AMC's original series INTO THE BADLANDS is whimsically described as a “martial arts dystopia fantasy drama” by one of its creators, Alfred Gough. Dystopian worlds have been increasingly popular, particularly in the ever popular YA (Young Adult) genre. Perhaps it's a comment on our society over the past few years. Or maybe it's a forecast of what's to come. Whatever the analogy might be, cinema is ruled by dystopian visions. Beyond AMC's own THE WALKING DEAD, many major film franchises like THE HUNGER GAMES, DIVERGENT, and PACIFIC RIM are set in dystopian futures. So where and when are the Badlands? “I joke that in the AMC universe, we're like after THE WALKING DEAD,” says Alfred. “After the zombies are all gone, humanity comes back, because obviously nobody nuked the place because it's still beautiful.”

America the Beautiful

“It's all set in the U.S. and you'll see a map this year,” reveals Al more seriously. “So you'll see where they are and, very impressively, there's a wall that divides the Badlands from what we call the outlying territories. The wall was built hundreds of years ago, not by the Barons [laughs]. It was like after last week, suddenly our show is a docudrama [Note: this interview took place in mid-November right after President Trump was elected]. So you get an idea of what the map is and what the world looks like.

“There's a lot of world outside of the Badlands. The Badlands is a version of like when China was five territories that were brought under rule by the first emperor and then you have standardized roads and standardized money. It's the idea that they sort of came together, so it's brutal but there's order to it. And then when you get to the outlying territories where Sunny is, and Bajie, it's just kind of a free for all. Where the Badlands is kind of beautiful, the outlying territories is more like Mumbai. You get that feeling like, 'Oh, this is the world where nobody has come in and organized it.' So whether you like organization or not, the Badlands at least has a sort of government structure. And it works for them. And then you have the Abbots, and they have their own velocity about their place in the world and whether or not they should or shouldn't get involved in the affairs of what goes on down below.

“And so we're like 492 years in the future. It wasn't like they dropped a bomb or they did a thing. It's just like, 'Look at the world – it went to hell.' They elected fascists and suddenly the world goes to hell. But it's a combination of overcrowding and global warming. If you look at the map of the Badlands, we actually took the U.S. map and somebody on staff, their husband was a climatologist. We said, 'Just give us an idea in 500 years, with the polar ice,' assuming we're going the way we're going, like, 'Where's the water?' Like in the U.S., what's here and what's water and where would this be? It's all sort of projections and science fiction and stuff. So we sort of have what I would call a Michael Crichton-esque [view] of what the country could look like, even though he was a total climate change denier, but whatever. Weird to me but we have that idea. And we don't talk much about the past because it's not like we sit here in 2016 and talk about 1492. Nobody cares. In this world, you'll see more remnants, without getting too cliché in that post-apocalyptic way.”

From Creole to Celtic

But where are the Badlands really? Outside the dystopian studio sets, Season One of INTO THE BADLANDS was filmed in New Orleans. When watching that first season, the subtropical heat is palpable. All of the actors are constantly sweaty and the scenes shot outdoors are thick with heavy humid atmosphere. Season Two moved to Ireland. The new season was shot outside of Dublin at an ample private studio dedicated exclusively to INTO THE BADLANDS, Ireland's renowned Ardmore Studios, and the vast panoramic landscapes that Ireland has to offer. “I think we've just expanded the world more,” continues Al. “We knew that was sort of inevitable, because New Orleans, you saw it, you know what I mean? As big as the show was last year, I felt it was more like world glimpsing and now we're really into world building, so you're going to get a much bigger view of the Badlands. You're going to meet more Barons. You're going to see more places. You're going to see outside of the Badlands. The show has gotten much bigger that way. There were times last year – because New Orleans was so specific – that sometimes it was like Southern-fried Kung Fu drama. And I think sometimes you forgot you were in a fantasy show, because it felt more like historical – it was like historical future – which is still there, but the world just gets much bigger and you meet different people in the world. It expands. I think we embrace the fantasy element of it more.

“We're doing more episodes and frankly we moved to Ireland because it gives us more looks. We found that last year, we were shooting SHANNARA in New Zealand – that's our other show – and BADLANDS in New Orleans and we just realized we could go outside the U.S., which will give you more looks. And so we looked at Ireland. It was just something that, again, we could do more. Our money went further. We could do more and really expand the world. So that's what we wanted to do.”

Emily Beecham, who plays The Widow, the most lethal Baroness of INTO THE BADLANDS, concurs. She enjoys the change of scenery. “Dublin is so different. The heat. Doing martial arts in New Orleans heat was a big challenge. We had to all drink electrolytes if we wanted to stay alive. Ally [Ioannides, who plays Tilda, The Widow's daughter and teenage assassin] and I have been exploring Dublin – great places to eat. Ally’s vegan so it’s got a lot of great vegan joints. Love Dublin. A really good crew. All the crew know each other from PENNY DREADFUL (2014–2016).” Emily spoke to us while on break from shooting a fight scene at Ardmore Studios. The set was hot and cramped, filled with thick theatrical smoke. “This is pretty steamy here,” she said of the set. “But then you can walk out the door and cool down. But in New Orleans, there’s nowhere to go.”

