Anthony Head

Merlin is a new drama series that updates the story of the infamous sorcerer of Arthurian legend for a new audience.

It unveils the mythical city of Camelot, in a time before history began, when there was a fantastical realm of legendary beasts and mysterious people as well as a dangerous world in which magic has been banned by the ruthless tyrant, Uther Pendragon (Anthony Stewart Head).

When Merlin (Colin Morgan), a young man gifted with extraordinary magical powers, arrives in the kingdom, he quickly makes enemies which include the heir to Uther’s crown, the headstrong Prince Arthur (Bradley James). But, Merlin is soon using his talents not just to survive, but also to unlock Camelot’s mystical secrets. As he does so, he discovers that his destiny and that of the kingdom’s young leader-in-waiting, Arthur, are inextricably linked.

Best known for his role as Giles on the popular television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Anthony Stewart Head spoke in this exclusive interview about this imaginative new twist on a familiar legend, as well as the status of the Buffy spin-off series.

IESB: What was it about this project that interested you?

Anthony: I wasn’t sure, at first. I was very attracted by the lump of money they offered me. In England, that’s a very good thing. It was a guaranteed 13-part series, which again is very, very rare. And, it was being put together by Julie Gardner, who is the driving force behind BBC Wales, and who I adore. I think she’s an extraordinarily creative woman, but she also has the strength of her convictions. Once she gets behind something, she sees it through. She doesn’t wait to see what the rest of the committee says. She’s got balls, which is something that you can’t say for an awful lot of executives. They all usually wait for strength in numbers. Having said that, I wasn’t altogether sure about doing it.

IESB: What was the appeal of playing this character, Uther Pendragon?

Anthony: I sat down and talked to James Hawes, the director of the first block of episodes, and he put my mind at rest on everything. I said, “I don’t just want to be Mr. Shouty,” and he said, “Don’t worry about that. I’ll steer you through that.” In fact, every now and again, he’d say, “It’s a bit Queen of Hearts.” We very quickly established that this king has to make unpopular decisions because he’s king and he’s holding a very tenuous grip on what could, at any point, fall apart. They’re living in difficult times. From early on, I kept saying, “Wherever we can, I’d like to add detail about him being a warrior king and a soldier.” He’s old school. To rule, you have to be feared. Who needs to be a king that’s understood? He thought, “I don’t care whether they understand me. As far as I’m concerned, I just need to rule, and I have to make decisions, whether unpopular or popular.” It’s from that basis that Arthur becomes the king that he eventually does.

IESB: So then, what finally sold you on doing the project?

Anthony: I must admit, I thought, “I wonder why nobody has done this before.” It’s such an obvious thing to do for TV, if they could get the production values right, which they did. They searched all over Europe and around the U.K. and could not find a castle. They nearly gave it up because they couldn’t find the castle, and then they found Pierrefonds and suddenly went, “Oh, my God, this is it!” And, it is. It’s extraordinary. When you walk in, you’re just thrown back into another time. The stones still shine and gleam. It’s got plenty of history in it.

IESB: As an actor, is it easier for you to work with that stuff actually there, as opposed to having to imagine it all?

Anthony: Oh, yeah! Thankfully, I haven’t done anything that’s been largely green screen. It would be a challenge, and I’d do the best that I could. We had to do a joust recently, and the guys rode the horses up and down. Mechanically, since we all had to look at what was going on, it was good to actually have something physical happening. It’s so much easier, watching two guys pelting at each other on horses, to get the excitement up and the adrenalin going. It’s so much easier than having to pretend to see it. The first time I walked into my throne room, which is the length of a football field, my breath was taken away. It was like, “Okay, all right, I’m king.” Yes, you can imagine it. My job is to make whatever is on the page seem like it’s real. But, the castle is the seventh member of the cast. It’s the most extraordinary thing. You do a scene down a corridor and it’s got depth, which isn’t created by mirrors or a green screen. It literally goes on for 30 yards. You couldn’t do that on a set.

