Who is Tygh Runyan? Versailles actor playing Fabien Marchal and Stargate Universe star
RAUNCHY period drama Versailles has returned to BBC Two for a third series, and is as shockingly sexy as ever.
Up-and-coming star Tygh Runyan plays the frightening Fabien Marchal in the salacious drama - but who is the TV newcomer and what else has be been in? Here's the lowdown...
Who is Tygh Runyan?
Tygh Runyan is an American and Canadian actor and musician, famed for his roles in Versailles', Stargate Universe, Battlestar Galactica, and The L-Word.
Though he's not got a long list of blockbusters to his name, he has met with critical success in a number of independent films that have played in Cannes and at the Sundance Film Festival.
He notably played an obsessive film director in 2010 film Road To Nowhere, which won the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival.
Who is Tygh Runyan's character in Versailles Fabien Marchal?
Unlike many of his co-stars, Tygh's character Fabien Marchal is entirely fictional.
Fabien is the chief of King Louis' repressive police force at Versailles. He officially take his orders from the affable palace governor Bontemps, but sometimes goes over his head directly to the King in some of his more sinister and salacious tasks.
Fabien is intimidating and prone to violence, and is particularly fond of hammers and eye-gouging as part of his policing tactics.
What is Versailles and where is it filmed?
Versailles is a period drama, set from 1667 onwards, following King Louis XIV — France’s most notorious womanising, war-mongering monarch — as he struggles to hold his court together.
It’s been described as “more trendy than accurate” by Variety, who scathingly referred to it as “a historical document as seen through an Instagram filter”.
But Versailles has been such a hit with its audience that it was recommissioned for series two before its first series had wrapped up in France.
The first season of the show cost a reported £20 million to make and was a lavish production filled with beautiful costumes and opulent backdrops.
Many would assume from the show’s name that most of the scenes would be filmed at the Palace of Versailles.
And this was true of certain scenes that were filmed in the staterooms, bedrooms and gardens of iconic Versailles.
However a lot of the show was filmed at other nearby locations, due to the palace being a huge tourist attraction and because Marie Antoinette changed much of Versaille's 17th century décor.
Many other castles were used for the filming of the royal court, including:
- The Château de Champs-sur-Marne gardens
- The Château de Janvry
- The Château of Lésigny
- The Château de Maisons-Laffitte
- The Château de Pierrefonds used as the castle preuses room
- The Château de Sceaux
- The Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte
- The Château of Vigny
- The commune of Rambouillet
When is Versailles on TV?
Series three kicked off on Monday 4 June, 2018.
You can also catch up with each episode afterwards on BBC iPlayer, or download them on iTunes.