Rose Leslie has revealed the behind-the-scenes trick she learned on Game of Thrones that helped her cope with the freezing conditions while filming Vigil season three.
Vigil continues to air every Sunday and Monday night on BBC One, with DI Kirsten Longacre (played by Leslie) leading the latest murder investigation. In a complete shift from series two, which was mostly set in the Middle East, season three takes place in Svalbard, Norway, located in the Arctic Circle.
With Svalbard's average annual temperature ranging between minus 11 and minus 16 degrees, working conditions were far from easy. However, Leslie picked up some useful tips while shooting in Iceland's freezing temperatures for Game of Thrones.
The Kidney Heat Pack Hack
“Filming back then, I was given a brilliant hack that I also used for Svalbard as well,” Leslie said.
“Essentially, if you get a heat pack and you place them on both your kidneys, you are then heating up your blood because your blood is going through your kidneys and then whizzing everywhere else in your system.”
“So if you're heating up the blood going through your kidneys, you're actually going to warm yourself up. So I was like ‘Guys, you've got to listen to me on this!’ And it works!”
“That really helped me on every single day we were filming outside on the mountain tops.”
Vigil Season 3 Episode 3
Vigil season three returns for its third episode tonight, Sunday, September 6, where Kirsten will finally be reunited with DCI Amy Silva (Suranne Jones).
It has been teased that Amy travels to Svalbard to “clear Kirsten's name” as she faces the “wrath of the Russians”.
The official synopsis continues: “Together, they dig into the complex motivations within the hub whilst something more sinister bubbles beneath its surface. The truth of Hodge's murder may be closer to home than they thought, but the situation threatens to combust before they can get to the truth.”
Vigil is available to watch on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
