Shubhabrata Dutta
Created by David E. Kelley, Hulu’s ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ is a thriller drama series that shows how healing and transforming the self doesn’t have to be a painless process. Based on Liane Moriarty’s murder mystery novel, the story centers on nine strangers who arrive at the wellness resort of the enigmatic Russian guru Masha Dmitrichenko and end up revealing dark secrets about themselves. In Season 1, the guests were invited to the Tranquillum House in Cabrillo, California.
In the second installment, the show brings nine new faces to a resort in the Austrian Alps. Nicole Kidman returns to lead the ensemble cast that includes Henry Golding, Lena Olin, Lucas Englander, Annie Murphy, Christine Baranski, Dolly de Leon, and Mark Strong. Alongside a unique story, ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ gets fresh backdrops to enhance the visuals, which play a significant role in the narrative.
Nine Perfect Strangers Season 2 Filming Locations
The second season of ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ is filmed in Austria and Germany. Principal photography reportedly began in January 2024 and continued for almost five months before wrapping up in June of the same year. “You put them in the snow because it’s almost like you can’t escape, but it’s still very beautiful,” Kidman told Vanity Fair. “It’s not sort of that gray, cold, bleak environment. It’s still very alluring.” While Austria became the base for the outdoor filming, Germany was used for indoor shoots.
Salzburg, Austria
Austria is the primary outdoor filming location of Nine Perfect Strangers’ season 2 and was used extensively, thanks to its FISA+ scheme, which provided the production team with €7.5 million. The city of Salzburg, located in Austria’s northwestern part, was used for outdoor shots, scenes, and establishing shots. The exterior of the Schloss Blühnbach, a 17th-century stately home in Werfen, a market town in the district of St. Johann im Pongau, was used to double for Dmitrichenko’s resort.
Nestled in the Blühnbach Valley, the building was built by Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau and is surrounded by mountains and pine trees, further highlighting the mystical charm. Werfen itself was seemingly used to lens some outdoor scenes, garnishing the show with some rural ingredients. It is famous for the Hohenwerfen Castle, which stands atop a 155-metre rock pillar overlooking the town, and the Eisriesenwelt ice cave, considered one of the largest ice caves in the world.
Some scenes were reportedly filmed at Schloss Leopoldskron, a rococo palace and a national historic monument currently serving as a privately owned hotel, in the Leopoldskron-Moos district. With its seven-hectare park, the palace offers a view to behold and effectively enhances the show’s beauty. It is famous for serving as the exterior setting for a few scenes in the classic film ‘The Sound of Music.’ It also has scenic Leopoldskroner Weiher right beside it and the magnificent Untersberg massif of the Berchtesgaden Alps on its opposite side.
Gmunden, Austria
In Gmunden, a district in the state of Upper Austria, the crew resorted to the small town of Hallstatt. It is a World Heritage Site and is considered one of the most “Instagrammable” towns in the world due to its gorgeous scenery, incorporating the views of the Hallstätter See, AKA Lake Hallstatt, and the slopes of the Dachstein mountain. It offers a welcoming shift in the setting, from the posh interiors of the resort to a village in nature’s lap. The most popular tourist spots there are the Hallstatt Skywalk, the Hallstatt Museum, and the Hallstatt Ossuary.
Vienna, Austria
The crew reportedly filmed a few scenes of the show in Vienna, the capital of Austria. Reputed for being one of the most beautiful cities in the world, it has long served as the setting for major international productions. Be it the various architectural styles that can be spotted in the historic buildings or buildings that stand tall as powerful examples of modern architecture, such as Belvedere 21, the DC Towers, and the Haas House, Vienna is a feast for the eyes. Other films and shows shot there include ‘Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation,’ ‘Extraction 2,’ ‘Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan,’ and ‘The Recruit.’
Bavaria, Germany
While the locations mentioned above were mainly used to film outdoor scenes, the crew reached out to the Penzing Studios in Penzing, a municipality in the Landsberg district in Bavaria, for the indoor scenes. Located at Kauferinger Street 32-34, the studio boasts a 40,000 square meter-plus production space with five stages, LED Screens, and Green Screens. It also has 270 hectares of backlot space, including a monastery, hospital, church, casino, a power plant, and a 2.5-kilometer runway. The studio is also home to the Hyperbowl stage, one of the largest virtual production stages in Europe, offering 3D location scans, interactive lighting, and asset creation. Some of the projects that have used the facilities include ‘The Crow,’ ‘Return to Silent Hill,’ and the ‘Cliffhanger’ reboot.
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