Ask Simon - frequently asked questions
Question  
Answer
LATEST IN FROM SIMON! Does the magic extend beyond the nine kingdoms? If yes, what other kingdoms are yet to be discovered?
  
My original idea for 10K was that each mini-series would introduce us to a new Kingdom with new characters. If you look at the map of the kingdoms in the prison in Episode 2 you will see that it is very similar to a map of Europe, and I envisaged the individual kingdoms being as different as, say, Italy and Germany, each with their own beliefs and take on magic.
At the end, when Virginia says that there is another crisis in the kingdoms, were there already plans for a sequel or was it said 'just in case'?
  
I first wrote the teasing ending when there were no plans at all for a sequel. I did it for three reasons. Firstly, I wanted to extend the scope of the series in people's imaginations, so that even at ten hours they could see that the story they had watched was only a small part of a much greater world of adventures. Secondly, I wanted NBC to see The 10th Kingdom as a mini series that might return every couple of years with a new adventure. As fans know, the initial ratings for the series were not high enough for NBC to want to finance another series, and although there was an opportunity to continue the adventures for Hallmark, I was worried that it would be made at a much lower budget without some of our favorite actors, and I didn't want to water down the experience of the first mini series. The third reason was purely teasing, and for fun - I wanted to remind people that the magical world of the Kingdoms is never quiet for very long, and as soon as you solve one crisis another one will pop up!
How did you come up with the cast for The 10th Kingdom? Were there some people you had in mind?
  
We got most of the cast by auditioning in New York. That's how we found Scott and Kimberly. Some other people - like Dianne and Rutger - I knew already, and we were able to offer parts to. Others - like John and Ann Margaret - were chosen by NBC, because they identified them with the Network.
How does Clayface the Goblin know to carve the statue of 'the four who saved the 9 kingdoms?
  
You have touched on a very interesting question here. Clayface was originally supposed to return later in the series, in the swamp scene, where much of the mystery of the Queen's past is revealed. Unfortunately the actor, Jimmy Nail, was unavailable when we came to film, so instead I rewrote the scene for Warwick. I think you will agree that the teasing reference to the future of our heroes would have made more sense if it had been Clayface pretending to be the swamp witch. I put the idea into the story in the first place because I wanted to show how different the world of the 9 Kingdoms is from ours - they accept destiny as a fact of life, and so in a sense they have knowledge (maybe intuition is a better word?) of future events. This is a theme that I touch on many times in the series - the idea that they are there to play out their fate, rather than have the kind of free will that most people in our world believe in. Incidentally Jimmy Nail was cast because the British TV partner, Sky Television, was keen to have a British star to promote in the adverts for the series, and Jimmy had starred in a couple of projects for them at the time. He ended up getting paid a fortune for just one scene!
Were any T10K scenes actually filmed in New York? (i.e. the bridge at the end that Wolf and Virginia sit on, The Grill On The Park etc.) If so, which one(s) and where?
  
No. Nothing at all was shot in New York apart from the title sequence, which was done by a separate special effects company. When I first heard we were planning to shoot everything in the UK I was very worried, but I actually think the end result is very good. The decision was taken purely on cost as the production not only had a UK shoot but the other European locations as well.
Were there other actors considered for the parts of Tony, Virginia, Wolf and Queen Christine? If so, who?
  
My first choice for the Queen was Sharon Gless ( of Cagney and Lacey fame), a wonderful actress who I had worked with and directed in a play in London, but NBC felt she was too identified with another Network. I couldn't have been more happy when Diane Weist was suggested, however, as she is a superb actress and was also mainly known for gentle, kind roles. I knew she would really shock people as a villain. The part of Tony was first offered to Ed O'Neill, who loved the project but was worried about being cast as another 'loser' after playing the husband in his sitcom for so many years. He liked the scripts so much, however, that he came on board to play Relish The Troll, and was great in the part. I went to New York to cast Virginia and Wolf, and I am pleased to say that Scott and Kimberly were our first choices. It was a very exciting time in the project, seeing brilliant young actors coming in and trying to manifest these complex, demanding roles, but in both cases there was no doubt in our minds when we saw them audition. Wolf is a very difficult role to get right, and you can imagine that a lot of actors do far too much at an audition trying to play a half animal. I knew that if people weren't convinced by Wolf then the series would be doomed. I remember only too well the day when Scott walked in, scratched his face in that marvelous way he does in the series, and simply 'became' our strange romantic lead. Kimberly is just a sensational actress, and got the turbulent life of Virginia straight away. (some of you may know that 10th Kingdom existed as a single movie script many years before I changed it into the TV series. Terry Jones was going to direct it, and I went with him to New York to try and secure stars. We had Kevin Kline lined up to play Wolf and Winnona Ryder was going to play Virginia, but the money fell through for the project and it never happened. Now THERE's a piece of 10K trivia for you!)
What was the hardest part about making the mini-series a reality?
  
