British-born actress Tamsin Egerton (Chelsea Parker in St. Trinian’s and St. Tinian’s II: The Legend of Fritton’s Gold, Chalet Girl, Driving Lessons and Keeping Mum with Patrick Swayze) plays the role of Guinevere, friend, love interest and solid support to young king Arthur in Camelot.
Camelot, Starz newest original series premieres on April 1st with ten limited episodes and a new and interesting dialogue. The epic drama is reinvented to suit the 21st century audience with deception, love, power and betrayal.
I caught up with Egerton to discuss her role in the iconic drama and her love triangle with young king Arthur and Leontes, one of Arthur’s most loyal knights.
Camelot premieres exclusively on Starz April 1 at 10:00 pm Eastern Standard Time, Pacific Standard Time.
By: Daedrian McNaughton
Tamsin in what way will Guinevere betray Arthur? And what is it like for you to play this role as a seducer?
Tamsin Egerton: Well can I say how she betrays Arthur? I don’t know. There’s so much. It’s such an epic story and there’s so many twists and turns – this season only covers a very, very small amount of the story. So for now she hasn’t betrayed Arthur yet. That’s not to say she won’t but she hasn’t yet. What it’s like to play a seducer? It’s interesting. Guinevere is not the Morgan type where she’s sultry and she knows she has this incredible female energy that she can use and utilize. And she’s not necessarily used to have this power over men. She hasn’t necessarily been aware of it before. Though I think she’s innocent. She’s an innocent seductress. And so it’s quite interesting to play with that and go into these scenes where it’s very passionate on the page and just going – throwing Guinevere straight into it and also having being the actress-what’s going to come and it’s – kind of you wince because you know what’s happening at the at the end of the episode. So it’s been very fun playing a different side of it. I think a seductress is a very interesting term cause I think people always think of them as a victim. But Guinevere isn’t. I mean she’s very much just a young girl who’s learning her heart and that means listening to herself and actually what she wants for once. But unfortunately the consequences of that are a lot higher than they would be nowadays for a normal 19-year-old especially she falls in love with a king. I mean that makes it a little bit more complicated as well. But it’s very fun. It’s been wonderful. It’s the complexities of it has been quite interesting in a love triangle in particular and seeing how she handles each situation and each man. She’s a very different person with each man. She’s very much under (Leontis)’s wing as it – well I suppose. And she’s his childhood sweetheart. He’s her childhood sweetheart. And in a way that sort of big older brotherly love. But with Arthur she’s a completely different person. She’s not there to cook dinner and to be the – maternal. She’s actually there to have fun and have a more sexual relationship. So it’s very interesting.
What attracted you to the role originally? And can you talk a little bit about your preparation and what were some of your setbacks?
Tamsin Egerton: One of my first episode 11 result was the Mists of Avalon. So I’m very aware of the legend and from such an early age. Being a Brit you are so aware of the icon Arthur and King Arthur and Camelot and Guinevere. And then you’ve got Morgan the witch. And you’ve got Merlin who’s this mad magician who’s kind of cloaked in mystery and is it real, is it not? I mean I know it’s got of loads of mysteries. That kind of mystery about it. I mirror that. And it’s a lead role for a woman who’s strong and has a real journey to take and to go. And she has some fantastic storylines and really grows up in the first season. And you can see her journey and to have such an interesting and strong female role to play. And yes, that’s really why I want to do it. I want to be a part of this generation to be telling of Camelot and also to get the chance to play a fantastic complex, interesting, emotionally passionate young lead role. It was trying to keep her fresh and young and likeable for an audience. I mean the mistakes she makes it’s very easy to judge her. And so my challenge was to keep the audience on her side and just in a way understand where she’s coming from and try and feel sorry for her and still like her at the same time even though you shout at the tele for her to stop making the same mistakes again and again. But also the physical preparation was learning to horse ride, that was a big part of it and doing some sword fighting and just trying to make her a bit more base. I mean it’s quite a basic way of living back then. And I just wanted to make her more earthy and quite a strong character. I didn’t want her to just sit in the corner reading and twittling her hair. We wanted to make her an instant character with different sides. And so yes, physically I did a lot of work and immensely I just chatted to Chris. Yes, it’s hard doing a series when you’re finding the character yourself. And I think you can tell. I know I can when I watched some of the episodes. And in order I can see how I’ve grown into that role. And I can see how Guinevere’s grown up. And it’s very interesting dealing with that each – in each episode and also dealing with not only the overall story but also what happens in that one hour. So it was the preparation as well was (certainly) to keep myself and my character growing in the right time and in the right places and showing each new thought. And I think yes, I think that was all my challenges.
Starz is known for showing the full stories, explicit or otherwise. How do you feel about having this freedom to express yourself as an actor?
