Behind the scenes at ‘The Fiery Heart’
The day kicked off with a series of rehearsals with Masterman and Wheeler, as they talked their way through the various scenes. Two of the scenes that were rehearsed were affectionately referred to by the actors as “the wall-y scene” and “the straddle-y scene”. We will let you draw your own conclusions from that.
Masterman has read all of the books, including The Fiery Heart, while Wheeler is up to date with Bloodlines, but is waiting for The Fiery Heart audiobook.
Says Masterman, “Richelle has a really great balance of all the elements that make an enjoyable story, there’s action and romance and comedy, and it all just makes for such a great read.”
While getting their make-up done, and that golden tattoo, Masterman and Wheeler compared acting styles. Very much in the style of their characters, Masterman uses dramatic techniques, while Weeler aims to apply his own experiences to Adrian.
“Being around Nic makes me realize how much I actually am like Sydney,” says Masterman. “We both have such different approaches to things, we are very opposite but we work well together and I think that’s very similar to how Sydney and Adrian are.” Wheeler added, “A lot of times i don’t know if I’m really being him, I’m just being myself.”
The GIFs were filmed first, and the actors launched straight into them after hair and make-up. The GIFs are less about being in character, and more about having some fun, which isn’t difficult for this pair. This is a clever marketing strategy on behalf of Penguin Australia – and it’s also a nice amount of fan service.
Both Wheeler and Masterman certainly understand the power of this fan base – although it can still be strange to them. Says Wheeler, “If you do something that nobody cares about, what’s the point of doing it? So I like that people are invested in it. Is it more pressure? Yeah, it’s more pressure.”
The first real shot of the day required the whole production team to head over to a hotel room that will double for several different locations. In addition to the two lead actors, The Fiery Heart trailers use a fairly small production team. There were more actors on set later in the day, but their roles are being kept very hush hush by Penguin Australia.
After wrapping at the hotel room, there was time for a quick dinner before heading into the night shoots. The next shot was a secret scene that we aren’t able to share any details about – although that certainly shouldn’t stop fan speculation. Just trust us when we say, it is going to look amazing.
The energy picked up during the night scenes, perhaps due to the outdoor locations and the fact that there were extras on set. Everyone on set took a moment to tease a photo of one particular extra – a female who certainly wasn’t Sydney. The responses just showed how excited Bloodlines fans are for this trailer, and this book.
The final scene of the day required Wheeler to attempt to break down a door – one that thankfully belongs to Penguin, so no security guards came running. That didn’t stop the curious passersby to wonder exactly what was going on, but someone remarks on set, “When you have a camera crew, everyone thinks it’s okay.”
‘The Fiery Heart’ will be published November 19
Photos: Marama Whyte
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