A pandemic may not be the most obvious choice for comedy given recent history, but Netflix has decided to embrace the topic, albeit in a Renaissance fashion for The Decameron.
Viewers will be able to relive the highs and lows of lockdown from a 14th-century Italian perspective in this dark comedy, loosely based on Giovanni Boccaccio’s short-story collection.
The eight-part period drama follows a group of nobles and their servants who flee to a grand villa (Villa Santa) to escape the Black Death in 1348.
As the city of Florence succumbs to the plague, this exclusive group indulge in a wine-soaked and debauched holiday while they wait out the deadly pandemic.
But their lavish countryside retreat quickly descends into madness as class struggles come to the fore and they scramble for survival.
Tony Hale, who stars as Sirisco in the series, said: “When something like a plague comes along, the ground goes even. What relationships am I investing in? How am I treating people? That’s the stuff that matters.”
We take a peek behind the tapestry of The Decameron.
When is The Decameron released on Netflix?
All eight episodes of The Decameron’s raucous party launched today (25 July) on Netflix.
Who is in the cast of The Decameron?
The cast of includes some familiar faces from shows including EastEnders, Sex Education and Derry Girls.
Amar Chadha-Patel
He plays Dioneo, physician and companion to nobleman Tindaro. Dioneo uses his relationship with Tindaro to gain access to the luxurious life of the noble class to which he doesn’t necessarily belong.
Speaking about his role, he said: “He’s a complex guy, indeed: a sort of self-professed Lothario who exists in a strange purgatory between nobility and the merchant class that he’s actually from.
“The reality of him is that he believes that he deserves a place in the world of the nobles because he’s built that for himself. But by nature of birth, he’s not.”
The 38-year-old actor has previously been in Willow, The Wheel of Time and The Third Day.
Tony Hale
Hale takes on the role of Sirisco, affable, ill-prepared and eager-to-please steward of Villa Santa. “If you think of Downton Abbey, I’m kind of, I guess, like Mr Carson,” he said. The 53-year-old American actor has appeared in Arrested Development and won an Emmy for HBO comedy Veep.
Leila Farzad
Farzad appears in the show as Stratilia, cook, servant and stalwart backbone of Villa Santa. “She stays quiet while brimming with knowledge about all of them, and how it’s all going to go disastrously wrong,” she said. The 42-year-old has previously appeared in the Sky Atlantic series I Hate Suzie and BBC crime drama Better.
Lou Gala
She plays Neifile, a God-fearing and highly libidinous woman of paradoxes who arrives at the villa with her husband, Panfilo, Discussing her role, Gala said “in her mind, there is only God” but the reality in the villa is completely different. The 29-year-old actress made her name in television series Julia and film Pourquoi je vis.
Douggie McMeekin
McMeekin stars as Tindaro, a rich nobleman from a prominent family with an insufferable attitude and a blunt disdain for women. “He’s pretty open about absolutely everything to the point where it’s like, ‘Dude, calm down,’” said the British actor, who is known for Chernobyl, Harlots and The Crown. Also starring in the show are:
- Karan Gill as Panfilo (I May Destroy You, Screw, Ladhood)
- Saoirse-Monica Jackson as Misia (Derry Girls, Upgraded, The Flash)
- Zosia Mamet as Pampinea (The Flight Attendant, Girls, Madame Web)
- Jessica Plummer as Filomena (The Girl Before, EastEnders, The After)
- Tanya Reynolds as Lisica (Sex Education, Emma, Delicious)
Where was The Decameron filmed?
The Italian period piece was filmed on location in Rome, using the city’s Cinecittà Studios. According to magazine Variety, the production took up a swathe of the Cinecittà backlot where the core of the Villa Santa’s interiors were constructed in Studio 5, known as the late filmmaker Federico Fellini’s second home.
Other portions of the villa were built on the Studio 4 and Studio 11 sound stages.
Hale said: “Gosh, I really did a deep dive on Rome … I would go to the Coliseum and the [Roman] Forum.. My family came, and we went on this Vespa tour. The whole thing was really special.”
Chadha-Patel revealed being in Rome when you have to remain physically fit did pose something of a problem.
He said: “I put myself through this rigorous training routine where I didn’t want to look ridiculous, but I wasn’t really eating pasta or pizza. And we shot in Rome, so that was hard.”