Netflix's 'Ozark' Was Hell To Film For The Actors

And so, dear readers, we come to the end of Netflix’s dark series that we guess was kind of their answer to Breaking Bad but also just a great opportunity to go, “Let's make viewers mad at Laura Linney's face.” Mission accomplished, Netflix. You achieved the near impossible. 

Ozark was one hell of a show, with Jason Bateman’s character Marty Byrde in the lead, trying his best to keep his family together while helping drug dealers launder money in Missouri. A lot of terrible things happen, and the show is as exhausting as Wendy Byrde (Linney) and her passive aggressive psych games. Ugh. We’re lowkey glad it’s all over.

And so are the actors, in a way, according to the many terrible things they had to endure while filming the show. Just like dodging Wendy’s many laser stares, this was no walk in the park for many of them. Actor Michael Mosley — who played preacher Mason Young in season two — had a rough time filming that baptism scene, for instance. It was an exceptionally cold day out, and the weather was so bad they had to wait a while before finally shooting … the entire day. In and out of icy water. Always fun. Like the icy smile of one Wendy Byrde. Brrrr.

Then there was Jason Bateman literally losing his voice by screaming over and over for God knows how many takes during that excruciating toenail scene:

The scene took a long, long time to shoot because Bateman and the crew didn’t want to use post effects — they wanted practical “there goes my toenail” effects because it looked more authentic. Well,  that it did. That looked as real as that time Wendy threw Wyatt with a dead possum. This show sure was wild.

And then there was the scene that actress Julia Garner — who plays Ruth Langmore — was super scared to film. See, Garner has a phobia of rodents. So you can just imagine her glee when she read the script that said she was going to have to pick up a mouse by its tail.

"I hate rodents," she told W Magazine. "I cannot stand rodents. I couldn't even watch Ratatouille. The whole crew was laughing at me. It was so embarrassing, and I couldn't even lift it. It was just moving, it was so gross. So they ended up having a hand double. I couldn't do it — I couldn't even use the toy one.”

Yeah, none of these things mentioned sounds pleasant, at all. But hey, at least they got paid well, we guess.

Zanandi is on Twitter and also on that other platform.

Top Image: Netflix