Roma Downey & Cast of THE DOVEKEEPERS Talks CBS Event Series

THE DOVEKEEPERS, a limited event series from Executive Producers Roma Downey and Mark Burnett, will be broadcast Tuesday, March 31 and Wednesday, April 1 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT, each night) on the CBS Television Network. It stars Cote de Pablo, Rachel Brosnahan and Kathryn Prescott in the title dovekeeper roles; Sam Neill as first-century Jewish scholar and historian Josephus; and Diego Boneta as a star warrior of the Jewish army at Masada. The series is based on Alice Hoffman's bestselling, critically acclaimed historical novel about a group of extraordinary women whose lives intersect in a fight for survival at the Siege of Masada.

Set in ancient Israel, THE DOVEKEEPERS is based on the true events when 960 Jews sought refuge at Masada, a mountain fortress in the Judean desert, after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 C.E. Though outnumbered 10 to one, they held out for months against a vast Roman army. The project recounts the events from the perspective of a few extraordinary women who arrive at Masada with unique backstories, but a common bond for survival.

The Genesis of the Project

"I completely fell in love with the novel, THE DOVEKEEPERS written by Alice Hoffman, while reading it on a flight to Europe a couple of years ago," shared Downey. "I simply couldn't put the book down... I found the story gripping and exciting. I was so profoundly moved by it that I was weeping openly on the plane, the flight attendant even checked in on me to see if I was okay. When I returned home I immediately reached out to Alice Hoffman to secure the rights and took the idea in to CBS Entertainment Chairman Nina Tassler and said, 'I have this wonderful book THE DOVEKEEPERS I know it will make an incredible movie as it tells the story of the Siege of Masada - but it tells it through the lives of these strong and courageous women. History is most often written by men about men but this is a story told through the lives of these incredible women.' Coincidently, Nina Tassler had just returned from Masada and responded to the new spin on this story. She loved the idea and wanted it for CBS. So we got together and made this gorgeous four-hour event. On one hand, THE DOVEKEEPERS is big and epic, exciting and dangerous, yet on the other hand, it's intimate, poignant and profoundly moving. Alice Hoffman has been involved from the beginning and incredibly helpful throughout. She has, of course, watched all four hours and told us that she loves it. I think the audience is going to just fall in love with this, as they will relate to the humanity in these extraordinary characters. Everyone will relate to the story of THE DOVEKEEPERS. Ultimately, it is a love story set against this dark moment in history."

"Set in the first century, the Jews were being persecuted by the Romans' oppressive regime," added Downey. "When the Romans invaded Jerusalem, more than 900 Jews escaped and found the 'unreachable fortress' of Masada, where they started a new life. They believed they'd be safe there. They worked together, had friendships and love affairs - everything that would happen in a small community. They thought that they were going to be left alone... But then it became clear to the people at Masada that the Roman Legion was coming to get them."

Having Visited the Real Masada

Like Tassler, Downey and Burnett each visited Masada and were moved by it, which added to the appeal of producing THE DOVEKEEPERS. Cote de Pablo also traveled to Masada several years ago and felt fortunate to be able to draw from that experience when preparing for her role. "It's a remarkable place on top of a mountain. It's much higher than everything around it, and you can see The Dead Sea from one end and the desert on the other," said de Pablo. "To think that the people there resisted an army like the Roman Legion... You wonder, 'How could they go through that?'"

As Downey noted when she pitched Tassler, the female point of view in Hoffman's book was especially interesting to her: "Being an actress myself for many years, I know that we actresses often complain - and rightfully so - that there just aren't enough incredible, strong, courageous roles for women. And THE DOVEKEEPERS provides not just one, but several amazing female roles. History, I think, has often been told only from the experiences of men, and to have this period of history told through the lives of these women makes this a very unique telling of this story. And for our beautiful cast of female leads - Cote de Pablo, Rachel Brosnahan and Kathryn Prescott - we have really extraordinary roles. We see their friendships, and we take this journey with them."

Brosnahan also enjoyed the book's focus on resilient women, and found the novel to be particularly useful in preparing to play the contemplative yet impulsive character Yael. "The script remains true to the book in so many ways, but it's the book that provides a wealth of vivid descriptions of Yael's every thought and emotion. So it gave me a beautiful outline... Yael barely says anything at all in the book; Shirah speaks a lot more. They balance each other very well and have a lot to teach each other."

Said de Pablo, "I love the book. I finished it in two days. I was so touched by the story. I said, 'I have to be part of this.' We've made a couple of changes from the book - condensing it a bit - but it's still an effective and beautiful telling of the story... Shirah is flawed, certainly, but her heart has this integrity. I love that these women are complex and imperfect and that their love is big and unconditional."

