Watching Shadow And Bone On Netflix? Leading Star Ben Barnes Originally Turned Down The Role

 

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Kind of addicted to Shadow and Bone? Yep, you’re not alone. The new show has basically gone straight to the top of everyone’s must-watch list, and it’s going down an absolute treat with viewers.

But one thing that’s kind of surprising us is that Ben Barnes, who plays General Kirigan, actually first turned down the role as he had some concerns about his character’s part in the series.

Luckily for us, the producers convinced him to reconsider, but not without really having to think it over first.

“I got sent one of the scripts to see if it was something that was interesting to me”, he revealed to Metro.

“I read it and my character wasn’t really in the first episode. And so I sort of said, ‘There are a lot of other projects around, if I want to do this I really want to be involved.’”

Ben also explained that because the filming was taking place in Hungary, he wanted to really be sure about it before he committed to being away from home for so long.

“It’s difficult to uproot your life and go to Eastern Europe or wherever it might be in the world that isn’t your home for half the year, and you don’t know if you’re going to do more series.”

He continued, “I think if I’m going to do something like that, then I really want to have something I can get my teeth into and be involved in. So I said, ‘I don’t think this is something I want to be involved in’.”

 

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So the producers decided to ask Ben to reconsider, sending him more episodes of the project, “There were a few moments in those episodes that I thought were particularly tasty, and really great moments of dialogue and characters meeting,” he said. “Then I read the first book, before having a meeting with the showrunner Eric Heisserer.

“He sort of talked me through the series and the themes that he wanted to highlight… So I felt like I was involved in this world already. I immediately became quite invested.”

Whether you love or hate him, the show really wouldn’t be the same without General Kirigan so we’re delighted he decided to take on the role.

If you haven’t dived into Shadow and Bone just yet, check out the trailer below…

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