Tamsin Egerton: If the writing is allowed to breathe and to be more realistic and you can up the ante a bit more then that’s fantastic as an actress because obviously you’re going off what is written. So to that extent yes it’s fantastic. Guinevere and Arthur’s story is so about the passion and the more like it’s about the sexual attraction between them. And you can’t have that story and show that sexual attraction with them kissing and then shutting the door. I mean it just doesn’t work. You have to – I mean it’s such an important part of their relationship and what happens in Camelot later on and who they are and how they bond. And so I mean as an actress obviously you don’t want to run into these scenes and willy-nilly. I thought the couple that I did do were important for the character and were essential for the plot and to show what actually was going on between each character. It is great to be able to have that and to be able to say certain things and have certain passions. And I know that the battle scenes as well are quite gory and they’re quite and they’re quite strong. But battle was romantic and it’s far from being easy. So it’s nice in both respects to have that – have it a little bit – have the color and contrast kind of turned a bit. So yes, it’s good for an actor.
How did you do on your search for the perfect pint of Guinness?
Tamsin Egerton: I think (Adron Hughes) on Merrion Row is close up there for the perfect pint of Guinness. And I had a few. I wasn’t too bad, but the lads brought me out so I became one of the lads apparently according to the knights. Well actually I had to a scene where I was in the Irish Sea at 6:00 in the morning. And the night before I made sure I had a couple of Guinnesses and some pasta because I wanted the calories to burn off the next day because I just knew it was going to be a life saver. So that was my excuse.
What do you like most and least about your character?
Tamsin Egerton: I love the fact that she’s young and feisty and passionate and so naive in the beginning. And I love that quality about her. What I don’t like about Guinevere is the fact that she can’t control her passions and her urges. And she gets herself into quite a love triangle and quite a web. And I find – I mean personally I find that very difficult to relate to. But yes, it wouldn’t be interesting if she did everything right. And that’s what’s (interesting) about this series is we’re real characters making mistakes and having to deal with the consequences. And she’s young, she’s naive. She’s whole-heartedly going into her passions in everything that she feels in the series. I think she’s so used to having her life mapped out in front of her and it’s as growing up knowing her future and suddenly this young person comes along who’s like her and actually turns her life upside down and says I don’t know what I’m doing. Do you know what you’re doing because actually the world is our oyster and we could we can do anything. And he happens also to be very good-looking. And Guinevere’s just head over heels and doesn’t know how to handle these new emotions she’s feeling as a young woman and unfortunately can’t reign it all in all the time. And even though she tries to do the right thing and tries to be the good girlfriend and has her morals. She slips. She slips up a little bit. But it’s interesting as an actress that as – personally I’m worried that audience again start judging me personally rather than Guinevere. But that’s fine. Mistakes happen.
Did any of your previous roles help you prepare for your character?
Tamsin Egerton: Oh no I don’t think I’ve ever done a character like this before so I couldn’t really draw from previous roles. I’ve been known for doing a lot of comedies in England. So if I brought back those previous school girl roles, comedy school girl roles to the setting I just don’t think it would have worked. So I completely went from scratch with this one and I just went straight-forward with it. And then and my thoughts of what I read from Guinevere research – there’s a beautiful poem about Guinevere and just trying to mold to myself from past research and in speaking to Chris and also from what was on the page. So no, it’s all from in my mind rather than drawing from previous experiences or roles.
You’re approaching the legend with a contemporary perspective. Was it a lot more fun to work on a period piece as opposed to the contemporary stuff?
Tamsin Egerton: Almost always. I actually loved doing period pieces and purely because it takes you into a different world mentally. The clothes you have to wear are so far from our everyday clothes that it immediately helps with the character and putting you in that mind frame. And the sets that they get to build are just so beautiful and just so new and fresh, it’s like going to a completely foreign country and experiencing a new culture that you’ve never seen before because you’re exploring different worlds as it were, especially at Camelot. It’s just so magical I suppose. And no one really knew what it was like. Is it myth or is it legend? No one knows if it’s real of not. I know that Chris and the art director went to India to get a lot of his materials and dress the set with some incredible artifacts he’d found out there. And so seeing these sets and the costumes were just absolutely beautiful. And so much more interesting than wearing jeans and a t-shirt and walking around somebody else’s house. Yes, absolutely.
You have had some controversy in the past about your roles being risque. What is your take on your upcoming nude scenes in Camelot?
Tamsin Egerton: I don’t think any actors love getting her kicked off. And I think unless you’re an exhibitionist which I’m certainly not, it’s one of those – it’s the scenes that you actually dread doing. So much more go into this role and this job there are I think three scenes that turn up into an episode. I mean as an actress it’s all about reality. And I’m not a prude. I’m not someone who judges other people for getting their clothes off for roles. I’m not going to show everything. The nudity here or there, it doesn’t faze me.