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Shadow and Bone fans are well aware that the race of main character Alina Starkov was changed from the books for the new Netflix series, and the showrunner Eric Heisserer and author Leigh Bardugo are revealing why.

In the book, Alina is described as a fair skinned woman, and was teased as a kid for being “pale and sour, like a glass of milk that’s turned.”

For the series, Alina was updated to be half Shu, with Jessie Mei Li cast in the part.

Click inside to see the reason why Alina’s race was changed…More Here! »

Ben Barnes is opening up about taking on the role of General Kirigan, the leader of Ravka’s army, in Netflix’s Shadow and Bone.

The 39-year-old is well aware that fans have wanted him to play the character, who is also known as The Darkling, for quite some time.

“There was some chatter even a few years before the show — Leigh Bardugo had supported the idea of me playing that character,” he shared about fans dreamcasting him in the role. “I sort of felt a bit kismet that I was supposed to do it, in some way.”

Showrunner Eric Heisserer also opened up about the fan connection to the role for Ben, revealing that he personally didn’t know about it, but author Leigh Bardugo did.

“I had this old Tumblr post where somebody had done an edit of Ben with this fantastic quote, as the Darkling,” she recalled to Polygon. “And I sent it to Eric, and I was like, ‘Thumbs up for me.’”

Eric had then taken Ben out to lunch to talk about the role and towards the end, he had “slid over his phone at me, and it was the same Tumblr post, [and he was] like, ‘You’re gonna hire me now, aren’t you?’”

Shadow and Bone centers on Alina Starkov who has just discovered an extraordinary power that could be the key to setting her country free.

The series will premiere Friday, April 23. Watch the trailer here!

The trailer for Shadow and Bone is finally here!

Here’s a synopsis: Based on Leigh Bardugo’s worldwide bestselling Grishaverse novels, Shadow and Bone finds us in a war-torn world where lowly soldier and orphan Alina Starkov has just unleashed an extraordinary power that could be the key to setting her country free. With the monstrous threat of the Shadow Fold looming, Alina is torn from everything she knows to train as part of an elite army of magical soldiers known as Grisha. But as she struggles to hone her power, she finds that allies and enemies can be one and the same and that nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. There are dangerous forces at play, including a crew of charismatic criminals, and it will take more than magic to survive.

The show stars Jessie Mei Li (Alina Starkov), Archie Renaux (Malyen Oretsev), Freddy Carter (Kaz Brekker), Amita Suman (Inej), Kit Young (Jesper Fahey), and Ben Barnes (General Kirigan).

The show debuts on Netflix on April 23! Check out the trailer…

Archie Renaux goes shirtless as he wraps an arm around Jessie Mei Li in this first look still from Netflix‘s upcoming fantasy series, Shadow and Bone.

Based off the book series of the same name by Leigh Bardugo, the series takes place in a war-torn world where lowly soldier and orphan Alina Starkov has just unleashed an extraordinary power that could be the key to setting her country free.

With the monstrous threat of the Shadow Fold looming, Alina is torn from everything she knows to train as part of an elite army of magical soldiers known as Grisha. But as she struggles to hone her power, she finds that allies and enemies can be one and the same and that nothing in this lavish world is what it seems.

There are dangerous forces at play, including a crew of charismatic criminals, and it will take more than magic to survive.

Freddy Carter, Amita Suman, Kit Young and Ben Barnes also star in the show.

Shadow and Bone is expected to premiere on Friday, April 23 on the streaming service.

Watch the first look trailer here!