After a long wait, The Wheel of Time has finally returned for its second season on Prime Video, and the stakes have been raised in terms of scope, scale, story, and spectacle.
The action sequences are bigger and better than before, all orchestrated by returning stunt coordinator Jan Petrina, an industry veteran that’s doubled for Chris Pratt and Chris Evans in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and won a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series thanks to his contributions to Game of Thrones.
Ahead of the sweeping fantasy’s return, We Got This Covered had the chance to speak to Petrina about his efforts, the difficulties in working with so many elements that aren’t present on set when the set pieces are being filmed, how his previous blockbuster experience comes in handy and much more, which you can check out below.
What’s the overriding feeling for you now knowing that audiences everywhere will finally get to see your hard work and the fruits of your labors on The Wheel of Time season 2 this week?
Jan Petrina: Well, I hope they’re gonna, everything we’ve done, because we tried to go a little bit bigger than we did in season 1. And then of course, all the characters are supposed to be better and better trained, better fighters, better leaders. So hopefully that shows in the show, that they are actually becoming the heroes that we think they should be, so I’m excited. And I can’t wait for people, what they see, what they say about the action, and basically about the whole show.
Having been a part of the show since the beginning, does that make it easier to get back into the groove when you’ve been involved the whole way through, as opposed to other productions where it’s maybe a handful of episodes or a standalone movie?
Jan Petrina: Yeah, definitely. When we do season 1, and jump straight into season 2, it helps because we really know how to design the action that’s going to suit them, how far you can push them with their own action. And what, basically the design of it is, and what needs to be changed from season 1, and what can be better and bigger. So yeah, definitely.
You’ve worked on a lot of different projects covering almost every genre, but do you have to alter your approach to creating and choreographing set pieces as a result? Or do you have a process that you’ve found applicable to everything, whether it’s something more realistic like Hanna or more fantastical along the lines of The Wheel of Time?
Jan Petrina: I think the approach is always for me, it’s… I wouldn’t say it’s the same, but it’s more like you bring the experience from all the projects, and you try to combine the best thing that you know and applies to things. Basically at the end of the day, when you when you send someone flying into a wall, if it’s happening because you’re hit by a car, or if you been sent by channeling and using One Power, you know, stunt-wise it’s the same kind of like movement for us.
But then of course, to try to combine it with the combat style, the One Power, action, and all the other stuff. That’s the challenging stuff. But, of course, it’s like a lot of little pieces that we begin to get in. It’s not only me creating them, but we get the swordmaster, we get amazing movement coaches coming in with the movement of the Aes Sedai and the channeling, and then the creatures, so we all work together, and then it’s like the pieces. And hopefully, that makes everything work.
Fantasy is a tough nut to crack on television when it comes to standing out or breaking out from the pack, something The Wheel of Time has managed to do in style. In terms of stunts and action, were you always trying to create new ways of staging and framing the set pieces that maybe people hadn’t seen before, because it must be challenging to come up with new twists on mysticism and battle scenes that feel fresh and different from what’s come before?
Jan Petrina: Yeah, of course, you always want to bring something new and it makes my job more exciting and the job of the whole team, because if you just keep doing the same thing, same thing, you cannot become a factory. We do this job because it’s so so unique and so colorful and always changing, so you’re of course going to bring that change to the screen, and then of course you learn new things.
Sometimes the director comes with ideas that he wants to achieve, and then that makes you work harder, because sometimes you’ve never done things like that visually, and then you’re like “Okay, I need to create all the tools.” Like now, for example you need to create some special machines to move to people and stuff. It’s a lot of things, and the job is becoming a lot more technical than what it used to be.
And the audience is used to seeing a lot of exciting action on big features and stuff. So they expect a lot from also TV shows and everything else. So, you want to better yourselves basically, and better what you’ve done before. So that way, you always learn to organize. And so that’s the aim, always. Of course, sometimes, the reality does not allow you the time. But I think that’s every production.
You’ve been in the game a long time, and doubled for some big names on even bigger movies in the past, but how does having that experience of being in the thick of it as a performer enhance and influence your work as a coordinator when you’re the person overseeing the carnage and not necessarily being dropped right in the middle of it?
Jan Petrina: Well it does help, because I’ve experienced the hits and the falls and the bruises myself, so you kind of want to then use that experience for trying to sometimes avoid unnecessary bruises and bumps. But sometimes, because you dealt with a lot of the actors, you kind of prepare the scene for them, but then you explain to them how they can do the action safely.
And I think that’s the bridge between just stunt performing, and stunt coordinating. When you really dealt with someone for a while, and you create a relationship and trust and they ask you for advice how to achieve things. And then, that’s the step between those jobs, basically, and that’s what you aim for, as it’s going to have the cast and crew trusting the team to keep everyone safe, and still you achieve good and exciting action.
There’s obviously a lot of effects work required to bring The Wheel of Time to life, so how do you go about creating and designing sequences from the ground up where a lot of the in-camera elements your team is reacting to, weaponizing, or performing opposite aren’t physically present on set when they’re being staged?
Jan Petrina: When we create the action before it all happens, we speak with the creative team, the showrunner, and we today of course, the VFX is present. And then they say, of course, it’s written in the script let’s say this character does this kind of One Power move. So then later, like on the day when we create that action, we basically also know the person causing that effect this person does so here.
Sometimes on the set we get some light effects that help later, in post-production to create the measure. There’s always some help and little things that we can we can do. Sometimes it’s just as simple as being at the monitor, the director, and giving me a cue over the radio and understanding this, passing it on to someone on set, who waves and does things. So it’s little bits and pieces that you’re not even trying to find. And that helped the reactions and everything that we don’t necessarily have on the day.
You famously played the memorable role and stole the show as “Old Man” in season 1, but do you have another sneaky cameo appearance this time around?
Jan Petrina: No, I don’t. Not this time. I was too busy, so I couldn’t go and change my clothes!
You could have been an Easter Egg, and every season just popped up in the background.
Jan Petrina: Maybe I should try to send an email to someone so we can bring back Old Man.
The first three episodes of The Wheel of Time season 2 are now streaming on Prime Video, with the rest arriving on a weekly basis.