The second and final season of Carnival Row premieres on Prime Video today, and star Orlando Bloom discussed filming the second season in the Czech Republic through the turbulent Covid-19 pandemic in promotional interviews.

Bloom had some kind words to say about the city of Prague, which is where both seasons of Carnival Row filmed from 2017-2021. The actor called the Czech capital home for a great deal of that span.

The Czech capital plays The Burghe in the series, the central city where much of its story takes place. Sets for the series were created at Barrandov Studio.

“Being able to go on location in Prague was really wonderful,” Bloom told Collider in a recent interview. “It’s a wonderful city to work in, and it was really very special.”

“It was like being on a huge movie set, in terms of the sets, the stage, and the environment. As an actor, you just want somewhere to perform. You want a great stage to work on. And the Row was just beautiful and epic and mercurial, and ever-evolving and changing.”

In addition to Barrandov Studio, Prague locations utilized in the second season of Carnival Row include the Hradčanská area in Prague 6, Prague Market (Pražská tržnice) in Prague 7, and the nearby towns of Nelahozeves and Toušeň.

Production of the series also took place at locations throughout the Czech Republic.

In March 2020, however, the future of Carnival Row was uncertain. The Czech Republic had begun to introduce some major restrictions to limit the spread of coronavirus that would have a major impact on the show’s production.

Bloom called Amazon Studios head Jen Salke to discuss the production’s future, he told Flaunt Magazine.

“If you want us to hang, I’m down, because I love what we’re doing and I don’t see it as a big threat,” Bloom recalls telling Syke. But within weeks, the production of Carnival Row in Prague was shut down, with foreign cast and crew returning home. Five of its eight episodes had been filmed.

Bloom returned to the United Kingdom, and that summer he welcomed the birth of his daughter with partner Katy Perry. But uncertainty surrounded him.

“I kind of felt the fear all around me, this palpable sense of fear in everyone, that was also being proclaimed through social media and over the news,” he told Flaunt.

“I wanted to explore what it means to be on the edge of your life and basically confronting fear, because I was feeling this fear around me and not wanting to buy into that.”

While the actor’s efforts to get a new project started during the pandemic proved unsuccessful, Carnival Row would return to Prague to complete production in the summer of 2021.

Bloom said goodbye to the role of Rycroft Philostrate that September, as well as the city he called home for a good deal of the previous five years. A year later, Amazon Studios announced that the second season of Carnival Row would be its last.

But the actor might be happy to return to Prague in the future, if only for some of the city’s culinary offerings.

“What is your favorite restaurant?” The Telegraph asked Orlando Bloom in a 2020 interview.

“I love this charming place called La Finestra in Prague,” Bloom replied. “It has the whole package of food, atmosphere, and wonderful people. The salt-baked sea bass with grilled vegetables is my go-to.”

While the pandemic has resulted in a number of high-profile closures on the Prague dining scene, La Finestra in Cucina is still going strong.

The first two episodes of Carnival Row‘s second and final season are now available on Prime Video. Two additional episodes will hit the streaming service each Friday through the next four weeks.

Source