大象传媒

It stars some of the best known actors of TV and theatre and hundreds of extras, but The Hollow Crown: The War of the Roses also features a stable of performers that contribute to the credibility and authenticity of the tale... horses. How would Richard III have ever uttered his famous dying plea without the mention of a trusty steed?

Horse Master Sam Dent told us straight from the horses mouth what it was like to work on this epic Shakespeare adaptation.

A horse drop, or a horse fall, is where you are cantering along, when the horse acts as if it’s been hit by an arrow, flips, and falls on the floor with the rider as well. The horse that was used was called Peter. He’s specifically trained for falling. He doesn’t do the general shots of riding and galloping. It’s a process of training, but once they get it, it’s like riding a bike to them; they just know exactly what to do.

This one in particular is a rearing mechanical horse. For this particular scene, Blunt comes and stabs Richard III’s horse in the side. It rears up and he falls off. This mechanical horse is for when we get the close-ups of Benedict rearing. We can’t have him on a real horse, but you can get the feel of it.

The actors were great. Benedict did most of it himself, as did Luke (Treadaway), who’s playing Richmond. In the conditions we had to do it, all of them did such a great job. It’s all about making it look real. You have to blag it! You could have one horse that could mess everything up!

Luke was very keen from the start. It’s always a help when the actors really want to do it. He picked things up quickly, which helped of course, but he put so much effort into it and stayed until he got things right. It’s paid off. In one shot he was cantering along and he had ten to fifteen extras charging and screaming behind him. They’re in full battle mode. He was at the front leading the charge, with a tracking vehicle in front of him. The fact that he’s only ever done that four times just goes to show how much effort he put in, because he pulled it completely out of the bag.

It depends on their temperament. With some horses, after six months training, I would be happy to put an actor on them and have them cantering across a field. With others, you wonder why you bought them!

It depends on the horse!