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The following is from a podcast conducted by Showtime with
Jonathan. It was published on iTunes in April 2008. The
words contained are property of Showtime and Jonathan, of course.
:) Apologies in advance for any spelling errors!
 How
is Henry different this season?
Well, he's certainly a more mature Henry VIII. In the first season I
had to have so much youthful impetuance with him. So much
aggression. So much volatile energy. That you have to see him grow
in season two. I've made him much more contained. Much more in
control of himself and much more comfortable with his role. He
doesn't have Wolsey. Soon enough he's not gonna have Thomas More -
brilliantly played by Jeremy Northam. And he's got himself an
incredible match in the Pope - played by Peter O'Toole.
How does it feel to play Henry VIII?
That's a very difficult question - how does it feel playing Henry
VIII? I don't know how it feels playing Henry VIII because for the
period of time that I do it I don't see the world any differently. I
don't go home in the evening and become Johnny Rhys Meyers very
quickly. I never really leave it. It brings a different energy and
probably makes me very difficult to live with in a personal life.
While I'm doing this job because it's always in the back of my head.
That I have to think like a King. I have to behave like a King. Even
in public - I find that I have to maintain this element of grace and
elegance. Even when I'm not working. The only time that I ever -
during the period of when I'm shooting - that I get to not be King
is I play football on Sunday morning at 11 o'clock and for that one
hour, hour and a half - I forget about the kingdom. Every single
day, every other hour - it's always in my mind. It's always in my
head, it never leaves.
How is Maria Doyle Kennedy as Queen?
Maria Doyle Kennedy is the ultimate Katherine of Aragon. I haven't
seen her played like this ever. With such empathy, such sorrow, and
such determination and strength within that sorrow. Some people take
their strength from successes. Some people take their strength from
high energy. She takes her strength from sorrow, such deep, deep,
deep sorrow. That it brings a completely different energy. Whenever
I see Maria Doyle Kennedy on screen I want to weep and applaud at
the same time for what she has gone through. For the pain that her
character has suffered. And suffered with such dignity - incredible
amount of dignity in Maria Doyle Kennedy. And this really came
across and made Katherine of Aragon and made her into more than a
jilted Queen. It made her almost a jilted element. She is not only
representing womanhood, she is representing pure and true womanhood.
And eternal love and devotion.
How is Natalie Dormer as Queen?
Anne Boleyn is extraordinary. How Natalie Dormer has played her is
quite the most extraordinary thing. Because she starts off as this
very intelligent, highly intuitive girl. And then suddenly she's
thrust into this arena by her father Thomas Boleyn - played
incredibly by Nick Dunning. So at the start she's not really sure
whether she loves Henry or can love Henry. Then she begins to love
Henry. Then she begins to become an ally of Henry's. Than she starts
wielding power of her own. So you'll find in the second season Anne
Boleyn has become very, very powerful. But she has to be careful.
Because Henry doesn't share power with anyone. Even someone he has
taken to bed. So there's a certain limit to Anne Boleyn's power that
she hasn't found yet. But Natalie has played her with extraordinary
intelligence and extraordinary beauty. She's one of the one
actresses I've met in my life - and I've worked with a bunch of them
- who knows how to use every single inch of herself.
Are you excited to be working in Ireland again?
I love working in Ireland. I love working with the Irish crew. And I
love working at Ardmore. It's like coming home and we all know each
other. I think this season is even better. The writing is better.
Everyone knows what they are doing. Characters have already been
established. And it's like when we shot the first season - we didn't
know. We didn't know how people were going to react. So there was
all this unknowing. You know? This sort of reaching around in the
dark. And we're not reaching around in the dark anymore. We know
what works. We also know what doesn't work. And it's very much
easier to go forward knowing what works and what doesn't. The
lighting this year, the costumes this year, the performances this
year ... have just elevated. They've been elevated for whatever
reason they have. It's that difficult second album. And I think it's
like - it's proving easier this season than it was last. |
