Jamie Cambell Bower (Caius) och Chris Chibnall har blivit intervjuade av Collider om serien Camelot. Jamie är med i serien och Chris är regissör. Här nedan kan ni läsa Jamie’s del av intervjun – klicka här för att läsa Chris del.
Jamie, you played a very interesting and somewhat pivotal role in The Prisoner, but now with Camelot, you’re moving into playing a very iconic character. What does it feel like to be stepping into such a high-profile role?
JAMIE CAMPBELL BOWER: I approached the part with fear and great trepidation. It’s a part that has been played many times. It’s a part that many people have done very well, and some have not done so well. I was scared about being such a high-profile character within a television show. It’s a very scary prospect, being on television for 10 hours and possibly doing this for an extended period of time. But, what we had in the cast and what we have throughout the show is a great love for one another. We supported each other. And, goodness knows, I needed support because there were times when I just felt like I didn’t know what I was doing or I was nervous, but we all had each other’s back, and Joseph [Fiennes] particularly was very helpful in helping me through and guiding me, like the shining light that he is.
Jamie, what was your preparation and experience, in playing this role?
BOWER: Well, before we started shooting, we had a month of what was officially known as Boot Camp, which being English and middle-class, I was very, very nervous about doing because we don’t really like to do much physical work. But, my conversation with Chris [Chibnall] and the producers was that we find this character when he is in his late teens. What I didn’t want to have was this aloofness and this beefiness to him because I think that people should be able to see that he’s a boy and that he’s got to grow into this man. I think that’s something that we can explore as we progress through the series, and hopefully there will be many more seasons to come. And so, with respect to beefing up or becoming like the guys are in Spartacus, for instance, there was a very, very clear idea that he was always going to be this boy, and then grow and grow. As we actually carried on filming the series and we did more training and sword fighting, my physique did bulk up. But, at the beginning, I very much wanted him to stay fleshy. I like that word. It’s a nice word.
There are a lot of epic myth stories right now, not just on Starz, but across the landscape. Does that say something about our times right now? Is this a particularly good time to revisit these very big and complex stories?
BOWER: I think that behind every story at the moment that’s doing well, and stories throughout history that have done well, are stories that, behind them and underlying everything that’s involved in them, is a key love story. Particularly with the Camelot story, people are fascinated with the relationship between Guinevere and Arthur, and also the bizarre, almost sexual chemistry between Morgan and Merlin. I don’t know if it’s something that people are revisiting due to economic times or the stress that they’re under, but I would say that, particularly with this and with what we’re trying to do, underneath it all is a love story. I think people are generally and genuinely interested in that, and just want to be taken away and fall into the arms of lovers.
