Behind the Scenes: Shadow and Bone Podcast | Ep. 1 - Into the Grishaverse | Netflix

Before it was a Netflix series, Shadow and Bone was a book by author Leigh Bardugo. This season of Behind the Scenes takes a tour of the world she created, called The Grishaverse. We’ll hear from Shadow and Bone’s Executive Producer/Showrunner/Writer Eric Heisserer, the author and Executive Producer Leigh Bardugo, as well as writer Christina Strain and lead actor Jessie Mei Li. They share how they combined the Shadow and Bone series and storylines from Six of Crows to present an alternate and even more inclusive Grishaverse for the screen. Plus, we provide you with all the backstory and never-before-heard stories that you won’t want to miss.

[ SHOW CONTRIBUTORS ]
Brandon Jenkins
Jessie Mei Li
Eric Heisserer
Melissa Slaughter
Christina Strain
Yves De Bono
Leigh Bardugo
Ben Barnes

[ TRANSCRIPT ]
Ben Barnes: 

Listen to this podcast at your peril because spoilers lie ahead. Make sure you've seen all the episodes of  Shadow and Bone and welcome to The Grishaverse. 

Jessie Mei-Li: 

I grew up in the era of Lord of the Rings. You know, I spent most of my childhood running around with  my cousins and my brother with sticks. I was always Gandalf for some reason. 

Brandon Jenkins: 

Three years ago, Jessie Mei-Li graduated from acting school and had a chance to go out for the role of a  lifetime playing the lead in the new Netflix fantasy series called Shadow and Bone. 

General Kirigan: 

You were perfect. 

Alina Starkov: 

I just don't know where it came from. 

General Kirigan: 

Came from everywhere. Because you called upon it to come. 

Jessie Mei-Li: 

There was this one week where I had three different auditions to prepare for. And then, Shadow and  Bone was kind of in the middle then and I remember reading it and thinking, okay, this is the only one  that's specific to my casting. They're asking for a mixed race actor. 

Brandon Jenkins: 

Jessie Was excited about this role of Alina Starkov. She's an orphan who always felt like an outsider. Like  she doesn't quite fit in. It was a dynamic that was all too familiar for Jessie. 

Jessie Mei-Li: 

To my white friends or non-Asian friends, I was super Chinese, but then to my Asian friends and family, I  was very, very English and it's that sense of never really belonging anywhere. Everywhere you go, you're  either feeling like you're being false and, or fake and playing up to something, or you're feeling like  you're not included. You know, it's there in the script with Alina. It was there in the books. But I think  having my own experience of just having to be like, "do you know what, okay, I don't fit in there. I don't  fit in there, but I do fit in here with, with this friend. I fit in with me and the person I want to be." 

Brandon Jenkins: 

Where do I belong? 

Brandon Jenkins: 

Jessie's talking about race, casting, and growing up in the real world, but "Where do I Belong?" Is a  recurring question and Shadow and Bone too, and an especially important question for the lead character, Alina Starkov that Jessie was about to audition for the writers on the show use this question  as part of what motivates Alina's quest. 

Christina Strain: 

I am a half Korean human being. So when anybody is able to clock me as anything other than straight up  white, the question that I get is like, what are you? 

Brandon Jenkins: 

Christina Strain is a writer on the show. 

Christina Strain: 

And then I'm just constantly explaining what I am to people. And that's the thing that Alina, that's her  entire arc this season, where she is being asked this question on multiple levels. On her racial level, on  like, what is her role in this world. 

Brandon Jenkins: 

Alina's narrative is like a coming of age story on steroids. She was an orphan who becomes a lowly  mapmaker, then discover she has hidden magical powers that make her the object of hope and envy  across the land. Meanwhile, she still can't figure out who she is as a person, let alone as a savior to a  country. It's an exciting role. 
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