“We couldn’t actually take any moisture into the 14th-century homes,” he explains.
“It was a very dry orgy, a lot of chafing.”
Tony Curranwent through a lot to play King James I of England onMary & George.
Tony Curran as King James in ‘Mary & George’.Rory Mulvey/Starz
That’s because there were strict rules about moisture levels in the historic rooms where they were filming.
“We couldn’t actually take any moisture into the 14th-century homes,” he continues.
“It was a very dry orgy, a lot of chafing, sadly.
Tony Curran in ‘Mary & George’.Rory Mulvey/Starz
But there was no moisture no tea, no coffee, and especially no sort of spray.
I still think it looked genuine enough.”
TONY CURRAN:I’ll take that as a compliment.
Tony Curran in ‘Mary & George’.Rory Mulvey/Starz
But it was an audition.
I really didn’t realize what was about to unfold.
Frankly, it was a real challenge.
It was quite daunting to play King James, but I relished it.
How much familiarity did you have with him before this project?
I was at the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh and doing some repertory theater.
But no, I knew quite a bit about it.
But since I’ve shot the show, I’ve learned so much more about him and that period.
It’s interesting that you hear a lot about the Victorians, the Tudors, the Edwardian period.
Were you daunted bythe amount of intimate scenesin the show?
No, not really.
It was part of the character.
I was like, “Oh, you don’t get to do this every day.”
Acting can be fun, challenging, frightening.
I talked to the director and I knew what I was getting myself into, no pun intended.
Speaking of that orgy scene, how carefully choreographed was that?
Because it almost reads as a dance number on screen.
It was quite edgy, punk, like animals out in the wild and fleshy bodies.
What was it about George that James is enthralled by and falls in love with?
I don’t think there’s any mystery about that.
He catches his eye.
For George, it was obviously somewhat of a transactional approach.
His mother pimping him out, if you will.
He definitely cared deeply for him.
It was a love affair.
There’s a lovely scene where George and James are lying next to each other on the ground.
How do you craft that intimacy when there’s a camera hovering right above you?
The sense of humor that me and Nick have together instilled that chemistry into both the characters.
It gave it a levity and a sweetness at times, two little puppies at play.
How would you describe both of your senses of humor and why they meshed so well?
A little silly, a little wacky, a little sarcastic and playful.
We like to take the mickey.
It should be fun.
We’re not on the front lines here.
It’s an art form.
It makes the day go quicker.
Do you have a favorite joke or moment of taking the piss out of each other?
Nick would always sit on me.
He would often sit on me when I was trying to relax in the sun at lunchtime or something.
But that’s because I head-butted him during a scene of deep passion.
I cut him with this ring I’m wearing.
But it was all in the name of art.
But yeah, I did cut him.
You have a lot of these scenes where James' rage is unleashed.
How do you prepare for something like that, both vocally and emotionally?
Oh, there’s a bit of wrath.
Oh, I’ll take some of that."
I try not to use that in my everyday life.
We all have those elements inside of us, whether we believe we do or not.
Thankfully, as an actor, you could hopefully tap into them and use them in an artistic sense.
That outdoor palace bedroom looks freezing.
It was in a forest out in Kent, somewhere in England.
It was a bit of a drive to get there, but we shot it over two nights.
It got a little cold at night, no doubt about that.
But getting into bed in a forest, where’s those Jacobean heat lamps?
It was quite an incredible set that’s beautiful and tragic.
James is on his way out; he’s losing his grip on many things.
It was quite a crescendo to the end of the episode.
What did you make ofthe show’s supposition that James did not die of natural causes?
Well, it’s a good argument.
He had gout and a lot of diseases.
He drank quite a lot.
I’ve read a lot about all these ailments that he had.
Seventeenth-century life expectancy wasn’t very high.
Tell me more about shooting that.
Being suffocated on camera seems like it would be a challenge.
It was dirty, you might say.
That was the first time Julianne had seen us rehearse.
Her son kills the king.
After he’d got up and was strangling me, I had to keep my eyes open.
And I was thinking to myself, “hey, hey say cut.
c’mon say cut before I actually pop my clogs here.”
She was visibly unwell, that was the take they used, visibly shocked.
And she went,Am I okay?
Now you’ve played King James, and Vincent Van Gogh onDoctor Who.
Is there another famous ginger you want to tackle next?
Well, at the moment, I’m playing Lord Lovat inOutlander: Blood of My Blood.
And he’s another ginger, or I’ve made him ginger.
Mary & Georgeis available to stream on Starz.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
