“I did a play years ago called ‘Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off,’ about Mary Queen of Scots, who was King James’ mother,” reveals BAFTA nominee Tony Curran, who plays King James I in the Starz Limited series “Mary and George.” “In that play I played King James’ father, Lord Darnley, who got assassinated, got blown up. So, I knew a bit about his history. He never really had a mother because she was taken away by Queen Elizabeth when he was a baby and she was imprisoned before she was executed. Having your mother decapitated and your father assassinated, it was a bit of a tough start for old King James.”
“Mary and George” is an audacious historical psychodrama about a treacherous mother and son who schemed, seduced and killed to conquer the Court of England and the bed of King James I. Starring Oscar winner Julianne Moore and rising star Nicholas Galitzine as Mary and George Villiers, the Starz limited series based on Benjamin Woolley‘s non-fiction book “The King’s Assassin” (2017) has critics raving and viewers gobsmacked by the juicy details of 17th century royalty.
Curran describes the era of King James I’s reign as “more relaxed and hedonistic,” explaining, “He didn’t want to be put in a box. He wanted to be free. He wanted to express who he was. Being a king, I guess you could do that.”
The actor has a laugh about being in the best shape of his life prior to shooting, but letting himself go a bit to get into character. “I’ve been training a lot, I didn’t drink last year at all,” he reveals. “I was in pretty good shape, but when I got ‘Mary and George’ I didn’t work out as much because, not that I looked like Magic Mike, but I thought, ‘I don’t want him to look all cut as this king.’ Then of course when everybody took their robes off and we’re completely naked, I looked at them all and I was like, ‘You bastards!’ They all looked incredible! They were all ripped and I was this pudgy king.”
SEE ‘Outlander: Blood of My Blood’ cast: Starz announces key roles for ‘Outlander’ spin-off series
Up next for Curran is the highly anticipated “Outlander” prequel on Starz, “Blood of My Blood.” He plays Lord Lovat, who is the grandfather of Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan). “Our show goes back to 1715 and 1915,” he says. “It’s an origin story. It’s basically about Claire and Jamie’s parents, where they were from and how they were conceived. My son is Brian Fraser, who is the father of Jamie Fraser. He’s a real man. In our story he’s lost his title and by all means necessary he’s going to try to get it back. We will time travel again going back and forth through these two time periods and meet some incredible new characters.”
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