Warning, there are spoilers for the series Vikings: Even seven years after Ragnar, Vikings’ main character, took his last breath in the snake pit, we won’t soon forget his gruesome death. Ragnar actor Travis Fimmel, however, will remember the shoot for other unpleasant reasons.
The snake bites didn’t bother Travis Fimmel when he died in Vikings, but…
Beyond the secret message in Ragnar’s farewell words, Travis Fimmel delivered a strong exit for his character in the 15th episode of Vikings season 4. It’s not just snake-phobics who can’t get the image of his body between writhing bodies out of their heads so quickly.
History Channel
Travis Fimmel covered in fake blood and snake poop
As Travis Fimmel revealed to the Hollywood Reporter on the occasion of Ragnar’s death, it was not so much the snakes themselves that caused the Australian actor problems, but rather their remains. When asked whether the Vikings actor was afraid of the scene, he gave the following answer:
[Ich hatte] not really [Bedenken vor dem Schlangen-Dreh]. There were about 60 of them and then a few fake ones around my legs. I didn’t care about any of them. But in the end I was covered in snake poop. I was bitten a few times, but that was OK – it was just that they kept shitting on me that annoyed me more than anything else. If you want to see snakes pooping in action, you can do so here (at your own risk). You’re probably wondering how we first saw how emptying a snake’s intestine actually works: At the lower rear end of the snake there is an anal scale (anale), where the animal excretes feces and urine from an opening. Travis Fimmel has definitely had enough of this since Ragnar’s Vikings departure.