All The World’s A Stage: A Wicked Good Time
Exclusive on-set reports from the latest episodes
Official Xena Magazine: Issue 02
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
A Wicked Good Time
Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) hides crouched in bushes al the side of a muddy forest track. A few metres behind him, lolaus (Michael Hurst) waits expectantly for the words that will summon him forth...
“Okay, lock it down..."
“Turn over... shooting...”
"Scene 21, take one... camera...”
“And ...action!”
lolaus walks forward, calling out for his partner in a stage whisper - he has no idea where Hercules is. Suddenly, lolaus is grabbed by a Herculean arm and pulled into the undergrowth.
“Cut!"
They complete the shot in three lakes.
During the filming of this episode, A Wicked Good Time, the cast and crew of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys experience a rare phenomenon; a visit to the set by a class of Media Studies students (most around 17 years old), on assignment to study the production process. This is a very unusual event - as a rule, filming is closed to the public and secrecy over the precise whereabouts of actual set locations is absolute. However, very occasionally, the executives will make an exception. The Media Studies class is from a local school, and an insider involved in organising the visit says that it is “part of keeping a good relationship with the community.”
The students are fascinated and the actors make it a fun experience. A follow-on scene with Hercules and lolaus crouched amongst prop department ferns needs to be shot one more time. The director calls, “Okay, let’s go again!” to which the jocular Hurst replies, “Pretty good acting though, eh?”
The bush-laden path is just one of the many sets commonly used in location shoots for the show. The area is used for both Hercules and Xena: Warrior Princess, and contains at least five ‘man-made’ village sets as well as the natural landscapes of fields, pastures and forest settings like this one in A Wicked Good Time. Up to 500 production workers are involved in creating the magic of Hercules and Xena. As the awestruck Media students wander (supervised) around the set, they are in seventh heaven... or at least a cleverly constructed version of it: “Whoa...this is brilliant!”
During a blocking rehearsal that requires only their body doubles, Sorbo and Hurst pose for a picture with the director of A Wicked Good Time, Adam Nimoy. Nimoy is the son of Star Trek veteran Leonard (Mr Spock) Nimoy - a fact the cast don’t let him forget. “We’re giving him a hard time about that,” says Sorbo. “We’re checking out his ears.”
Filming began at 8.20am - the crew call was one hour earlier - yet just after midday the two leads show no signs of tiring as they stop between shots to talk with the class here to study them. They explain the average length of time it takes to shoot one episode (“Eight days,” says Hurst. “Then if you direct, you go to the States to edit.”), discuss how many script drafts they see before they shoot, and how often the actors get to change their lines during a scene.
Sorbo reminisces about the fight scene the day before, saying that what they are filming today is “quick little bits.”
Some of the Media Studies students are making notes on what they see; others grill Sorbo on everything they can think of. Other acting jobs: a role in the soap opera Santa Barbara, and a commercial for Jim Beam shown frequently in New Zealand. Details of his Hercules audition: “I always knew I wanted to act. Hercules was the typical audition process they have in America - it’s a two months process to cast. They called me on my birthday!” Sorbo is on a roll, extolling to the enthralled students the extent of the show's popularity. “Hercules is shown in 75 countries… it's number one in Germany and France... and out of 26 one-hour shows in America, its ranking is number one too.”
The students ask Sorbo about sports. “My favourite sport is basketball... and golf. Golf is boring, but I love it.”
Favourite past time? “Skiing… I ski when I can.”
Favourite place? “Colorado is my favourite slate in America… but I love the South Island [of New Zealand]."
So what does Sorbo really think of New Zealand, his home base since Hercules began in 1993? “New Zealand has been home now for six years - I love this country!”