As 'Camelot' hits our screens this Friday, Janice Butler caught up with star of the show, Joseph Fiennes, to discuss this contemporary spin on the classic legend of King Arthur and his joy at filming in Ireland
Camelot – an introduction….
For four years, the studios of Ardmore, Co Wicklow were alive with outlandish antics of King Henry VIII in the highly successful and very sexy series that was 'The Tudors'. The locals became accustom to the sights of Jonathan Rhys Meyes and co. riding on horseback through the picturesque surroundings, often venturing into the city centre to shoot scenes in Christchurch Cathedral – in short, a piece of Hollywood had arrived on our shores and it was making a global impact.
Now, with the ghost of King Henry and his wives well in the past, Ireland and Ardmore studios have once again been chosen as the perfect place to retell another great tale – the legend of Camelot. Starring big names, including Shakespeare in Love’s Joseph Fiennes, Bond Girl Eva Green and Jamie Campbell Bower of Twilight fame, 'Camelot' also has the magic touch of producer Morgan O'Sullivan, who was recently recognised at the IFTAs for his amazing contribution to the Irish film industry.
This reboot of the King Arthur legend gives viewers a lavishly produced update of the classic story. Like 'The Tudors', or 'Spartacus: Blood and Sand', this adaptation, filled with swords, sorcery and sex is for the more mature viewer. If you think you know the tale of King Arthur, his round table, his love for Guinevere and the sword of Excalibur, well think again, this is the story of 'Camelot' that’s never been told before.
The tale begins with Joseph Fiennes as a dark, mysterious and less hairy Merlin, who sees a bleak future for Britain if King Uther’s daughter of the dark side, Morgan (Eva Green), takes over the throne. That’s why he aided King Uther in conceiving a son with Igraine (Claire Forlani) and is having that son raised by commoners. Of course, the boy in question is Arthur (Jamie Campbell Bower), who is unprepared for his legacy, and at only 19, is quite unconvincing as a future king.
The always talented Fiennes gives 'Camelot' some feistiness and playfulness, and the whole affair is boosted by the fiery Eva Green, plus strong performances in the supporting cast (and yet more wonderful costumes by Ireland’s own Joan Bergin, who of course we know from her Emmy-winning magic on 'Tudors').
No expense has been spared bringing 'Camelot' to the small screen and the high production values do a great service to the story that is being told. Costume design, detailed sets and the rolling misty hills of Ireland as a beautiful backdrop bring the story of Arthur’s legendary rise to life. Don’t believe us, see it for yourself.
Joseph Fiennes as Merlin
He’s back. After starring in 'FlashForward', which saw fans outraged when it was cancelled after one season, Joseph Fiennes returns to TV in 'Camelot', as the manipulative sorcerer Merlin. We caught up with the well-versed actor to discuss this new role and his joy at being back in Ireland.
Can you set the show up for us, what can people expect from this version of 'Camelot'?
It starts out with King Arthur as a young man. Almost a young boy, really, who moves into manhood through having to be galvanized and become the, leader of a very dislocated and fractured, war-torn land. Malory’s Morte d’Arthur, begins really quite early with the birth of this young baby, this child being taken away from his mother and father. He’s a boy that is really assumed to carry the DNA of nobility, and he is watched and nurtured. And when the time is appropriate, following his father’s death, he is brought back to assume his position So really, it’s really about Merlin being the sort of architect behind accessing this ancient Roman power, which is Camelot, and reinventing it, and realigning the fractured land into becoming unified, and unified under a different mentality, a different moral code.
Is the theory for starting the story with a young Arthur that you’re setting it up for multiple seasons?
Well, I think any good producer would love multiple seasons and any audience that feels like it’s worthy to be one would probably be hungry for more, we hope, so I guess there’s that, but you could do Arthur age fifty and there’d be five seasons. I think it’s lovely that he is almost the conduit, it’s through his ascension that the audience are carried, and really, they get to access the land in all its gore and horror and beauty through the young innocent eyes and the very cruel learning curve that he has to go on, to become king of such a violent place. So in many ways being young acts as a really lovely fresh conduit for a modern audience to access that world.
