Chernobyl
What is the cost of lies?
Chernobyl
What is the cost of lies?
The true story of one of the worst man-made catastrophes in history: the catastrophic nuclear accident at Chernobyl. A tale of the brave men and women who sacrificed to save Europe from unimaginable disaster.
Accuracy Verdict
Get ready for the most intense, mind-blowing facts about 'Chernobyl' that will leave you speechless!
Behind the Scenes
- The production team built a replica of the Chernobyl reactor in Lithuania, using the same materials and design as the original, to ensure accuracy and authenticity.
- Jared Harris, who played Valery Legasov, spent hours in the makeup chair every day to achieve the character's distinctive look, which included prosthetic teeth and a receding hairline.
- The show's creator, Craig Mazin, is a self-proclaimed 'nuclear nerd' who spent years researching the disaster and even visited the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone to get a firsthand look at the devastation.
- The infamous 'Bridge of Death' scene, where the liquidators are exposed to lethal radiation, was filmed in a single take to capture the actors' genuine reactions to the intense scene.
- Stellan Skarsgård, who played Boris Shcherbina, is a Swedish actor who had to learn Russian for the role, and even spent time with a Russian dialect coach to perfect his accent.
- The show's cinematographer, Jakob Ihre, used a combination of digital and film cameras to achieve a unique, gritty look that reflected the harsh realities of the disaster.
- The production team consulted with real-life liquidators and Chernobyl survivors to ensure that the show was accurate and respectful to those who lived through the tragedy.
- The show's score, composed by Hildur Guðnadóttir, was created using a combination of traditional instruments and industrial sounds, including the hum of a nuclear reactor.
Did You Know?
- The Chernobyl disaster was so catastrophic that it released 400 times more radioactive material into the environment than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
- The show's attention to detail was so meticulous that the production team even recreated the exact same type of cigarettes that the liquidators smoked during the disaster.
- The 'Chernobyl' series has been praised for its historical accuracy, but one notable inaccuracy is the portrayal of the reactor's control room, which was actually much smaller than depicted in the show.
- The real-life Valery Legasov, played by Jared Harris, was a complex and conflicted character who struggled with the moral implications of the disaster, and even wrote a detailed account of the events leading up to the catastrophe.
- The show's depiction of the 'Chernobyl liquidators' is based on real events, but the characters are composites of several different individuals who were involved in the cleanup efforts.
- The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, which surrounds the damaged reactor, is still heavily contaminated with radiation and is expected to remain so for thousands of years.
- The show's creator, Craig Mazin, has said that he was inspired by the 'Challenger' disaster and the 'Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster', and wanted to explore the human side of these catastrophic events.
- The 'Chernobyl' series has won numerous awards, including the Emmy for Outstanding Limited Series, and has been praised for its thought-provoking and emotionally charged portrayal of one of the worst nuclear disasters in history.
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