10K was a very hard production in many ways, but for me the hardest part was to keep changing the format and size of the story as we tried to persuade different broadcasters to make the series. I have talked before about how the series began as a feature film, but even after I wrote it as a TV series, it was conceived as 9 single hours, set in London (and a BBC hour is 60 minutes, not 42 minutes as it is in America with all the adverts), then cut down and moved around many times into different mini-series formats. I wrote the series to have cliff-hanger endings, and every time you change the format you end up with massive problems, as the climax takes place in the middle of the episode! Sky TV in the UK, for instance, broadcast the mini-series as single 45 minute episodes - another complete re-edit and rethink of the concept!
What were the most difficult scenes when filming The 10th Kingdom and why?
  
As you can imagine, many sequences in 10K were difficult to shoot. Some were hard because they were done in difficult locations, others because the actors had to act in front of 'green screens' (shots where the background will be added later on a computer) or imagine effects or sets that they could not see at the time. There were also a number of very big emotional scenes which were very difficult for the actors given our tight shooting schedule. But I think my honest answer is that the most difficult scenes were the very first couple of weeks. It's always hard to get the best work done at the beginning of a long shoot, because the crew is new to each other, many people have comments on what should be changed or how things should look and sound, and the actors are often still finding their characters. We shot the scenes in Virginia's flat and the prison first, and I felt that some people were acting a bit over the top in these scenes. I often felt people in fantasy films and particularly fairy stories acted in a rather theatrical way that made their worlds feel fake. I wanted 10K to be modern and natural in feel. Before I say any more, most people reading this will know that I simply adore the performances in 10k, but to illustrate what I mean, those of you who are familiar with the whole series may notice that Wolf and the Trolls and the Evil Queen begin the story with bigger, broader performances, before really finding the characters. If you take a scene like Virginia finding Wolf dressed as her Grandma and chasing her round the apartment, setting the tone of a scene like this very early on is extremely difficult. How funny do you try and make it? How real? How scary? So I would say that the scenes we shot first were the most difficult.
Whatever happened to the swamp witch?
  
The Swamp Witch is a very important character, who links the existing fairy stories of the past (Snow White etc...) with my new characters 200 years later. She was punished for her sins by being made to dance in red hot iron slippers, and banished from the castle. She crawled to the swamp and survived, but could no longer hurt anyone. Over many years she withered and wasted away to her skeleton, but like the great Queens, she has such power that she can never completely 'die' , and her evil presence still lingers on in one of the darker parts of the kingdom. Her spirit could be reactivated if the wrong person sought to use her power. Interesting point - the new Swamp Witch was originally going to turn out to be Clay Face the Goblin, who gives Tony the statue (The Four That Saved The Kingdoms) in the prison episode, but the actor, Jimmy Nail, was busy on another project when we scheduled his scenes. Warwick of course played the part, and was really wonderful. I have always imagined that both Acorn and Clay Face would crop up again in future stories, because they're the kind of characters who are always looking for opportunities to make their fortune.
When Virginia placed the rose on Christine, what was the meaning behind the blooming?
  
You ask a very interesting question. Although it was Virginia's destiny to kill the Queen and save the kingdoms, I wanted to leave audiences with the feeling that in doing this terrible thing, something good might come out of it. In a sense it is the true spirit of her mother that has been liberated, and the blooming rose expresses this release. Without spelling anything out too clearly, I wanted to open the door to the possibility that although the Queen is dead, perhaps there is a greater magic that will allow Virginia to meet her mother again. In the same way that Snow White is -(sort of) not alive any more, but can still appear to help Virginia, perhaps Christine will appear again some time in the future to help and guide Virginia as she fulfills her greater destiny of becoming one of the new Queens of the Kingdoms!