Netflix's new series 'The Leopard' adapts Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's classic novel into a sumptuous period drama set in 19th-century Sicily. The story follows Don Fabrizio Corbera, the Prince of Salina, as his aristocratic world crumbles amid the social upheavals of Italian unification.
Director Tom Shankland, who helms four of the eight episodes, boldly reimagines the tale previously immortalised in Luchino Visconti's 1963 film, which won the Palme d'Or. Shankland said his passion for the project stemmed from a lifelong love of the book, fostered by his father, a university professor of Italian literature.
The series stars Kim Rossi Stuart as the Prince, with Saul Nanni as his nephew Tancredi and Deva Cassel as Angelica. Cassel, daughter of Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassel, described the honour of following Claudia Cardinale's iconic performance. The cast endured tight corsets in Sicily's heat, with Cassel noting she lost two centimetres from her waist during filming.
Filmed in palaces across Palermo, Siracusa and Catania, the series uses drone technology to capture sweeping landscapes. The famous ballroom scene was shot at Rome's Grand Plaza Hotel. 'The Leopard' premieres on Netflix on 5 March.
