community. But the biggest splash in the recent year was definitely caused by the news that Leigh Bardugo’s books are being adapted for Netflix. The big reveal dropped a little over a year ago and my bookstagram was filled with people screeching excitedly, praying to book gods to make this adaptation justice and tearing Bardugo’s newsletter mail that held some extra information apart for hidden clues. But here’s the gist of it all: Netflix is adapting Bardugo’s books set in the Grishaverse, a fantasy world that distantly resembles our own in which people with incredible magical powers called the Grisha live. Netflix made a wise decision and didn’t opt just one book series – no, no, no, they decide to include the original The Shadow and Bone Trilogy (sometimes called also The Grisha Trilogy), its successor Six of Crows duology and a short stories collection, The Language of Thorns. And the fans were happy.
Okay let’s back up a bit for a second, okay, and run through the basics!
The Books
Just in case you are not that familiar with the Grishaverse and its book series – in The Shadow and Bone Trilogy we follow a story of a young soldier, Alina Starkov, who discovers that she possesses a power that has never been seen before, which earns her a place next to a formidable leader of the Second Army (aka all Grisha soldiers), the Darkling. The Grisha Trilogy is one of the original fantasy series for young adults with epic twists and turns, plenty of interesting characters (I can’t name one fan who would not jump in front of a bullet for Nikolai Lantsov, one of the main character of the trilogy), and a twisted debate of good versus evil.
Six of Crows strays away from the cookie-cutter fantasy mould and plunges the readers into Ketterdam, a grey and dangerous city where money is the motivational tool. We meet Kaz Brekker, the criminal mastermind who decides to take on an impossible heist with some well-chosen companions for… You guessed it, a shitload of money. The cast of characters in Six of Crows is one of the most well-known and beloved squads in all the book community and there is at least one character that will suit your tastes. I think this quote from the book describes them best: “A gambler, a convict, a wayward son, a lost Grisha, a Suli girl who had become a killer, a boy from the Barrel who had become something worse.” – Six of Crows, Leigh Bardugo
And the last book that will be part of this gigantic production is no other than The Language of Thorns, a short story collection that includes different fairytales from the Grishaverse (but appropriately creepy and dark and a far cry from our Disney-coloured fairytales).
Cast Announcements
Fast forward to October 2nd 2019 when the leads of the show were announced and the community had a collective meltdown yet again. The first wave of casting comprised of three main characters from Shadow and Bone and three from Six of Crows. And one of the best parts of it was that the casting strayed slightly from book descriptions of characters, giving us a more diverse cast! Let’s meet our stars, shall we?
Freddy Carter
Let’s start with Six of Crows characters! Freddy Carter took the role of infamous Kaz Brekker, one of the most iconic and beloved YA characters. Who doesn’t love a ruthless criminal mastermind that also has a soft side? Carter is a 27-year old actor from the UK, most known for his roles as Pin in Free Rein and Jason Ripper in Pennyworth. He’s still a rather new name in the showbusiness, but you might’ve heard of his brother, Tom Austen, the mysterious bodyguard on The Royals.
Amita Suman
And standing besides Kaz Brekker as a fan-favourite is naturally the Wraith, Inej Ghafa, the cunning Suli acrobat! The role of Inej went to Amita Suman, most known for her role as Umbreen in Doctor Who (which aired back in 2018 and gave Suman a chance to work with the Thirteenth Doctor, Jodie Whittaker). While a lot of details of the show are still unknown, we do know that Suman has been training hard for the last few months, be it combat or aerial yoga.
Kit Young
And the last (but not least) Crow announced in the first wave of cast announcements was Chris ‘Kit’ Young as Jesper Fahey, the fast talking and charming sharpshooter and Brekker’s right-hand man. This is the second television (and first lead) role of the 25-year old English actor and he already showed off his sharpshooting skills with some videos and photos on his personal Instagram account.
Video of Kit as Jesper from his personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/B9HoA0GAqAF/
The three Dregs (taken from Kit’s personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/B8MLk8YA1_l/
Ben Barnes
Now let’s get to The Grisha Trilogy cast members! The much adored Ben Barnes, best known for his roles as Prince Caspian in The Chronicles of Narnia, Dorian Gray in the eponyomus movie from 2009, and Billy Russo in The Punisher, is one of the most fan-cast actors in the world! I can’t count the number of books and book series where people wanted Barnes to portray their favourites (be it Dimitri Belikov from Vampire Academy or young Sirius Black form Harry Potter). Barnes is a fan-favourite and as soon as his casting for General Kirigan (aka The Darkling) dropped there were cries of triumph from basically everywhere! Barnes finally, after 12 years, got another YA role! Now the only problem we are facing is this – how are we supposed to rally against the Darkling if he’s being portrayed by the one and only Barnes?!
Jessie Mei Li
The role of Alina Starkov, the main protagonist and the narrator of The Grisha Trilogy, that possesses the-never-seen-before powers of summoning light, went to Jessie Mei Li. Jessie Mei Li is a 24-year old English actress, best known for her roles in Last Night in Soho and National Theatre Live: All About Eve. This will be the wonderful young actress’s first big television role.
Archie Renaux
And the third The Grisha Trilogy cast member announced was Archie Renaux. Renaux took the role of Malyen ‘Mal’ Oretsev, Alina’s best friend (or could there be more? *wiggles eyebrows*), a gifted tracker and a soldier of the First Army. This 22-year old English actor and model is best known for his role in the miniseries Gold Digger where he starred next to his Shadow and Bone co-star Ben Barnes and his upcoming roles in Voyagers and Marvel’s Morbius (both movies are currently in post-production).
