Florence Pugh was joined by a host of Netflix cast and crew in Dunedin yesterday as areas of the city were transformed into historical set pieces.
Filming for the East of Eden series took place at various locations around the city – including in Princes and lower Stuart Sts, and Queens Gardens.
The seven-episode adaptation of the 1952 John Steinbeck novel boasts a cast including Hollywood actors Florence Pugh, Martha Plimpton, Christopher Abbott and Irish actor Ciaran Hinds.
Pugh was spotted walking down Princes St in period costume about 10am yesterday, along with actors in horse-drawn carriages and riding horses, and she was seen talking to extras in between takes.
Horses were prepared and the set dressed from as early as 6.30am outside the Distinction Hotel, while about eight extras began filming in Queens Gardens about 10.30am, before production relocated to lower Stuart St in the afternoon.
The shopfront of Taste Merchants was transformed to resemble a “costumers and milliners” store.
Vehicle access was closed at both ends of the street as more than 40 cast and crew and a total of seven horses prepared for filming, with Pugh arriving shortly after 2pm.
She left about an hour later in a Range Rover and was seen waving to onlookers out the window of the vehicle.
Carriage driver Julie Hall, of Dunedin, and horse wrangler Beryl Marshall, of Middlemarch, were among Otago locals involved with the production for the day.
Mrs Hall said her 1880s Brougham and 1890s Victoria carriages, which were normally parked in her garage, had been hired as horse-drawn transport for the film — and had appeared in several other productions in the past.
One of the carriages had stayed the previous night parked in Bond St, while the other, along with horses Jack and Bee, were transported in a custom-built horse float from as early as about 3am to be ready for filming on set in Princes St.
Mrs Hall said it was “a long day” and they had spent a lot of time waiting.
“There is a saying, ‘hurry up and wait’, which is always used on film sets because you do spend a lot of time waiting.”
Mrs Marshall said she had “never done anything like this” and it was a bit of a learning curve.
tim.scott@odt.co.nz