Where was The Serpent Queen on Starz filmed?

Starz’s “The Serpent Queen” is a period drama series created by Justin Haythe that follows the life of Catherine de’ Medici, an Italian noblewoman born into the Medici family. The series is based on the non-fiction book “Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France,” which was published in 2004 by Leonie Frieda. She was an orphan when she got married in the 16th century, and her new husband had high hopes that she would produce heirs and bring a substantial dowry with her. However, Catherine learns that her husband is already in love with another woman who is significantly older than she is. She finds out that she is unable to conceive children, which makes an already difficult situation even more difficult for her.

Despite all of these obstacles, Catherine is able to keep her marriage together and govern for a total of thirty long years. By breaching the so-called “fourth wall,” she delivers an immersive viewing experience, which in turn keeps us hooked on the series. She also lets the audience in on the story she is telling. Additionally, the setting of the 16th century as well as the backdrop of vast halls and palaces makes one want to learn all about the filming locations of ‘The Serpent Queen.’ If you are a person who is naturally inquisitive, then you might be interested in the information that we have to offer.

Locations Used for Filming “The Serpent Queen”

Filming locations for “The Serpent Queen” include a number of locations in France and Italy, including Marseille, Amboise, Chambord, Chenonceaux, Villandry, and Castel Gandolfo. According to the latest information available, principal photography for the first instalment of the historical series began in April 2021 and continued through September of the same year. According to the showrunner, Erwin Stoff, who was interviewed by Cinemablend in September 2022, the fact that the filming for season 1 took place during the COVID-19 epidemic was actually beneficial to the filming unit. This information was provided by Stoff.

Stoff remarked, “The odd thing is, despite how challenging it was to shoot during COVID, COVID was actually quite helpful to us.” Because each of those settings has never been used before as a shooting site… due to the fact that they are often crowded with visitors. Therefore, as a result of COVID, there were no tourists, and the people were in critical need of financial support. Therefore, we had the opportunity to shoot within Catherine’s actual living quarters, which included the rooms, halls, and gardens. Therefore, both for us and the programme, that turned out to be a really fortunate break. Now, without further ado, please allow us to teach you everything there is to know about the individual locales that appear throughout the series!

Marseille, France

It would appear that the production crew of ‘The Serpent Queen’ has established a base of operations in Marseille, which is the second most populous city in France, in order to film a few sequences for the series. Because of its location on the coast of the Gulf of Lion and close proximity to the mouth of the Rhône river, Marseille is recognised for having a culture that is distinct from the rest of France and sets it apart from the rest of the country. It is also known as a regional centre for culture and leisure and is home to a number of museums that are related to maritime history and history overall.

Amboise, France

A town in the middle of France called Amboise serves as the setting for a number of significant passages in “The Serpent Queen.” In the French region of Indre-et-Loire, the town of Amboise is well-known for the Clos Lucé manor house, which was once home to the illustrious Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci. In addition, there is a historical fountain from the 20th century that was created by Max Ernst and is located just in front of the market.

Different Regions Throughout France

The cast and crew of ‘The Serpent Queen’ make use of real historical chateaux that are dispersed over France in order to accurately recreate the enormous chateaus that were widespread in France during the 16th century. These chateaux are used in a variety of settings. Several significant scenes are filmed on location in and around the Chateau de Chambord and the Chateau de Chenonceau, both of which are located in the commune of Chambord and the commune of Chenonceaux, respectively. In addition, the series makes extensive use of the Chateau de Villandry, which is situated at 3 Rue Principale in the town of Villandry and serves as an important production location.

Castel Gandolfo is located in Italy

The production crew of “The Serpent Queen” even goes so far as to visit the town of Castel Gandolfo, which is located in the Lazio area of Italy, in order to shoot scenes there. To record the situations that take place in Italy, in particular, they make use of the facilities located within the Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo on Piazza della Libertà. In the interview that was mentioned earlier, Liv Hill, who plays Catherine, discussed her experience of filming in the real-life settings where her character had previously resided.

“…Then when we travelled to Italy to film for five days, we were the first people to ever have filmed at the Papal Palace,” claimed the actress. So that was wonderful. That was definitely the most exciting part for me. I’ve never been on a set that was quite so opulent before, and if I weren’t an actress, I definitely never would have done something like that anyhow.

About the Creator Justin Haythe

Justin Haythe is an American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. He was born on September 16, 1973 in the United States. Harper’s Magazine was the venue for the initial publication of his short tale. In 2004, his novel “The Honeymoon” was included on the long list of contenders for “The Booker Prize.” He penned the scripts for the movies “The Clearing,” which was released in 2004, “Revolutionary Road,” which was released in 2008, and “Red Sparrow,” which was released in 2018. He had a hand in the production of the action movies “Snitch” and “The Lone Ranger” in 2013, as well as the horror movie “A Cure for Wellness” in 2017.
New York City is Haythe’s place of residence.

Early Life of Justin Haythe

Haythe was born in London, and she attended both Middlebury College and The American School in London before graduating. He graduated with a Master of Fine Arts degree from Sarah Lawrence College. His first published novel, The Honeymoon, was considered for the longlist for the Man Booker Prize in 2004. Haythe intends to create another novel in the future.

Screenwriting Career

The suspense film “The Clearing” that was produced by 20th Century Fox was written by Haythe. The movie was initially made available to the public on July 2, 2004, and it was then made available on DVD on November 9, 2004. Pieter Jan Brugge helmed the production, while Robert Redford and Helen Mirren featured in it respectively.

The popular novel written by Richard Yates in 1961 and titled Revolutionary Road was the inspiration for the film of the same name, which Haythe penned the screenplay for and which starred Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, and Kathy Bates. The movie was initially shown in theatres on December 26, 2008, and it was la
ter considered for both the USC Scripter Award and the BAFTA Award for the Best Adapted Screenplay.

After that, Haythe collaborated on the screenplay for the 2013 action film Snitch, which starred Dwayne Johnson, and served as an executive producer. In 2004, Guy East and Nigel Sinclair, both of whom are partners of Spitfire Pictures, conceived of the idea for the movie. They were motivated to undertake this by a Frontline documentary that discussed how shifts in federal drug legislation in the United States encouraged inmates to give information about their co-conspirators while they were behind bars. In addition, Haythe contributed to the rewriting of The Lone Ranger, which was a re-imagining of the famous radio character that was created by Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer in 2013 and starred Armie Hammer and Johnny Depp. The screenplay was originally written by Terry Rossio and Ted Elliot, who were also responsible for writing Pirates of the Caribbean and Shrek. It featured more of a supernatural element, such as werewolves and “ghost coyotes,” but this aspect of the story was ultimately toned down in the final film.

Haythe collaborated with Lone Ranger director Gore Verbinski on the script for the science fiction psychological horror thriller film A Cure for Wellness, which was released in 2016. He contributed to the Bohemian Rhapsody screenplay by writing an early draught of the musical biography. Red Sparrow, a thriller about espionage during the Cold War that was published in 2018 and starred Jennifer Lawrence was written by him.

Filmography