Stephen Moyer - Interview

I had the pleasure of speaking with Stephen Moyer about his new role on The Bastard Executioner. He was adamant that he couldn’t share any spoilers, but he did give some hints and really spoke to the depth of detail that’s gone on in every aspect of the production as well as his own detailed engagement with his character. He was delightful to speak with and very generous with his time. In fact he was a few minutes late for the interview because he got caught in traffic returning home from the park with his children. He then tried to set them up with Peter Pan while he spoke with us, but had to settle for leaving them watching in Dutch! And don’t worry True Blood fans, he hasn’t forgotten you! One of the interviewers began by saying how much a fan she is of True Blood and Moyer responded that he ‘missed their fairy world.’ What follows is a quick re-cap of the questions and answers. Hopefully, a full transcript will be up in a few days.

Q: How did you get the role?

SM: We were at Comic Con for the last season of True Blood and the Sons of Anarchy cast were there for their last season. Anna and I had just joined Twitter. We ran into Kim Coates and as we are huge Sons fans we did a selfie with Kim and Juice [Theo Rossi]. Kim literally walked us through how to tweet it. Kurt immediately tweeted back and asked if we’d be interested in being on Sons. We really wanted to do it, but we could never make the dates work. Kurt and I would tweet back and forth about Sons and became friends that way. So, I got the part through Twitter! How fangirly is that?!

Q: What drew you to the project?

SM: I’d heard about the project in name only. I knew they were filming in Wales. Kurt and I actually met for the first time over coffee. He hooked me in with the story, the characters, and the mythology. He let me into some of the arcs that even most of the others don’t know. When he gave me the script to read, I was immediately drawn to the character of the Bastard Executioner, but I’m too old for that, so I really liked Corbett. I knew the world and loved it from having done a two year project in school. Kurt has done years of research on the period. I liked that Corbett really hung on to his best friend’s bootstraps and got himself a position that he could never have hoped to have from his position at birth.

Q: Can you talk about the additional layers of the character as he’s much more than a ‘villain’?

SM: He’s not a villain. He’s someone trying to push himself forward. I wrote a huge backstory for the character for myself so that he’d have a rich past for me to draw on. It’s not necessarily something that will ever find its way into the show. Dennis O’Hare, a dear friend from True Blood, wrote a huge backstory for his character, and I was so taken by what Dennis did. Some elements of my backstory have crossed over, but Kurt has his own ideas. Corbett is from a very, very poor upbringing. His best friend was a warrior and a good friend to Edward I and thereby becomes a Baron and my character becomes his Chamberlain because of our relationship. Now it’s up to Milus to figure out where he goes from here.

Q: Are you still filming?

SM: We’re just filming episode 8. I’m just blown away by Kurt. I loved what he set up in the Pilot. From episode 3 onward the stories are extraordinary. It just gets richer and richer.

LISA: I really got the feeling from Stephen’s comments that you really needed to be paying attention in the Pilot as it contained a lot of easter eggs that will pay off in later episodes.

Q: Challenges of filming in Wales?

SM: My mom was on set last week. She came on the set of True Blood and was blown away. Merlots is one of my favorite sets ever – it’s a complete working bar! But my mother was just blown away by the detail on The Bastard Executioner set. Kurt has set up a complete world. My entire family is there. We even flew over the dogs. Wales is really beautiful, and we’re having a ball.

Q: Do you have any sense of how many seasons Kurt plans to go?

SM: No idea. We have the standard 6 plus 1 contract. I loved Sons but I wouldn’t have seen it go 7, but Kurt did it beautifully. The Bastard Executioner has every possibility of becoming that size a show. I can definitely see 5.

We shoot in these two castles built in 1256 and 1156, and it’s a beautiful idea that it’s 800 years later and these halls were walked by historical figures who you’ll see on the show. We are crossing over with historical events. We are set in 1312 and there hints of those events and politics. We aren’t lacking in story and it just starts leaping. You get to know the characters and the intrigues and backstories. On True Blood everyone in the cast and crew were so excited to get the new scripts, especially the Alan Ball scripts, on Friday afternoon that we’d all just sit wherever we were and read them. The Bastard Executioner has the same feeling.