So how do you go about playing a legend like Merlin, apart from getting a really short haircut?
Well, I wanted to have fun with Merlin, that’s really my first approach was to enjoy it, and I think that television, unlike film, they both move extremely fast, but television moves at one hundred miles an hour, with very little preparation, and you have to just be a little bit like Jackson Pollock, you have to just throw the paint on the canvas with the kind of joy and fun and just get the colours up there. But my mantra to myself was that joy has to be the guide on this one, and I didn’t want to do a, kind of, off-the-shelf Merlin and long beard and long, prophetic hair and staff, I wanted to tackle him differently. I love the relationship between him and Arthur, for me it’s kind of an Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker, it’s a kind of Willy Wonka and Charlie, there are many literary and filmic, similarities and parallels and actually I think this is one of the most interesting relationships, in that regard. It’s endearing, it’s brutal, it’s teacher, it’s father, and that gives you great colours to play with. But I felt with Merlin, that he has a duality, he’s not to be trusted. He’s part angel, part devil.
You spent a lot of your childhood with your family in Ireland. How was it to be back?
I love it. I wanted to escape down to Bantry and Kilkenny, where I grew up. But I haven’t had a chance with the filming regime being what it is. But, yes, it’s lovely to be back.
With reference to 'Camelot', and bearing in mind that you just came off 'FlashForward', how do you pick your television roles?
Well, I wasn’t really looking out for this, it sort of picked me, and to tell you the truth, when I heard, “hey, what do you think of 'Camelot'?” I think my first reaction was “what, the musical?” and “no” and “do we really have to see another Merlin?” But probing into Chris, and giving him a really hard time about how he was going tell it, and his promise to me that it’s not an off-the-shelf production, I got really engaged, I think I got fired up, and I just felt, again, I think as you get older you just kind of want to have fun. I just want to enjoy it a bit more, and I felt that actually Merlin was a character I could do that with.
There seems to be a lot of violence and sex in 'Camelot', does Merlin get much of either. Or is he just cerebral and above it all?
Merlin, would like to think, at times, he’s above it all. But it is a violent place to begin with, and you have to set that up, that it is a brutal, disenfranchised, dislocated landscape, that is terrifying, and in comes this king and a movement to really fight for the freedom of the people, essentially, and to unite. And, of course there is the great love story of Guinevere and Arthur, and Guinevere being betrothed and married to Arthur’s champion, Leontes. And then, I guess, if we ever move into another season you’ll get Lancelot, coming in, and that whole, being haunted and revisited.
And with regards to 'FlashForward'. Now that you’ve stepped away from it, what are your memories and what’s your feeling about the show?
My memory is I’ve just come from twenty-two episodes to ten here, with not much in between, and all I know is it’s pretty exhausting. And what a luxury film is in terms of just, rehearsal and being able to shoot one page a day and not eight. So all I know is that I look back and I go, God, how did I get through that regime of twenty-two episodes or eight pages, a day, and barely two weeks to shoot an episode, it’s an amazing experience. And I think still FlashForward may have been a missed opportunity.
Do you think the US network got it wrong, with the break, and constantly changing the scheduling of it?
I don’t know, it’s such a hard one, and I think, with networks and studios there are a gazillion people involved with decisions, and maybe too many different opposing opinions. I don’t know, but it was fascinating to see that – it was a huge learning curve.
You were working in LA on 'FlashForward', now in Ireland for this, is it difficult moving your family around?
I’m based, and always have been and will be, here in Europe, but for the purposes of FlashForward I had to relocate to that States for that year. It’s hard, it’s part and parcel of what I do, each time it’s a negotiation.
I believe there was some swashbuckling training for the actors prior to filming. Does your previous experience mean that you were excused?
Yeah, luckily Merlin doesn’t have to do his own stunts. His stunts are CGI’d. I escaped the boot camp. I just went away to magic school for the week!
