Trivia / Fate: The Winx Saga

• Actor-Inspired Element:
  • According to Robert James Collier, Silva's speech to the Specialists in the first episode was written as more of a Gandalf-esque Rousing Speech, and the other actors auditioning read it as such with heightened RP. He opted to read it in his own accent, and say it more naturalistically; viewing it as a commander preparing his soldiers for battle.
  • Bloom and Sky's romantic horse ride in Season 2 was brought about by Danny Griffin, who is a big horse lover, begging to write a scene with horses into the show. Bloom's line making fun of him for being a "horse boy" was likewise inspired by the actor.
  • Precious Mustapha contributed several ideas for Aisha's costume and hair in Season 2, even bringing a friend on board as her own hairdresser.
• Approval of God: Several of Nickelodeon's American crew members from the cartoon reviewed the pilot script, including Molly Quinn, who voiced Bloom. Quinn also publicly gave her approval before the series premiered.
• California Doubling: While Alfea is in a magical world, Aster Dell and the surrounding areas outside the barrier appear to be in Britain. The series was filmed in Ireland.
• Dark Horse Casting: Most of the main cast are pretty new. Abigail Cowen is the lead, and her only notable credit was in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina in a very small supporting role and two episodes of Stranger Things. The only name is Robert James Collier (of Downton Abbey and Ackley Bridge fame), although Eve Best (Farah) is an acclaimed character actress who's appeared in the likes of The King's Speech and Theo Graham (Dane) would be recognisable for Hollyoaks.
• Dawson Casting: Pretty much all the teens are portrayed by twentysomethings. Eliot Salt (Terra) was actually in her late twenties when she filmed her part; egregiously so considering the same year she starred in Normal People playing a college student. In fact, Sadie Soverall (Beatrix) was the only cast member to be under twenty; she was eighteen when she filmed her part. Paulina Chávez was slightly better as Flora; turning nineteen while filming Season 2.
• Directed by Cast Member: In the Latin Spanish dub, Cristina Hernández was the ADR director as well as the voice of Noura.
• Extremely Lengthy Creation: Iginio Straffi had wanted to make a "flesh-and-blood" version of Winx Club since 2011. He hesitated to pitch the adaptation until he gained some experience with live-action himself. After working on Nickelodeon's live-action series Club 57, Straffi approved Fate for production, and the first season was filmed from September to December 2019. It didn't hit Netflix until the start of 2021.
• Fake American: Bloom's adoptive mother Vanessa is played by Irish actress Eva Birthistle.
• Follow the Leader: While Straffi has had interest in making a more serious Live-Action adaptation of the Winx since 2011, The Winx Saga seems to take a lot of notes from the modern darker, edgier and risque remaiginings of children and teen-oriented properties such Riverdale, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Titans and Emerald City. Bloom's appearance also appears very influenced by Katherine McNamara's in Shadowhunters.
• Hey, It's That Place!: Fans of the 90s series Ballykissangel will recognise the town that Sebastian's shop is in.
• International Coproduction: The series is a collaboration between the United Kingdom's Archery Pictures, Italy's Rainbow S.r.l. (which is co-owned by the American company Paramount Global), and the United States' Young Blood Productions.
• Milestone Celebration: Principal photography began in 2019, the year which marked the 15th anniversary of Winx Club.
• The Other Darrin: Some of the characters in the various foreign dubs of the original Winx Club had to be recast.
  • The Latin Spanish dub of the original TV series was recorded in Venezuela and Chile. For Fate, the dub was instead recorded at Mexico City's Iyuno • SDI Group; Mexico.
  • In the German dub, despite Jill Böttcher coming back to voice Bloom, everyone else was recast.
  • Though the Italian dub was still recorded in Rome, everyone from the animated series was inevitably recast. For example, Bloom, voiced in the animated series by Letizia Ciampa, is now voiced by Lavinia Paladino.
  • For the second season Rosalind and Ben Harvey have been recast due to schedule conflicts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Miranda Richardson and Daniel Betts have replaced Lesley Sharp and Alex Macqueen respectively.
• Playing Against Type:
  • This marks a very different turn for Robert James Collier, who is best known for either Kitchen Sink Dramas (Coronation Street, Ackley Bridge) or period dramas like Downton Abbey.
  • Mildly for Eliot Salt, who had previously shown up as the down-to-earth Joanna in Normal People. Terra is much more insecure and bumbling.
  • Another Normal People alumnus Éanna Hardwicke shows up in Season 2. There, he'd played Connell's close friend who commits suicide. Here on the other hand he's a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing who turns out to be a blood witch.
• Queer Character, Queer Actor: Terra comes out as gay in Season 2. This also matches her actress Eliot Salt, who has a girlfriend.
• Real-Life Relative:
  • In the Latin Spanish dub:
    • Alicia Vélez, who voiced Bloom, is the daughter of Cony Madera, who played Bloom's on-screen mother Vanessa.
    • María García, the voice of Beatrix, is the daughter of Cristina Hernández, the dub's ADR director and Noura's voice actress.
  • In the Italian dub:
    • Sky is voiced by Riccardo Suarez. His mother, Ilaria Latini, voiced Flora and Amore in the Winx Club series.
    • Lorenzo Crisci (Sam) is the son of Cinzia De Carolis, who voiced Mandragora in The Secret of the Lost Kingdom.
    • Veronica Puccio voices Musa and her cousin Lucrezia Marricchi voices Beatrix.
• Role Reprise:
  • In the German dub, Jill Böttcher, who voiced Bloom in the animated series, reprises her role again.
  • The Polish dub has Marta Czarkowska (Bloom), Zuzanna Galia (Stella), Agnieszka Kudelska (Musa), Mateusz Weber (Riven) and Damian Kulec (Sky) reprise their roles from the Teletoon+ broadcast.
• Romance on the Set: Abigail Cowen and Danny Griffin started dating in 2021, just like their characters on the show.
• Screwed by the Network: Though a potential third season was teased, Netflix announced they were cancelling the show on November 1, 2022.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Back in February 2016, there were plans to adapt the original source material into a live-action film, in collaboration with Hollywood Gang Productions. This project never materialized.
  • Season 2 was announced originally as having eight episodes, but only seven aired.

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