IESB: Having had the experience with Buffy, what is it like to work in that kind of ensemble?

Anthony: The fact that they are so brilliantly cast is a dream. Jill Trevellick, who is one of the leading casting directors in England now, has put together an extraordinarily well cast ensemble, to the degree that we’re all almost playing our characters with each other. Bradley James (who plays Arthur) is a bit like a son to me, and I’m a bit like a father to him. And, Colin Morgan (who plays Merlin) and Bradley get along really well. They have the same relationship, off screen. He doesn’t push Colin around like he does on screen, but the banter is there. And, they have this very strange humor that no one else gets, and they just crack up at each other’s jokes. Every guest star that we’ve had, and we’ve had some really nice guests on it, have said what an enjoyable experience it was because it’s a great crew and cast, and everybody is very welcoming. You don’t get that unless people are comfortable. If they’re comfortable and at ease, then they can enjoy it. But, it doesn’t necessarily make it a great production, if people are enjoying it. You can have a great production where everybody hates each other, and it still works really well on screen. It just happens to be a bonus, on this gig. I guess no one is terribly insecure. We’ve all got a gig.

IESB: Does it make it easier to return for another season, when you know that everyone gets along and enjoys working together?

Anthony: Yeah, it’s certainly a bonus. I’ve been very fortunate, actually. I’ve done very, very few gigs that I can think of, where I’ve had that. I remember a job that I did a long time ago, where I was a guest, and the largely female ensemble cast had collectively decided that the director couldn’t do it and that he wasn’t good enough. They literally took me aside and said, “Don’t worry about the director. Just ignore what he says. We’ll set you right.” And, I was like, “But, he’s in the control room.” We were shooting in a studio, and I said, “It’s his gig. He’s the one who’s calling the shots.” They said, “Don’t worry. We’ll tell you if you’re not very good.” I went along with it, but I still listened to the director. I thought it was bizarre. It was a terrible show. Thankfully, I haven’t had too much of that.

IESB: Do you know if anything will ever come of the Buffy spin-off about Giles that’s been talked about?

Anthony: The last showing that the Buffy spin-off had was that I introduced Joss Whedon to Julie Gardner, who really wants to do something. She happened to be over here publicizing Torchwood, and I was doing Persuasion for PBS. I thought, “Wow, why not put them together?” They got along very well, so it looked like something might happen, whether it be Buffy related or whether it just be me and Joss doing something. But then, he had dinner with Eliza Dushku, and Eliza said that she was sick of playing the same part, and he came up with the idea for Dollhouse, and that was that.

IESB: Is it hard to keep going back and forth on it, not knowing whether it’s actually going to happen?

Anthony: Everything happens for a reason, and everything doesn’t happen for a reason. If it doesn’t happen, it’s because something else was meant to happen, or it wouldn’t be what everybody had expectations of. Who knows? It may yet happen, somewhere down the line, and it will be at a time when Joss and I are ready to work together again. I still see him, regularly. It will be what it will be. You can’t get caught up in it. I was very bitter about Sweeney Todd for awhile because I had a really nice part in it and it got cut. I thought there was injustice in that. But, who knows? If I hadn’t been involved in the shooting of it, maybe I would have done something else, which would have made me unavailable for the pilot of Free Agents that I did, and Repo! The Genetic Opera.

IESB: Do you have any other projects going on?

Anthony: Free Agents is a series that I did, in between seasons of Merlin, which has been critically very successful in England, and I’m hoping that gets picked up again. There’s a little horror movie that says they’ll work around me. It’s just a question of when they can get their money together. They’re short the last couple hundred grand. It’s with a young writer/director and it’s very good. There’s a movie that I was supposed to be doing two years ago, but the money fell out at the last minute, literally two days before we were supposed to start rehearsing. That came back last year, and it’s come back again this year, and I know it’s going to be made, but I can’t do it because I’m doing Merlin. But, I would rather be doing Merlin. It’s one of those things where there’s obviously a good reason why I shouldn’t do it.