10 Fun Facts about ‘L-Għarusa’ (you probably didn’t know about)

For all you drama goers who will be tuning in to ‘L-Għarusa’ on TVM next fall, here are 10 fun facts you probably didn’t know about, that just might make the wait more bearable.

1.If you have watched the trailer (Please do if you haven’t yet and give us a thumbs up) you may have noticed that Bettina’s wedding dress is at the forefront of the story. Since scenes are not always filmed in sequence and there was fear of the dress being ruined during the murder scene, production decided to get two identical copies of the same dress. One of them was purposely stained and aged for the 2018 scenes and the other one appeared in the 1932 murder scenes.(Photo credit – Angelle Farrugia)

2. It may not have occurred to many but Antonella Axisa and Aaron Fenech’s characters are actually Marie and Giovani Vella Hawton in their younger years. The names might sound familiar to a few since these were two beloved characters in ‘Strada Stretta’ the series. ‘L-Għarusa’ of course is not a prequel to Strada Stretta and takes on an entirely new plot but I just felt it would be incredibly fun to pay homage to these terrific characters and for the audience to see what they where up to before they became the ‘loved-hated’ parents of Lydia.

3. Scenes filmed inside Bettina’s family home, particularly the living room one may notice some old family photos. It is interesting maybe to point out that those are actually my family members and are copies of real photos from my family album. One of them is my beautiful maternal great grandmother Marie.

4. Going back to Bettina’s family home, the set used here is actually the majestic Verdala Palace in Rabat once property of the Knights of St.John. And just before anyone asks, NO! No one has met the white lady yet.

5. Some have enjoyed the circus scenes that have also made it to the trailer. The scenes were filmed at the Malta film Studios at Fort Ricasoli in Kalkara and where the circus tent stands was the actual location where the Colisseum in ‘Gladiator’ once stood some 18 years ago.

6. The scene where Bettina is floating lifeless in the water inside the fountain was filmed at Argotti Gardens in Floriana. When the crew arrived on set, to their horror the fountain was empty and so begun a race against time to fill the historic fountain with water before filming was scheduled to start. It took 16 tons of water to fill that fountain and a very determined crew.

7. The starburst headdress, inspired by the one worn by Hedy Lamar, which Septa is wearing at the circus as part of her performing outfit was actually made by the actress herself. Rebecca Dimech, armed with a glue gun and gems created an amazing headpiece that would make anyone stand out of the crowd.

8. The beautiful white horse seen in the trailer as Davide Tucci’s character Diego enters the Gauci Fontana residence is probably the most famous of all the actors we had on set throughout shooting since he made an appearance on ‘Game of Thrones’ when the popular series was filming in Malta.

9. Some of the names used in the series are inspired by actual family members such as that of Liberat and Clottie who also were alive roughly around the same time as the years portrayed in ‘L-Għarusa’.

10. There are three prominent years in L-Għarusa’s timeline. The present time in 2018, at the point of purchasing the wedding dress, 1931, when Bettina and Diego meet and 1932 which is the year following Inspector Fenech Lauri during his investigation as he attempts to find whoever is responsible for Bettina’s death.