Using the brief Easter holiday break in the sessions of the National Assembly of Serbia, the cast and crew of Coriolanus spent three days shooting on the premises of the national parliament building. Director Ralph Fiennes will continue the filming on other locations across Belgrade after a two-day break.
The odd passer-by who might have been walking past the Assembly building on Sunday, could see a large group of people involved in a fake political protest, being filmed for a scene from Fiennes’ adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Coriolanus. The Serbian Assembly will represent the Roman Senate building in the modern-day version of the classic tragedy. Veljko Odalovic, the Assembly secretary, says the crew filmed most of the scenes planned to be shot in or around the building.
– “The rest of the scenes will most probably be shot on 17 and 18 April, which will complete the shooting at the Assembly. Over the weekend the scenes were mostly shot outside the Assembly, while there had been no interior adaptations for the indoor scenes. Director Fiennes has said the Serbian Assembly building was chosen for the scene as the most consistent venue to play the part of the Senate,†Veljko Odalovic says for Blic.
Gerard Butler is expected to join the crew shortly, as the Scottish actor plays the part of Tullus Aufidius, the general of the Volscian army and the sworn enemy of Coriolanus, played by Ralph Fiennes himself.
Butler’s first career audition was for the role of Coriolanus in a London theatre, as he comments on the latest rendition of the tragedy.
– “This is a brilliant adaptation and it will be a great honour for me to work alongside Fiennes, Vanessa Redgrave and Brian Cox. Ralph is a wonderful man and a genius with a tremendous passion for this project. Given he plays the part of Coriolanus, and I play his enemy Tullus Aufidius, Ralph has been calling me Tullus,†Gerard Butler said recently and says he has been working out regularly to prepare for the role.