The fantastic BBC series Merlin is currently airing its final season in the United Kingdom with the final episode, “The Diamond Of The Day Part 2,” scheduled for Christmas Eve. In the United States, the fifth and final season will premiere on Friday, January 4 on Syfy. Coming off the news that the show will soon be concluding, actors from the series spoke to press earlier this week about the event and the experience of doing the show. By phone, we here at KSiteTV were able to speak with actors Colin Morgan (Merlin), Bradley James (King Arthur), and Katie McGrath (Morgana).
Anyone who has ever read a Merlin interview knows that the cast is often very animated and a lot of fun, and as such, we’re presenting our interview more like a transcript, Q&A style. Questions are posted in bold; answers are not. Beware of some Series 5 spoilers within! We do ask, though, that you link to this interview rather than copying and pasting onto your own blogs/Tumblr pages/etc. Thank you, and enjoy!
KSITETV’S CRAIG BYRNE: Did you all know going in to Series 5 that this would be the last?
KATIE McGRATH: The producers always had a five year plan. They had always plotted out the characters and the story arcs for five seasons. We were really lucky that we were able to get every year, and we were able to stick to that plan. I know I personally feel very privileged that I got to play Morgana from the first season to the last season, and I’m part of telling the story of the character, and able to tell that ending. It doesn’t often happen. I feel very lucky that we were able to do that, and we’re lucky that the BBC and everybody was behind the idea of doing just five years.
Are you suggesting that no plot points were accelerated to make thing happen faster?
KATIE: No, I think everything happened in the way that they wanted it to. It was all part of that — sometimes, when things go no too long, things can get repetitive, and I think we’re lucky that didn’t happen. We told the story as it was meant to be and as it was imagined.
Was the ending anything like you had imagined it would be, or are there some surprises in store that you can tease?
KATIE: Look at you, you’re trying to get plot points, aren’t you? You’re trying to get us to be indiscrete and tell you what happens! Five years in, we know the game. We know how you guys play.
COLIN MORGAN: We’re sworn to secrecy.
KATIE: We’re sitting in a room full of executives who are looking very stern at us right now, making sure we don’t say things we’re not supposed to.
Colin, what did you think when you read the script for “With All My Heart” where you play the sorceress Dolma, and how was her voice done?
COLIN: That was going to be an interesting thing. They like to throw a lot of things at us, and that, for me, in the final series, felt like a nice little one to finish on. It was a good one. I saw a friend of mine who is a voice coach, and I just worked with her a bit on the voice on it. From that vocal standpoint, it was important to work on to begin with, and then once I got into the actual costume itself, thankfully, it doesn’t have to be utterly a woman; it’s Merlin in a woman’s body, so it’s okay if I look awkward in it. It was definitely a lot of fun to play, and it’s all part of the challenge of this show. They love to throw a lot of stuff at us, and I love to rise to the challenge as well.
KATIE: Wouldn’t you be slightly more worried if Merlin wasn’t awkward [as the sorceress?] Wouldn’t that be slightly more worrying?
Do you think the followers of the old religion will someday come to accept Merlin as they have with Morgana?
KATIE: I hope not. Not good for the old religion.
COLIN: [Laughs] Merlin and Morgana aren’t two peas in a pod. They, well, maybe they were, but the bad pea rolled away.
KATIE: You stepped right into a discussion that Colin and I have had for about two and a half years, about whether Merlin or Morgana is actually the bad guy. I believe Merlin is the bad guy, ’cause he’s evil, and Colin believes the other side.
COLIN: She wouldn’t listen to Merlin.
KATIE: Because Merlin never helped her!
COLIN: He tried to…
KATIE: He never did!
Want more? This interview isn’t done! Part 2 can be found here… and yes, there are some Bradley James quotes in the second half!
1 Comment
“and yes, there are some Bradley James quotes in the second half!”
There are only two.