Sometimes casting can be a completely creative process and sometimes contracts can get in the way.
With CBS Studios‘ upcoming King and Conqueror about Harold of Wessex and William the Conqueror, it was a fair bit of the latter.
Star James Norton revealed at Content London this morning that he initially wanted to play William who (spoiler alert) slays Harold at the great Battle of Hastings, but HBO had other ideas. At the time production was ramping up, Norton was starring in HBO series The Nevers, and HBO didn’t want him to commit too strongly to King and Conqueror. The get-out was obvious.
“[HBO] said you can go and do King and Conqueror but you must die because we can’t afford you to go for too long,” said Norton. “If it’s a hit they were worried there would be a conflict. That’s what often happens with actors’ contracts, you can just do small pieces. So my arm was forced.”
The Nevers was eventually axed after its first season but Norton said he “can’t imagine it the other way around now,” with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau taking on the role of William. Initially, Norton had preferred William due to his “wily and cerebral nature,” he said.
Norton (Happy Valley) and Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones) lead CBS Studios’ King and Conqueror from Michael Robert Johnson, which is based on the 11th-century figures and recently finished filming. The pair are joined by the likes of Emily Beecham, Clémence Poésy, Eddie Marsan and Juliet Stevenson. The BBC has acquired broadcasting rights for the series on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the United Kingdom, while the series will be distributed outside of the UK by Paramount Global Content Distribution.
Norton, who also produces, said the “most creative part for me as an actor was the domestic space” rather than the big battle scenes.
“That was less documented but is the most important piece,” he added. “It contextualizes their stories – they weren’t just meaningless grabs for power they were husbands and fathers. A lot of the show is rooted in that intimate, private space.”
Norton spoke alongside Kitty Kaletsky, who runs his indie Rabbit Track Films with him, while CBS Studios’ Lindsey Martin also contributed. Attendees at Content London were also treated to an exclusive trail of the series.
Kaletsky said the key to the show’s success could be the “interweaving of the two narratives.”
“The brilliance of Mike’s pitch and the reason this story had never been told before is that people had focused on William, or Harold,” she added. “But we are not just telling two parallel independent stories, we are telling two stories about family and marriages but also the friendship, the slow build of rivalry after initial respect, then the enmity and then the battle.