Recurring Roles
After the six leads were officially presented, Deadline released an article naming a few other actors that landed recurring roles. So we got Sujaya Dasgupta (known for Press, Guilt) as the beautiful and cutthroat Zoya Nazyalensky from The Grisha Trilogy, Danielle Galligan (best known for her role in Game of Thrones) as the flirtatious Heartrender Nina Zenik and one of the six Dregs from Six of Crows, Daisy Head (Guilt, Underworld: Blood Wars, Fallen) as Genya Safin, the charming Tailor and, Simon Sears as Ivan (Winter Brothers), one of the Darkling’s most favoured Grisha.
And then on December 18th 2019, seven more actors were added to the cast! The role of the fifth Dreg, the grim-faced Drüskelle Matthias Helvar went to a newcomer Calahan Skogman, an American actor of Nordic and Italian descent. Luke Pasqualino, the British actor of Italian descent best known for Skins and The Musketeers, took the role of the studious David Kostyk, and Zoë Wanamaker aka the formidable Madame Hooch from Harry Potter (and to be fair, known for so many other roles as she starred in over 70 movies and TV shows) was cast as Baghra, Alina’s Grisha teacher.
Kevin Eldon (Game of Thrones) as a priest called The Apparat, a newcomer Gabrielle Brooks and Jasmine Blackborow (School’s Out Forever, The Protector) as Nadia and Marie, Alina’s Grisha friends, and Julian Kostov (A Discovery of Witches) as Fedyor round out the recurring cast of Shadow and Bone.
Other minor roles have been cast as well (such as the spoiled prince Vasily, Alexei, etc.) and you can check out all the actors on the official Shadow and Bone‘s IMDB page.
Production News and Filming
Okay so now we know our key players but there is still so much behind the scenes stuff we can go through! So here’s a quick walk through of some other production-related info you should be aware of!
- We will be getting 8 episodes! I know, it’s not a lot but here’s to at least five more seasons after this one (hopefully).
- The show is being executive produced by a bunch of amazing people, such as Stranger Things‘s Shawn Levy, Bird Box‘s Eric Heisserer (who is also the writer, creator and showrunner), Divergent’s Pouya Shahbazian, and Leigh Bardugo herself! So it’s safe to say this show is in very good and capable hands!
- The filming begun in October 2019 and wrapped in February 2020 in Budapest! I did some digging, compared photos posted by the cast and crew members to my own Budapest sightseeing souvenirs and came up with a little list of possible filming locations! So you might spy one of these Budapest gems in the show!
- The Buda Castle: One of the top tourist attractions in Budapest, the Buda Castle was built in the 13th century and sits at the top of Castle Hill. Crew and cast members posted multiple stories hinting that we might glimpse it in the show!
- Matthias Church: Now we do not know anything for certain, but a few cast members posted photos of this stunning church, making us wonder if maybe we might glimpse it in the show as well! The Matthias Church is a Roman Catholic church located at the heart of Buda’s Castle District and one of the most beautiful attractions in Budapest. Also do you see that black tower? I don’t know about you, but I think this would work perfectly for the Darkling.
- Budapest Mazes: This last location is more wishful thinking on my part, but as soon as one of the cast members posted a photo on their story of this creepy Budapest gem, I had a vision of impossible heists and dark Ketterdam allies in my mind. Budapest Mazes or the Labyrinth under the Castle Hill is one of the most visited attractions known for its cool, dark and creepy tunnels – add some effects such as fog and dramatic lightning and some props like coffins and cages and you have a properly scary medieval experience!
And for some interesting factoids
- Leigh Bardugo (aka the author of this fantasy world) will have a cameo in one of the episodes! According to her Instagram story, we will see her clad in Materialki purple.
- Some of fan-favourite characters such as the cunning and charming prince Nikolai Lantsov, the sixth Dreg and explosives expert Wylan Van Eck and Kuwei Yul-Bo won’t appear in the first season, meaning we have to make the show a raging success so we can glimpse these cuties in season 2!
- The cast and crew just wrapped up the first season on February 28th and released the cutest little “Welcome to the Grishaverse” video – you can watch it here. And now we wait for trailers and release dates. »Patiently«. But for real, every new day without at least a little teaser trailer is like a day without sunshine. Who to bribe to get at least some cast photos in costumes?
And that’s basically all we know so far! The cast, crew, and the author have been pretty tight-lipped regarding the show, which comes as no surprise. I am yet again reminding everyone that a heist could be manageable, I mean we did all read Six of Crows, right? Netflix headquarters should be easy. But until we make that happen, we can only wait patiently for a trailer.
And if you are a newbie and haven’t been convinced yet by the amazing storylines and characters, this criminally-good-looking cast (see what I did there? I’ll escort myself out), or an amazing production team might just change your mind! Come join the Dregs and the Second Army – and don’t forget to prepare some tissues and popcorn for when the show does drop! And until then endless (re)reads of all of these books for both the newbies and the veterans it is, am I right? Happy fangirling!
So while we wait for more news about Shadow and Bone, tell us which characters you’re most excited to see on screen? And which actors already stole your heart?
I loved this article so much 🙂 I’m a bit hesitant towards the series since they’re mixing up all of the books, but this article made me get all hyped up! 😀 brilliant work