TR interview - LK

http://www.bradfordzone.co.uk/the-last-kingdom-interview-with-toby-regbo-who-plays-aethelred/


Q: Talk us through the character of Aethelred?

A: He’s an ambitious boy-man who hasn’t really developed an emotional maturity. Also, he doesn’t understand women and the fact that they can be powerful. He’s quite scared of the idea of not being able to control his marriage because if he can’t control a woman at home, then how could he ever control a kingdom? In court, he’d like to see himself as a leader who is a puppeteer pulling the strings and controlling people. He doesn’t understand how to connect. He’s brutal.

Q: How would you describe the marriage between Aethelred and Aethelflaed?

A: Aethelflaed is a young girl who is naïve about what marriage means. She’s been raised with the idea of doing her duty for Wessex by marrying Aethelred. She’s hoping for a great love, and at first it seems like that’s what she’s got. But Aethelred has slightly different ideas about marriage and relationships and women.

Q: How do you set about playing a character that is so nasty?

A: He is 100 per cent horrible! But from my perspective as an actor, I have to find a way to connect to him. I can’t just play a two-dimensional monster. I have to try to find a way to make him human.

Q: Will viewers loathe him?

A: I think the audience are probably going to hate him! The one thing that perhaps people can relate to is his ambition. He certainly has drive, and he doesn’t like the fact that people treat him as a child rather than as a man. So there’s a human element to him there. But the main overarching thing that you see is a cruel, cruel person.

Q: Does he see himself as doing God’s work?

A: Yes. But there is a hypocrisy in Aethelred’s faith. He sees the Danes as heathens and thinks the way they treat people is so barbaric. And yet at home he is even more violent and cruel. There’s an interesting paradox there.

Q: How does the relationship between Aethelred and Alfred play out?

A: Alfred knows that Aethelred is a bit of an idiot and that he can control him. But at the same time, Aethelred is married to Alfred’s daughter, so he has let Aethelred into his world. Alfred doesn’t respect Aethelred.

Q: How does Aethelred regard the Danes?

A: He thinks they’re godless and need to be controlled and taxed. Beforehand, in my head it was all war between the Saxons and the Danes. But in fact that’s unrealistic. At some point, there had to be negotiations. So it was really interesting to find out that there was so much politics going on between them.

Q: And how does Aethelred get on with Uhtred?

A: They don’t like each from the moment they meet. Everything about Uhtred hacks Aethelred off. He doesn’t like how easy-going Uhtred is. Uhtred doesn’t fit in to Aethelred’s view of what the world is. He’s this heathen but he is allowed in court. He’s titled, even though Aethelred views him as a Dane. And Uhtred doesn’t like Aethelred because he sees him as a pompous idiot!