Added Prescott, "The characters are fictional, but the events are real, and it's set in a time when women were pushed to the side - not seen as important. So the book is a nice contrast to that, since the women are strong characters who fight against the norms of that time... I was immediately attracted to my character, Aziza, because she's not comfortable in her own skin as a woman. She wants to be a warrior; she's really skilled in battle. She defies the stereotypes of that time." Prescott also likes that Yael is a kindred spirit to Aziza, noting that they're both outcasts who bond soon after Yael first joins Aziza and her mother, Shirah, at the dovecote.

Boneta, who plays a Sicarii warrior at Masada, said, "I really like how the book and script balance the love stories of the strong dovekeeper characters with the action in the battle scenes. I think this production will appeal to a wide audience." As for his role of Amram, Boneta particularly enjoyed the challenges of playing someone who undergoes a fairly drastic psychological transformation. "His story arc is really interesting because he starts off as the sweet, loving brother to Yael and ends up being greatly changed by war. That was a twist I didn't see coming when I read the story."

Real-Life First-Century Historian Josephus

Though Sam Neill was not familiar with Josephus prior to this project, he was intrigued by what he learned while reading about him. "This is someone who is actually Jewish but in order to survive he has become more Roman. It's an interesting way into the character... He must have had extraordinarily mixed feelings about what happened at Masada."

The Appeal and Efforts Involved in Filming a Period Piece

In addition to their fondness for the book and story, the cast members were excited that THE DOVEKEEPERS is set in ancient times.

"I couldn't stop playing with the swords and didn't want to take my armor off," laughed Boneta. "I've been collecting swords since I was 8 years old, and it was always one of my dreams to play a warrior in a period piece. I'm a history buff and have read numerous books on Roman history and Greek history and Alexander the Great - and most of my favorite movies are set back then, like 'Gladiator.' I think part of me wishes I lived in ancient times! I even asked our director [Yves Simoneau] if I could help design Amram's weapons, which I did with the production designer [Giles Masters]." Boneta added, "I've really been blown away by the sets and wardrobe and the hair and makeup. The leather work and armor work is amazing - all of the details are. Having Roma [Downey] and Mark [Burnett] on set spearheading the project was amazing. They're great people and they've had a lot of experience telling these kinds of epic stories."

"I've done many period pieces over the years, but this is the first with a toga and sandals," said Neill. "I have a new appreciation for the technique of that wardrobe. It takes a lot of effort not to have the toga unravel! That was a major fear -- that the toga would unravel in front of Cote and Rachel," laughed Neill. "It's kind of a loincloth on steroids, but once you're in costume, you're transported to that time in a curious way."

"I always wanted to do a period piece and wear a long flowing wig," de Pablo laughed. "It was fun. And we were so lucky to be working with [Costume Designer] Delphine White. She's terrific and had done a lot of research on that period of time. She was constantly reminding us girls that we have to wear the veils. Of course, we're modern girls, so we kept protesting, 'Can we please play the scene without the veil?' Then we got used to it, and were asking, 'Where's the veil?!' Delphine dyed all of the fabrics and had to make everything look worn because these people didn't have endless amounts of clothing. So, we were wearing sort of the same things all the time. And there were these little touches that were done on purpose - at first, I was thinking, 'Oh, someone forgot to hem this.' But, no, it was all incredibly precise; that's the way she wanted it."

Brosnahan concurred, "The costumes are incredible. Delphine did such an impeccable job with the authenticity and with expanding the color palette to emphasize each character's unique identity. And the armor is spectacular, made out of leather and these intricate metal designs. Even the sandals were all hand made in Malta. It's exciting for me as a performer to feel so transformed by the costumes."

"It was nice working with the elaborate period costumes, and with Aziza there were big wardrobe changes," said Prescott. As for the setting, she added, "My first day on set was kind of breathtaking. Most of the work I'd done prior to this was in big indoor studios or at modern locations. With the buildings and sets in Malta I was able to immediately get into that time and place, because I was surrounded by it. I'm really grateful that we got to go to Malta to shoot this. The Masada set was real ruins of a fort that they built around to make it look like it was inhabited."

The Benefits of Filming in Malta

Prescott was not alone in believing that filming in Malta added an extra layer of authenticity that not only gives the production a rich look, but also helped them feel like they were in another era. Much of the filming was done at the centuries-old Fort Ricasoli, which served as the location for the Masada and Jerusalem scenes. (See THE DOVEKEEPERS feature on the creators' insights into the production and costume design for more details about Fort Ricasoli.)

"The fact that we filmed in Malta was pretty appealing," said de Pablo. "The sets and surroundings were beautiful. At our Masada set where our characters live, the stone walls were very thick and were hundreds of years old. It was magical to shoot in a place like that, because it really felt like we were in a bit of a time capsule."

