‘A Gentleman in Moscow’ production designer Victor Molero on creating the show’s labyrinthine set [Exclusive Video Interview]
In Amor Towles’s novel “A Gentleman in Moscow,” the story’s central location, the Metropol Hotel in Moscow, is described as having “rooms behind rooms and doors behind doors.” So when it came time to create the elaborate set required for the novel’s television adaptation, production designer Victor Molero was given no easy task – especially because finding an appropriate location in northern England, where the show was produced, proved impossible.
“We needed to recreate this location and the timing was tight. So I did the research in 10 days and used another 10 days to design the hotel set,” Molero tells Gold Derby in an exclusive video interview. “So it was really stressful. But we did it. I always say that the real Metropol Hotel in Moscow was built in five years. We built the sets for ‘A Gentleman in Moscow’ in five months.”
Based on Towles’s best-selling book, “A Gentleman in Moscow” is about a Russian count (played by Ewan McGregor) who is sentenced to life under house arrest following the Russian Revolution. That puts the count inside the Metropol Hotel for years and makes the location one of the limited series’ main attractions.
“It’s really a stereotype to say that the hotel is like another character, but in this case, it is completely like another character,” Molero says. “It was really a challenge in a way because the hotel was crucial in telling the story of the count.”
Molero built detailed sets for “A Gentleman in Moscow,” including the count’s bedroom and other areas within the residence. But he says he’s perhaps most proud of his work in the hotel’s lobby, the bustling open space with one piece of furniture tied directly to the character: a bench
“When I was thinking how to create the lobby in a hotel, it’s like a station. People go in and out all the time. And the count is there, he’s waiting for something,” Molero explains. “So it came to me, that image of the count waiting on that bench for what will happen with his life. And that is an element that I added. You try to play with this element in the space to give a layer to the story and the character.”
Molero has received acclaim for his work on the show, but there is one review that stood out to the longtime production designer: a stamp of approval from Towles himself, who came to the set during the first week of production.
“When he arrived and he looked around, to see his face was the most special moment in my career,” Molero says. “He was our father in a way, the one that created the whole thing. So it was a really special moment to see his reaction.”
“A Gentleman in Moscow” is streaming on Paramount+ With Showtime.
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