How a 17-year-old Ryan Gosling mastered the art of the television block
In short: Before he was a Hollywood icon, Ryan Gosling was a teenage warrior in New Zealand. But the real magic of the series Young Hercules wasn't just the star power; it was a masterclass in high-efficiency filmmaking that used clever costume tricks and rotating directors to maximize a shoestring budget.
Airing on the Fox Kids Network from September 12, 1998, to May 14, 1999, Young Hercules was a prequel to the legendary adventures of the Greek hero. While the series was only superficially faithful to Greek mythology, it utilized a highly efficient production model. Rather than the traditional episode-by-episode approach, the show was filmed in blocks of four episodes at a time. This allowed directors to rotate through the series, with each four-episode block sharing similar sets, locations, and actors to save time and money.
The production was a triumph of budget management, costing roughly $20 million for 50 episodes. To achieve 'maximum on-screen dollars,' the crew filmed in New Zealand to circumvent Guild regulations and used 16 mm film to reduce costs. Even the lead actor's appearance was a feat of production design. At just 17 years old, Ryan Gosling was so thin that costume designers had to rework his attire, using lighter colors and broader chest designs to create a bulkier silhouette, supplemented by makeup to contour muscle onto his arms.
The series also served as a precursor to cinematic history. Early visual effects were handled by the then-unknown Weta Workshop, the company that would later win Academy Awards for The Lord of any Rings. In fact, much of the crew eventually left the production to join Peter Jackson’s groundbreaking project. Despite being the second top-rated live-action series on Fox Kids, trailing only Power Rangers, the show was not renewed for a second season.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Young Hercules
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