One day, the show was shooting an outdoor scene on the campus of the University of British Columbia, and as he recalls, "there were swastikas and the Imperial flag everywhere. This even extended beyond the use of swastikas, according to Joel de la Fuente, who played Kempeitai Chief Inspector Takeshi Kido. The actors would, however, experience reminders that beyond the set, these images had a horrific power.
Photo Credit: Liane Hentscher/Amazon Prime Video If you were to jump into them, you know overnight would seem monstrous, but day by day, you get used to things."Ĭredit: Liane Hentscher/Amazon Prime Video Photo: We didn't even realize our linoleum floor was a swastika for an entire season."Ĭhelah Horsdal, who played Smith's conflicted wife Helen, says that the symbol "lost its power."Īnd for Sewell, "your Nazi costume just becomes clothes you're wearing." However, he adds, "This is an object lesson in what happens to people, how we get used to situations. The infamous symbol of the Nazi regime is so controversial that it's illegal to display it in Germany, but according to Sewell, over the course of filming the series, its presence became so normalized that "we didn't even see them. Rufus Sewell, who played American Nazi official John Smith in the series, told SYFY WIRE that "one of the strange things that happens, verging on the unhealthy, is that you become naturally very used to this just being your surroundings."Īnd that meant becoming used to the presence of swastikas as decorations for the set, props, and wardrobes. From the clothes worn to the books on the shelves to the Corn Flakes at the breakfast table, everything was designed to bring to life a version of the 1960s that would have followed the Nazis and Japan winning World War II.Īt times, this makes the show a deeply unsettling experience - and, at other times, unsettling because of how normal it all seems. One of the aspects of The Man in the High Castle that made it so captivating for not just the audience but the men and women making it was the attention to detail that went into crafting every element of the production.