Charismatic actor Lukáš Vaculík (63) became an idol of women even under socialism. He portrayed unforgettable characters in the films Love between the Raindrops, Wind in the Pocket, Love from the Passage, Comrade in the Rain and also in the popular fairy tale King Thrushbeard. He remembered filming the holiday classic.
Years later, the icon of Czech cinema revealed a secret that fans had no idea about. At the same time as the fairy tale, he filmed a detective film with director Jiří Svoboda called This Night in this Train.
„The two films took place in such a way that I arrived at the station in the morning, they put us on the train, we rode the train all day and shot a detective story. We arrived at the station in the evening. I got off the train, went to the second platform, where there was an express train to Ružomberok,” he began.
He traveled to Slovakia overnight to film a fairy tale. After a whole day, he was taken to the station again and returned to the Czech Republic to get on another train and film a detective story. “I spent a fortnight just on the train. I didn’t get home at all, nothing. I was just always splashing around in some sink or something. It was horrible. And that’s how I functioned.” Vaculík recalled.
However, the staff in Slovakia invented their own way. Vaculík played all the scenes in which he portrayed the young king, but under the mask of a beggar, someone completely different was hiding. “They made it up a hood with such fringes that one could not see the face. So some 85% of the beggar was played by the prop guy. He was the same height as me, and they found out that they wouldn’t film it with me, because I drive on another track in the Czech Republic and shoot a detective story.” entertained the audience with a story.
“So they always put the poor guy in it and just tell him where he’s going to go and what he’s going to do. Then when everyone says to me, “Well, how did you play that beggar there…” and I say, “No, it wasn’t me.” And they: “But yes, I got to know you well.” I say, “Well, you know me really well, so…” So it was actually filmed by someone else,” he revealed openly after many years.