“They've been really good,” says Al of the Irish crew. “And this is not an easy show. Most of the crew here did PENNY DREADFUL, which is obviously a big show, and not easy. But then I think – I was like, 'Spoiler alert: This is going to be way harder than anything you've done.' And I think they realized that, but they've embraced it. So it's been a good fit. It's funny. Most of the shows Miles and I have done have been out of the U.S., so we work with Canadian crews and we work with New Zealand crews. Once everybody understands what the show is, the professionalism, and frankly the craftsmanship, is amazing. The costumes and the props, you just can't find that. And it's because now they've been doing VIKINGS (2013–), THE TUDORS (2007–2010), STAR WARS (2015), BRAVEHEART (1995) – all the movies and things that have come through here in the last twenty-five years, so it's been very good.”

Daniel Wu, who plays the lead role of Sunny, is an international movie star who has over seventy credits to his name and has filmed all around the world. He enjoys working in Ireland for its scenic landscapes. “It's been good. What Ireland provides for us is much more epic. We can shoot mountains. We can shoot on the coast. It's all within half an hour from here. It gives us a broader scope compared to last season in New Orleans, basically swamp and more swamp and more swamp. Now we have mountains. We don't have any of that stuff. So that was really challenging about last season because we couldn't really shoot anything wider in its dramatic scope. So this season, that kind of ups the game for the visuals of the show. So the exterior locations are amazing here. This country is so beautiful. We're able to take advantage of that and make the show look more rich.”

 

Fighting Irish

INTO THE BADLANDS is first and foremost a martial arts series, which is one of many reasons why it has earned so much attention from Kung Fu Tai Chi. According to Alfred, shooting in Ireland helped enhance the fight scenes for Season Two. “I think this year, because of the locations and the landscape, we've been able to do a lot more different fights, which is cool. Always the challenge with the show is, when you're doing an episode, what is the concept of the fight? Who's fighting? We promise there will be a great array of fights.

“We did a big location scout before we officially came here and had a lot of pictures and looked at a lot of locations. Even the sets we built this year, we built them to be more fight friendly, which is probably something else where there was a learning curve. The sets we had last year, you know, that Wall Street set, which is where we did the Rain fight and the Abbot fight, was a set. That wasn't outside. And that was something we were planning to do outside, and we're like we'll never be able to match weather. We can't control enough, so we ended up building that. But then when we built it, in order to make it work financially, we had to put three fights on it. So it was the Rain fight, and then it was the fight where he's chasing the doll through the tops of the balcony things, there was that. Then we did the Abbot fight there as well, which turned out great. Doing a fight on the same location isn't ideally what you want to do. One's a fight in the rain. One's with freaky Abbots with super chi. So that's been fun. The first thing we did when we got the location pictures is we looked at places where we could do fights, and that was a big part of it.

“And I also think that what you'll see this year is there's a lot more integration of the drama and the fighting. I think last year when you were setting up the characters, a lot of times you have the thing, and then you stop and you do an action sequence and then you go back to the drama. As the season went on, the drama got more integrated. So I think this year it's even more integrated. And also, last year it was really kind of Sunny and the Widow doing the bulk of the fighting and this year everybody gets into the action. It gets our hands dirty. And also for us it was how do we mix up the styles of the fights, so that you'll see more comedic fights? Obviously there's still this sort of bloody Widow fights, and then with M.K. this year at the end of the season, the Abbots got him. They put him in a trunk. They're going to take him to this monastery which is way up in the mountains. You'll see some of that and I think that gives you more of the CROUCHING TIGER kind of vibe, the more real 'wire fu,' which obviously all of the fights have, but you get a little more of that fantastic element to it."

 

Coming Home to the Badlands

For Orla Brady, who plays Lydia, Season Two was a homecoming. Brady, a veteran actress with over fifty credits, mostly in television, was born Ireland and schooled in Dublin. She was delighted to be filming in her native lands. “Oh my God. It's amazing. It was the best surprise I had all year because for ages we were going to go to New Zealand. So we were all set to go and spend time in Hobbit holes and then they turned around and found all the scenery they need here, found a tax break, and I get to go home. It's amazing. It's very cool.”

Alfred Gough is very happy with the direction INTO THE BADLANDS has taken in Season Two. Moving production to Ireland allows the show to grow into an unexpected and unprecedented journey, and take us along for the ride. “I think if, frankly, if we had stayed in New Orleans and couldn't show them more, I think people would get frustrated with the show,” confesses Al. “And I think it would have limited our storytelling. If you're in a place where we only have this many locations and we can only do this much, then it's hard to really open up the show. It's almost like the first season was the prequel to what we're now doing, like this is the journey. This is where we're going into the Badlands.”