JOSEPH FIENNES (Merlin) Talks Camelot #JOSEPHFIENNES

The sorcerer is creator and custodian of the legend of “Camelot”. As Arthur’s greatest and most powerful ally, Merlin believes in him even more than Arthur believes in himself. He can foresee the threats to his king more clearly than anyone, but he must fight the dark nature of his power and harness it to bring forth a new “Camelot”.

After several years in British theatre, Fiennes rose to international fame in roles such as ‘William Shakespeare’ in the Academy Award®-winning “Shakespeare In Love,” for which he won both a Chicago Film Critics Association Award for “Most Promising Actor” and a SAG Award for “Outstanding Performance By a Cast,” and was nominated for both a SAG Award for “Outstanding Performance By a Male Actor in a Leading Role” and a “BAFTA Award for Best Performance By an Actor in a Leading Role.”  He also earned a Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for “Breakthrough Artist” for his role as ‘Sir Robert Dudley’ in “Elizabeth,” directed by Shekhar Kapur. Fiennes was most recently seen in the US and the UK in ABC’s hit series “Flash Forward” in which he starred as Mark Benford.

Camelot airs every Friday on Starz at 10:00 pm Eastern Standard Time, Pacific Standard Time.

What attracted you to the role originally? And can you talk a little bit about your preparation and what were some of the setbacks you have experienced?

Joseph Fiennes: I was tricked. I was tricked. Chris told me that I’d be up for Guinevere playing as a transition and… it’s very exciting to turn the myths upside down and to get to the legend in a visceral modern way. And it’s told in a wonderful cinematic way. It’s a great team of actors. And there’s so many of these episodes that we’ve kind in the back of our mind know about the sword and the stone, the lady in the lake because it’s great to visit them and get them coherently in a really exciting way. And I think what’s really (switched) me in.  I think Mr. (Tiber) was to blame for a lot of the attraction as well as an iconic character that has definitely inspired I think the characters like (Vandorf) or Dumbledore or Obi-Wan Kenobi and how to do it in a completely different way without too many long beards and pointy hats. And the challenge is sort of finding the sort of modern conduit for the audience and having fun and really looking at the duality of this particular character that is sort of both devil and angel that on the cusp of losing control of the pagan background to this newfangled religion called Christianity. So there’s a great sort of backdrop there. And just there’s a whole sort of dark side and the magic and he’s sort of slightly from another world and place Merlin. So how do you tackle all of that? So it’s sort of having fun and presenting it in a new – in a new way. Maybe he’s a bit more (sluggish) in the sort of the corridors of power. He’s more of a politician, slightly Machiavellian. And also there’s a lovely relationship as sort of slightly kind of wrinkle Charlie Willie Wonka relationship going on between Merlin and Arthur. So there’s so much to be had really.

How did you approached playing the iconic role as Merlin?

Joseph Fiennes: How  how do we tackle this? I guess I kind of read as much as I could but really was speaking to Chris Chibnall and asking all the sort of pertinent questions and make me feel like we weren’t going to do an off the peg kind of Camelot which has been done or at least themes of Camelot or at least characters in Camelot have been touched upon in many films and TV series before. So it was really to pick his brains. And in doing so I got fired up by I felt that tackling Merlin in a fresher angle. I guess use is predominant factor that we were seeing a young King Arthur and thereby a young-ish really, I’m into my 40s. And so it was sort of how to kind of tackle it from that point view. And also I wanted to have fun with it. I wanted (Joy) to be the guide with Merlin. I wanted to have the scope which I felt Merlin kind of has in his Machiavellian bipolar way that he’s not to be trusted yet he is fighting for this great speed of power and is really sort of the publicly a master to some degree in orchestrating Camelot and King Arthur. So he’s a strange, dark devious character and I just wanted to have fun and get away from the cloak and the staff and long, long beard and the pointy hat. And we I think through Chris who came to the idea that he was more warrior monk that is coming to terms with his sort of – his power and how they can affect him and others. Done, sorry, long-winded.

What do you like most and least about your character not necessarily as an iconic character but as it’s being presented in this series?

Joseph Fiennes: Well I see. What do I like and dislike about Merlin as he’s being presented? Well I like the fact that and you said not necessarily as an icon but we’re stripping the icons away. And we are – they’re sort of the Wikipedia I guess – not Wikipedia, WikiLeaks forgive me. We’re the sort of WikiLeaks for the age that we’re revealing with the transparency the characters. We’re unearthing the sort of the truth beyond the myth or underneath the myth. And I love that aspect. And Merlin is really at the forefront in that regard. We get a glimpse into the sort of the dark Machiavellian corridors of power. I like the fact that he, although that he has powers, his powers is almost in his political guile as much as what he relies on in the – in darker forces. I guess there’s nothing I don’t like about Merlin in the presentation if I’m interpreting your question correctly and forgive me if I’m not. But there’s – I love everything, even the things I find despicable and abhorrent in Merlin. Actually they’re a joy to ride on the tailcoats of.

Did any of your previous roles help you prepare for your character or was this just a completely new experience for you?

Joseph Fiennes: Well just I guess there’s a couple of films I’ve done where I’ve had to get on a horse and wear a pair of tights. So that helped in one regard. But nothing could have prepared me for the fun there is to wield magic like Merlin does and especially in the perverted mind of Chris Chibnall has given me lots of great reign in the dark side of those powers. And so that’s been the joy is something very new to me is wielding not all the time, but at certain times great magical powers.


I understand that you’re approaching the legend with a contemporary perspective, is it more fun to work on a period piece as opposed to the contemporary stuff?

Joseph Fiennes: Yes. I kind of echo that. I mean I think just probably going to – just say the same thing. I think really an actor, a large part of how an actor works and their process, this is on an outside, not an inward but on an outside level which ultimately can affect your inside interior world is the stimulation of what’s around you and none more so than in a period piece. And I say period with caution because this is a modern piece as much as it is set in a different time, age and myth. But it’s relevant or else we – it wouldn’t be made and we wouldn’t be putting our energy into it. It’s relevant for us today because in some way it throws up a mirror to all of us. But having said that the – and from the outside perspective it’s great to have, you know, the atmosphere and the world that’s invented for you. And as an actor you really get stimulus and you’re effected by that whether it’s costumes or wonky funny beards or wobbly sets, castles or actually just being in the real deal, being in the Wick low Mountains in County Dublin is pretty stunning. And you really feel like you’ve sort of been catapulted in a sort of quantum leap into the Celtic times. And that’s really good and exciting.

Do you think any of your previous Shakespeare work on stage or on film helped in your preparation for a role like Merlin?

Joseph Fiennes: I don’t know. I think all experience is in some way, shape or form filtered down to helping you in your present moment. I guess that, you know, Shakespeare might do. You’re desperately with Shakespeare you’re trying to with a fairly archaic language although in certain aspects it’s deeply modern but you’re trying to phrase it rather like a jazz player or something it – for a (modernaire) to make it scan and be understandable. And I guess it’s the same not with language but with this sort of the visual syntax and the world that’s nothing to do with us and yet we’re trying to make very connected for a modern audience. So really it’s all about human condition ultimately. So that’s what you’re looking at. You’re also looking to have some fun as well because that also translates. And I think the preparation, maybe wearing tights once in a while helps, getting up on a horse a couple of times before might help. I think on those sort of practical levels maybe it has helped.

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