The Serpent’s Jenna Coleman reveals the cast feared they were ‘cursed’

‘So many things went wrong!’: The Serpent’s Jenna Coleman reveals cast feared they were ‘cursed’ and explains the parts set in India were actually shot in Hertfordshire

Jenna Coleman has spoken about how the cast feared they were cursed while they filmed true crime thriller, The Serpent. 

The actress, 34, plays the girlfriend of conman and murderer Charles Sobhraj, (Tahar Rahim), who preyed on and murdered Western tourists throughout Southeast Asia during the 1970s.   

Appearing on Table Manners with Jessie Ware, Jenna revealed why a string of setbacks made the cast think they were ‘cursed’ and that the BBC drama was never filmed in India, and instead was shot mainly in Bangkok, Thailand and Tring, Hertfordshire. 

Superstitious: Jenna Coleman has spoken about how the cast feared they were cursed while they filmed the true crime thriller The Serpent

Jenna portrays the timid Marie-Andrée as well as her alter ego, Monique, who helps boyfriend Charles trap his victims on their travels. 

Discussing filming, she said: ‘This job was the job we all call it ‘The Serpent curse’, so many things went wrong in the filming of it, so there was this whole other element that went into it. 

‘The shoot was supposed to take four months, it then took 13, so we all got to know each other really, really well. 

‘It’s so weird for me now when I see people freaked out or scared of Tahar because he could not be more opposite to that character.’

Criminals: Jenna portrays the timid Marie-Andrée as well as her alter ego, Monique, who helps boyfriend Charles trap his victims on their travels

Criminals: Jenna portrays the timid Marie-Andrée as well as her alter ego, Monique, who helps boyfriend Charles trap his victims on their travels

The former Doctor Who star previously revealed how cast members ‘went to the temples to get the curse lifted’ after filming was halted due to the monsoon season and then the coronavirus pandemic. 

Jenna continued: ‘Our director, what does he call it? ‘The Making of Michelangelo The Sistine Chapel’, because they were trying to make it for years and years and years. 

‘It began, but it was the monsoon season, so it was Kanit house, we shot everything there first. 

‘We’d be doing all these party scenes, and within 2 minutes, you’d get downpour Monsoon rain, everyone ran inside. Have to quickly shoot something else. 

Cursed? The former Doctor Who star previously revealed how cast members 'went to the temples to get the curse lifted' after filming was halted due to the monsoon season

Cursed? The former Doctor Who star previously revealed how cast members ‘went to the temples to get the curse lifted’ after filming was halted due to the monsoon season 

‘Where’s the monkey? Let’s shoot the monkey. And also, the Bangkok market scenes and things like that, we’re just rocking up. 

‘We’re in all the real life of Bangkok there and shooting. I mean it was so much.’

Jenna continued how Tahar went to film another project but arrived back ‘bald and really skinny’.

Setbacks: Jenna said: 'This job was the job we all call it 'The Serpent curse', so many things went wrong in the filming of it, so there was this whole other element that went into it'

Setbacks: Jenna said: ‘This job was the job we all call it ‘The Serpent curse’, so many things went wrong in the filming of it, so there was this whole other element that went into it’

The actress said: ‘I just remember, he looked at me like “okay this is it”, and suddenly we watched the news and it was like “coronavirus, borders in Paris might be beginning to shut”. 

‘So we had four days left to shoot in Bangkok, and then we got our call sheets and then it was actually “you’re flying home”. 

‘We had four days left there, had to shoot in Budapest, got flown home, sat tight for 5/ 6 months, then in August we went to finish it. But we finished it in all places in Tring in Hertfordshire.’ 

The Serpent airs on Sunday, February 14 at 9pm on BBC One, with all episodes available now on BBC iPlayer. 

Changes: Jenna said she had to shoot in Tring in Hertfordshire after filming in Bangkok was suspended due to the pandemic

Changes: Jenna said she had to shoot in Tring in Hertfordshire after filming in Bangkok was suspended due to the pandemic 

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