"Malta's absolutely beautiful and it has so much rich history that being here has made it so easy to transport back in time," agreed Brosnahan. "The old buildings that are part of our Masada set are incredible, and for Yael's journey to Masada from Jerusalem, I shot some scenes in a big cave on the side of a mountain overlooking the water. It was so spectacular, and not having seen the cave before we shot the scenes was actually a gift, because it meant we showed up and there's a level of spontaneity that comes from just reacting to your environment. It was very, very hot, which has added another layer of authenticity. We found ourselves having to pretend very little," she chuckles.

"The locations were really impressive," agreed Boneta. "There's just something about Europe and the Mediterranean -- there's just so much history and culture there. It's not surprising that many epic movies have been shot at Fort Ricasoli, like 'Gladiator' and 'Troy,' among others."

"I was happy to be filming in Malta again," said Neill. "The Maltese are nice people, and it's an interesting place because it's the intersection of all of the Mediterranean cultures and there's lots of history there. There are Neolithic ruins that are even more ancient than Masada."

Training for Their Roles as Warriors

Both Boneta and Prescott had to train for their warrior scenes in THE DOVEKEEPERS.

"I wanted to train and rehearse as much as possible," relayed Boneta. "I got there about three weeks prior to shooting to train with our stunt coordinator, Jean Frenette, who has done amazing work in other epic movies, like '300.' I trained for four hours a day with stunt guys going through the battle scene choreography. I'm a black belt in taekwondo, which helped a lot. It was mainly knife fighting and sword play. I had to learn a bit of archery, but my character's main focus is the dagger, since he's a Sicarii warrior, which translates from Latin to 'dagger men.'"

"I used to do a lot of martial arts, and that definitely helped when I was training for this," said Prescott, who trained with a sword and did some archery training for about two weeks prior to production. "I also had to learn how to ride a horse. Though you never see Aziza galloping, so I didn't train to go that fast."

Boneta chose to prepare for his role as a warrior from an emotional perspective, as well. "My character is definitely impacted by the horrors of battle, and I really wanted to understand what that meant. My uncle is a doctor in the U.S. Army, so I was able to sit down with some amazing people and pick their brains and understand what they went through. It was amazing. I also met a former French Legionnaire from the Special Forces. The stories that he told me - and just the look in his eyes, his stare - you could tell he had seen things that no one else had seen or would want to see. That information was so valuable."

Working with Real Birds in Their Dovekeeper Roles

Prescott, de Pablo and Brosnahan learned from local dove trainer Philip Carbonaro how to hold doves as well as white pigeons, which were sometimes used in lieu of doves. It was an important part of life at Masada to look after the doves. Housed in dovecotes, dove droppings were used as fertilizer to help yield better harvests.

"Doves are such beautiful animals and they're very peaceful," said Brosnahan. "They're exactly like what they symbolize, though they are a bit fussy when you hold them wrong. I found that if they relax they'll just sit in your hands; they're really sweet. Having real doves added so much to the scenes."

"At first I was scared and didn't want to hold a dove, but I was told if you sort of swaddle it tight like a baby, it feels safe and supported. It worked," smiled Prescott.

"When we'd let the doves go outdoors, my question was, 'Where are the doves going?'" said de Pablo. "Then I found out that they are trained to go back home. And I learned that doves mate for life, which, of course, killed me - the hopeless romantic that I am!"

Working with Additional Animals on Set

Another hit on set with actors and crew members alike was Tedy, a sweet 7-month-old donkey who appears among some elder donkeys, mules, goats and human extras in the Masada scenes. Less admired were some of the camels in the desert scenes, that were "kind of mean," said Brosnahan. Still, she said, working with animals keeps actors spontaneous. "One of the goats wouldn't stop bleating and had to be removed from a scene and, I'm disappointed not to have witnessed it, but one of the donkeys got loose and was running around base camp wreaking havoc. There was never a dull moment!" she laughed.

The Takeaways and Relatability of This Story

"What we see in this story is that in spite of the awfulness of the times that they were living in, love is ultimately stronger than hate, courage is ultimately stronger than fear, and the power of surviving is more powerful than war," shared Downey. "So, I think that as tragic as the story is - and it is a sad story - at its heart it's heroic and courageous. I think that people are really going to respond to that."

Boneta added, "The Siege of Masada is not unlike many of the atrocities going on around the world today, 2,000 years later. Our project is a love story set during a war, so it focuses on the people, not on the event. That makes it more intimate and universal and timeless." Prescott agreed, adding, "So much of the story is driven by the characters and what's happening to them, which makes it more relatable."

"The stakes are enormously high for these people - everything is truly life or death," said Brosnahan. "But the story is about love, courage, perseverance, loss and self-discovery, and everyone can relate to that."

To post a comment, you must register and login.