Bethesda’s cult classic post-apocalyptic franchise Fallout has finally made the leap from games to TV series, as the long-awaited show is finally streaming on Amazon Prime. The series was brought to life by Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy.
Channeling the iconic 1960s aesthetic, the show opens with a jaw-dropping nuclear explosion that would make any action movie jealous. While some fans are concerned about erasure problems with Fallout New Vegas, the show is largely acclaimed for its accurate depiction of the wasteland, for which the actors had to go through hell.
The Fallout Cast Travelled As Far As Namibia To Film
To bring the desolate wasteland to life, the cast and crew embarked on filming expeditions to various locations, like New York, New Jersey, Utah, and even the Skeleton Coast in Namibia. These locations were specifically chosen for their resemblance to the unforgiving environments of Fallout.
The cast endured some truly brutal weather conditions in the process. Actor Walton Goggins, who plays The Ghoul with the help of extensive prosthetics, shared some war stories from the filming process in an interview with Variety:
It was an incredible experience, but exhausting at the end of every day. It was f*cking hot. The very first day I put [the costume] on in New York, I think the heat index was like 104 or 105, and we went down and started shooting.
Goggins Nearly Cried Due To The Sweltering Heat
Putting on a ghoulish bounty hunter costume and shooting for hours on end in that heat certainly sounds harrowing, and Goggins admits to it:
At one point, Jonah looked over at me said, ‘I know it’s an emotional scene, but are you crying?’ I said, ‘No, man, I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ He reached up and poked my eye and water just came gushing out underneath this prosthetic.
The initial makeup process for The Ghoul was a lengthy ordeal, taking five hours initially. Thankfully, the makeup team became more efficient over time, managing to transform Goggins into the wasteland hunter in under two hours by the end of filming.
While main characters Lucy (Ella Purnell) and Maximus (Aaron Moten) didn’t require such extreme makeovers, their costumes still presented their own set of challenges. Purnell’s suit was one entire piece, which had to be taken off every time she had to use the lavatory.
Meanwhile, Moten’s battled the weight of his power armor – a staggering 120lbs. Despite the weather difficulties, though, the cast soldiered on with determination. Their efforts have born fruit, as the series has turned out to be one of the best video game adaptations ever.
