The Life List: Happy reunion for Mario Maurer, Kimberley Anne Woltemas on Thai drama Royal Doctor

SINGAPORE – In the Thai drama Royal Doctor, a modern-day medical student is sent back in time to the reign of King Rama III (1824 to 1851) and meets the most respected traditional medicine practitioner of the time.

Series leads Mario Maurer and Kimberley Anne Woltemas had previously filmed a period drama about traditional Thai medicine. They starred in Thong Ek: The Herbal Master (2019), about a traditional medicine student whose story is set during the reign of King Rama V (1868 to 1910).

But Royal Doctor adds a time-travelling twist and events from actual history.

The Thai actors tell The Straits Times over e-mail four things to know about Royal Doctor, which is available on Viu.

1. Happy reunion

Having played a couple in Thong Ek: The Herbal Master, Maurer, 34, and Woltemas, 31, were excited to collaborate once more. The duo, who are both half-German on their fathers’ side, gush about working with each other.

Calling Woltemas one of the nicest actresses he knows, Maurer says: “She’s very fun to work with because she is just full of energy every day. When I do a scene with her, I feel really connected to our characters.”

And Maurer is one of Woltemas’ favourite leading men. She says: “He’s just amazing. He’s such a funny guy both off-screen and as his character in this show.”

2. Real people, real events

A highlight of the series for its stars is how it blends fact with fiction.

One of the characters is Dr Bradley, based on American missionary Dan Beach Bradley, who is credited with performing the first surgery in Siam, the old name of Thailand.

Maurer, who plays the seemingly good-for-nothing son of Siam’s most respected traditional doctor, says: “There’s a big scene where Dr Bradley has to perform a serious operation, and it really shocked me because I realised how tough and scary operations were back in those days. There would be blood everywhere because they had to use an actual saw to amputate your arm.”

Similarly, Woltemas’ most memorable scene is one based on historical events. She says: “There’s a scene of a temple bombing, which is a real account of something that happened during the reign of Rama III. I liked it because it felt realistic.”

3. Learning an ancient tongue

While Woltemas plays the modern-day medical student transported back in time, Maurer portrays someone born and bred more than one hundred years ago.

To perfect the role, he had to learn to speak Pali, an ancient tongue which heavily influenced the Thai language.

“It’s hard to remember. I had to keep repeating my lines. I couldn’t even talk to my other co-stars much because I had to repeat the script in my head,” he recalls.

“I had to memorise the meanings of the words as well, so I repeated them every day. My technique was to cut the sentences in my lines into three parts, then memorise them in order.”

Even Woltemas was impressed. She says: “I don’t think I can do what Mario did. It would be too hard.”

4. Sweating the small stuff

Aside from speaking Pali, Maurer also found the medical premise of Royal Doctor a challenge.

He says: “The process of preparing the medication used in the past is quite hard because you must have all kinds of herbs, leaves and roots of plants ready. I really focused on the process of preparing the medication because I didn’t want to miss out on anything.

“I know there are fans watching who are real doctors and experts, so they will home in on the details.”

Royal Doctor is available on Viu.