Meet the wolf actors Amazon is using for The Wheel of Time show

Amazon got about halfway done with filming the first season of its adaptation of The Wheel of Time before the coronavirus forced it to shut down. However, it’s by no means done. According to Comic Years, the show is going to resume filming in the Czech Republic this July, along with another Amazon fantasy show, Carnival Row. So hopefully we won’t have to wait too long to see the adventures of Rand, Mat, Perrin, Nynaeve, Egwene, and the approximately 80,000 other characters who take part in Robert Jordan’s epic fantasy series.

And when filming does resume, it may have need of some furry friends. Readers will know that in the first book, The Eye of the World, Perrin — an ordinary blacksmith from the sleepy village of Emond’s Field — has a memorable encounter with some wolves. I won’t spoil exactly what happens, but it proves pretty important for his journey throughout the rest of the series.

WoTSeries.com did a little legwork and found the company that has been supplying Amazon with wolf-dogs to use in the show: the Z Molu Es Kennel, which operates out of the village of Statenice in the Czech Republic. The Kennel has posted a few times about filming for The Wheel of Time, including in February of this year and October of last. It also posted some pictures of the wolves we’ll see in action:

Meet Atinka Sun “Tinky,” Ka Lupinka and Fu Finka, good dogs all. In the first book, Perrin has a bit of a commune with a wolf pack. Are we looking at the animals behind characters like Hopper, Dapple, Wind and Burn?

Above, the wolfdogs Yukon and Budulínek join the fun. The Kennel says that “shooting was difficult,” but it’ll be well worth it if they can pull off some of the wolf scenes from The Eye of the World. Perrin’s journey was probably my favorite from that book and I’m looking forward to seeing it come alive onscreen.

As for when we might see the finished produce, the show was “supposed to” come out in 2021, according to star Zoë Robins, who’s playing Nynaeve. With the coronavirus delay, I think we may have to reckon with the idea that it could take longer, but we can wait.

Good dog.

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