Show Trivia
This is by no means a comprehensive list, just some tidbits…
About Ted Raimi and how he got his role as Sebastian the mapmaker in “Bounty”:
I really wanted to do some TV, and as happens with this universe that we live in it just of just happened like that. And I got a call from [Legend of the Seeker executive producer] Rob Tapert, my old buddy Rob Tapert who also put me on Xena: Warrior Princess, and he said, “Hey! Do you want to go down to New Zealand?” And I thought to myself, “Well, let’s see, I’m not doing anything at the moment, so — Yeah! That sounds like a good idea.”
And in a weird mind trip, it was not too dissimilar to the trips I had taken years ago to do Xena [co-starring as Joxer, 1996-2001]. So flew down there in the same plane, the sets were kind of similar, some of the same crew guys were there, so it was mind-blowing.
But that’s where the similarities ended, because the show is completely different from Xena — other than it being fantasy. It’s a whole different deal. The vibe is different, the writers are different, the stories are different, the acting is much different. So it was quite a challenge, but I had a great time, and I’m very glad I did that.
Source: Ted Raimi, from About.com interview article “Ted Raimi, Back in New Zealand”, November 10, 2008
Regarding Craig and Bridget’s first arrival in NZ for the show:
When Bridget [Regan] and I got to New Zealand, we got pushed back six weeks because the scripts weren’t ready, they wanted to redo them, and make them really good. Bridget and I had six weeks to kill so we made use of that time by doing some sword fighting and horse training.
Source: Craig Horner, from Newsarama article “Australian Actor Seeks to Create American TV ‘Legend’”, November 5, 2008
Regarding the casting of Bridget as Kahlan :
Rob was the one who found Bridget and showed her to me. He’ll have to say how he originally discovered her, but when I saw her I just thought that she was … I believed her. I believed the things that she said. Obviously, she’s striking. She’s quite beautiful to look at, but a lot of actresses are beautiful. But she made these fantastic situations and fantasy situations, … she grounded them by being very human and real. And when she expressed emotion, I was moved by her, and I believed her, and I thought we couldn’t ask for anything more.
Source: Sam Raimi, from Scifi.com article “Q&A: Seeker Producers Spill!”, October 23, 2008
Regarding Terry Goodkind’s involvement with the show:
Terry had no hand in picking any of the actors. He was not consulted or offered any kind of voice what so ever. To this date Terry has not seen, been asked for info, or otherwise consulted on any of the scripts.
Source: Mystar, an admin at terrygoodkind.com, September 15, 2008
Regarding the issue of Richard and Kahlan’s eye color:
It would have required contacts to change the actors’ eye color and it was felt by the folks running the show that on the close up medium of television contact lenses hide a person’s ablility to convey emotion with their eyes.
So since they wanted those emotions to come through, they decided to leave the eye color of the actors alone. It is not a lack of attention to detail, just a simple fact that everything written can not always be translated on screen.
Source: Zedd, admin/mod at terrygoodkind.com, September 13, 2008
Regarding how the series got it’s name:
Keep in mind this is a series based on, inspired by The Sword of Truth Series.
For that very reason, we had to change the name. “Wizards First Rule”, only deals with the first book, while this series will eventually encompass the series as a whole ( and mayhap a full feature film spin off ), so calling it Wizards First Rule would not work (Actually it was TOR who wanted the name WFR to begin with, Not Terry, but he had no clout back then.. After he gained clout, look how well and better he did…once he was able to control what Tor did)
Now, the new title “Legend of the Seeker” encompasses the nature of what the story is about. Richard Rahl, the Seeker, and the adventures that follow.
Source: Mystar, an admin/mod at terrygoodkind.com, July 26, 2008
A bit about how the show got started:
Terry suggested some time ago to Sam that rather than a movie, the better route would be a made for t.v. series. That would allow for “more” story telling. It would allow for “more” of the fleshing out of the characters, places, events…AND allow for more to the story[s].
So, Sam, Rob and Co. were again astounded at Terry’s insights and were immediately on board with that. It was such an insightful and stellar value point, ABC/Disney just had to have it. SO in Jan of 2008, while I was here in Vegas, The bidding war went into over drive… Much like the record breaking offer Terry received for his Debut Opus “Wizards First Rule” (A record which still stands to this day); this also was a record breaker…
BUT ABC/Disney would not be denied. “We know a block buster when we see it”… This also is fleshed out in the aspect that even BEFORE any hype, trailers or much of anything, this series has been picked up in over 98% of the markets…again a record breaker, and stunning ABC/Disney.
Source: Mystar, an admin/mod at terrygoodkind.com, July 26, 2008