Q: Can you talk about the relationship between the Baroness and Milus?

SM: There are a number of things going on. Flora [Spencer Longhurt] has remarkable beauty on camera. She has knocked it out of the park in terms of the work she’s doing. She is a Lady of Wales who was married off to his best friend. There was a need for an affiliation between them [Milus and the Baroness]. But what’s growing between them is new to them as well as the audience. She knows he has a thuggish background, but he also has the shire’s best inters too. She hopes he will stand behind the shire. He is impressed by her. He’s seen her brow since the Baron’s death. The next episode deals with an element of this. What female power means in 1312. He’s really impressed by some of the decisions she’s making. He’s taken by her brilliance. There’s also a connection between the Baroness and Wilkin that he sees in the Church and he will use anything he sees to his own advantage. I love working with her. She’s brilliant. Milus has never entertained the idea of a union with her because she is so far above his station.

Q: Can you speak to the sexual tension between Milus and Wilkin?

SM: You have seen me with the French servant, so it’s fair to say there is something there. Milus’ past will become clear and will explain some of his choices. He gets his kicks where he sees them. He’s intrigued by people of power and weighted thought.

Q: We’ve seen a lot of steamy sexuality like the scene with the twins. Is there a correlation to his losing control in his position?

SM: I hadn’t thought of that. But that moment with the servant behind the pillar in the Pilot – that wasn’t stipulated in the text of the script that they were fucking behind the pillar. I asked Kurt. The servant is new in the castle and he’s not had him yet. Sex being power and maximum knowledge being power, if he can have dominion over those around him, he will. Any way to glean a positive of to get something over everyone. It’s classic alpha behavior. Milus will take whatever he can out of the situation and spin it.

Q: Can you talk about working with Martin McCann (Randolph Corbett), Brian O’Byrne (Baron Ventris), and Timothy Murphy (Father Ruskin)?

SM: I’d read the Pilot so I knew he sacrificed his brother. I didn’t know the actor coming in to play him however, and I was completely blown away by Martin. I was delighted to work with Bryan and we already knew each other. Tim Murphy I had seen in Sons. We were all three always laughing and ripping the shit out of each other – as you do. I said to Kurt and the other execs, if we get people that good doming in, PLEASE don’t kill them! Felix [Scott], who played the original Bastard Executioner, was also extraordinary. He’s such a conflicted and dark character and Felix is nothing like that! Alec Newman [Leon Tell] who plays the new Reeve is also great. Sam Spruell [Toran Prichard] is also terrific and is great in the new Krays brother film [Legend, the new Tom Hardy film]. In regards to Tim, Kurt’s written someone who is not just a Priest. There’s a rich history to the character. Lee [Jones – Wilkin] is doing a great job. It’s hard to come in to such a tough job. He’s holding himself really well. [referring to Jones being a relative unknown and having little experience with all the press attention in addition]

Q: What are your character’s views on torture? Medieval justice?

SM: When I read that episode [3], I had a number of feelings. I hadn’t realized that she’d accidentally broken the nose off the statue. It shows her innocence but the importance of holding on to your territory and how important that still is to the Welsh. I remember thinking they are going to kill her. And then I thought maybe that’s how we’re going to end every episode. Somehow it was even more hideous when I realized what was happening. It’s almost worse to have to live with that deformity. And it’s the Baroness who calls that down. She has to be seen to be strong, to take a stand. My character’s view is that it’s not enough. Milus looks out and sees that crowd being upset that they’ve only gotten to see a nose cut off. This was their entertainment. I’m not saying that we are or aren’t seeing something like this in every episode. I’m looking forward to our audience’s reaction.

Q: What did you add to your character?

SM: I’d like to think I have, but Kurt has written a very complete character. Going back to the Pilot, I wanted to be seen as someone who takes what he wants. So I wanted “straight fucking” behind the pillar not just heavy petting. I wanted the power of that. For me, I come from a place called Essex, and I went to drama school and I came out with a posh accent. It’s nice to play someone from the streets and who changes what he needs to when he needs to. He’s a straight brawler and prefers to operate that way.

