Cast Used Fake Cigarettes During Filming in Wales
Oliver Chris, who portrays James Vereker in the Disney+ series Rivals, revealed that the cast was initially confused when provided with plastic cigarettes on set. This was due to a workplace smoking ban in Wales, where parts of the series were filmed.
Chris described his role as the self-centred TV presenter James Vereker as a pleasure, noting the character's consistently unpleasant nature.
About the Series and Filming Locations
Rivals is based on the second novel of Dame Jilly Cooper's Rutshire Chronicles and features a notable cast including Danny Dyer, David Tennant, and Emily Atack.
Although the story is set in the fictional Cotswolds town of Rutshire, filming took place in Wales for both seasons. Llanhennock House, a seven-bedroom country house in Monmouthshire, served as a set during the first season. For the second series, Foxfield, an £8 million mansion with a pond and tennis court, was used as the residence of Danny Dyer's character Freddie.
Speaking to Behnaz Akhgar on Radio Wales, Chris recalled the experience of filming in Freddie's house in Wales.
Smoking Ban Impact on Production
"In Wales it's illegal to smoke in the work place, and that includes TV sets.
So in Rivals where everyone is smoking all the time, we all had to have e-cigarettes when we filmed in the house.
If you go back to those episodes, everyone is smoking fake cigarettes and I don't know if they digitally changed them afterwards.
But I remember everyone being very confused when they were handing us these odd plastic numbers," he said.
Character and Actor Insights
Dame Jilly Cooper's novel Rivals reached a wider audience when adapted into the successful Disney+ TV series.
Oliver Chris's character, James Vereker, is known for regularly cheating on his wife Lizzie, played by Katherine Parkinson.
"Working on Rivals was total and unbridled joy and a pleasure to play someone who was unremittingly horrible all the time.
To exercise all your worst characteristics in a safe space is so nice. I can get it out all on the set and then come home," he added.
Author's Involvement and Feedback
In May, Laura Wade, the show's writer and executive producer, shared that Dame Jilly Cooper provided feedback during production, including a memorable comment about the portrayal of her characters.
"We were so lucky to have Jilly… You would expect someone to be quite strict about what you do with their key characters, and she really wasn't.
She would tell us, if I was making Rupert [Campbell-Black] cry too often, that was one of her favourites – 'stop making my macho men cry all the time'."
She said Dame Jilly was like a ray of human sunshine, but had one memorable piece of criticism of the show.