Q: What’s with the doll?

SM: The doll is something from his childhood. He’s packing Eric’s stuff away and he finds it. The detail in the scripts is extraordinary. Whether they edit that way is a different question. There is much included in brackets in the scripts. So he’s packing the things we had when we were boys together. It reminds him of his childhood. I won’t say more.

Q: Do you judge your character’s actions?

SM: There are two answers. First, I know he’s ambitious and trying to save the shire and the King isn’t going to let a woman hold this position. She’s not a princess or English noble. He’s going to have to do stuff to keep his position. I was well aware that I would have things to do, deaths etc. In conversations with Kurt, everything he does is thought through. I don’t want to spoil too much. He’s not just looking out for himself but he does have a conscience. He has a reason for doing everything. Kurt told me a piece of information that made it all make sense… It’s all in there. It may just not be explained. As fun as it is to just be Machiavellian, it’s also fun to know there’s thought behind it.

Q: Did you do anything to prepare?

SM: I did a lot of reading. We were all sent to Knight’s camp. Lots of riding and swords. I was in Wales for two months with only 8 days of filming. I did a lot of swordsplay at drama school and really enjoyed it. I’ve done lots of riding so there’s a riding school in Wales that know I can ride and will just let me take a horse down to the beach and go riding. It’s just a cherry on top of it all. They’re all things that I love to do and one of the great benefits to doing something like this.

Q: Does the Wales’ set help you to prepare?

SM: I was walking through the village one day, one of the things they’ve done. It’s on 100 acres in a valley, a dell. When you look from the castle, all you see is green. The real working village is fabulous. So I’m walking through the village and I see a fellow working on a pig. There are other various animals hanging up. And I say to him, you really look like you know what you’re doing. And he says, I’m a butcher. They’d hired a real butcher as an extra. They also found a carpenter who really makes bows and a woman who makes potions and an ironmonger, blacksmith, and so on. They are doing the things they do. There’s no crap extra work in the background! The higher ups never told us they were doing this. I only found out because I talked to the extras. All the extras, even those just walking around, were given backgrounds on who they were, who their family was, where they were going and so forth.

Lisa: You’ve already mentioned the political intrigue we’ll see and there was an almost throw away line about Edward II’s sexual preferences. Given that we’ve seen you with the French servant, will this come into play in any way?

SM: Lady Love mentioned to Isabel that they will be going to Court in next week’s episode, so that little piece of pipe has been laid. We’ve been shooting something this week that really reflects what’s happening in the news this week with David Cameron and what he’s been up to. [If you, like me, weren’t aware of the British Prime Minister’s Piggate, you should google it!] The story reflects both past and present politics.

The set is really beautiful. We have a couple of antique, medieval pieces that FX bought and many more that were made for the set. The stunt coordinators are always telling us – no falling over the 500 year old pieces! We just had several documents that needed to be signed in this week’s episode. This was something we added to the scene while filming and we needed parchment to write something down. And all of a sudden they just brought us out seven to choose from! They were real documents on various parchments, like pig skin, all done with calligraphy and all prepared for us to sign. There’s real attention to every detail.

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Mine was the last question and answer. My biggest takeaway speculation is that Milus will manage to sleep with Edward II or at least get some kind of information on him that will allow him to make a deal for Lady Love to keep control and for Milus to keep his position as Chamberlain. Now, this is just MY speculation – it wasn’t stated in the interview. Regardless, it sounds like the action and intrigue are going to start coming hot and heavy this week! Don’t forget to watch the next episode of The Bastard Executioner on FX on Tuesday, September 29 at 10pm!

About the Author - Lisa Macklem

I do interviews and write articles for the site in addition to reviewing a number of shows, including Supernatural, Arrow, Agents of Shield, Agent Carter, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, The X-Files, Defiance, Bitten, Killjoys, and a few others! I'm active on the Con scene when I have the time. When I'm not writing about television shows, I'm often writing about entertainment and media law in my capacity as a legal scholar. I also work in theatre when the opportunity arises. I'm an avid runner and rider, currently training in dressage.

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