Fresh from supplying the killer blow to King Arthur in Merlin‘s climatic finale last month, CultBox caught up with Alexander Vlahos to talk about joining the show and the chance of a return to the role of Mordred to coincide with the release of Series 5 on DVD this week.
> Buy the complete Series 5 DVD boxset on Amazon.
Merlin’s over now, but in the run up to Series 5 there were rumours from the producers of a reboot or some form of continuation, or maybe an animated series. If something comes about would you be keen to be involved?
“I loved playing Mordred and for all my trepidation at the start and all my worry during filming, once ‘Arthur’s Bane Part One’ went out, the audience reaction for what I did with Mordred was overwhelming. I was very blessed with positive feedback, from you guys at CultBox, at Digital Spy and all the reviews of Merlin, and it sort of made me angry that I didn’t enjoy playing Mordred more when I was filming the show because I was incredibly worried while I was doing it that I was going to mess it up.
“So I think that any opportunity that comes for me to don the Mordred boots and cloak, I would jump at, just because I feel like I didn’t enjoy myself playing that part and I was really working. I could enjoy the experience a whole lot more.”
Was it the weight of expectation, knowing that you were taking on a role that had been played previously by someone else?
“Completely and the fact that he was so well loved, and that we were doing that skip in story time from Series 4 to Series 5, but people didn’t know that which was difficult. I know there was a three year jump but the audience who found out I’d been cast didn’t know that so people were going ‘Why’s he so old?’ and it was like ‘Wait for the series to come out and it will all be explained!’”
I think we got wind of that from ComicCon and suddenly things started to make a bit more sense…
“People started to chill out and stop hashtaging me on twitter about ‘how dare I take over Asa’ (Butterfield). It was literally the burden of taking over a part that was already so well loved, and then having to make it a little bit like him, then also a little bit like yourself. As an actor I take great care in what I do, in a performance whether it’s on stage or on screen, and I put a lot of pressure on myself.
“I’ve got to say if the opportunity ever arose to work with Johnny (Capps) and Julian (Murphy) again then I would hands down, even if it wasn’t in Merlin. They get a lot of stick for certain things but I absolutely loved my time working with them, and I loved that they had such a clear journey and a clear idea about storytelling and about the narrative aspect of TV. That’s always a testament to their work; I think Merlin has been brilliant actually.”
They never pandered to the fan base. Obviously, there was a lot of clamour for a ‘magic reveal’, for Merlin to become the great wizard all the way along. Do you think they were right to save that reveal for the finale?
“The show wasn’t called Magic Reveal, the show was called Merlin, and I think people started getting hooked on wanting to see a magic reveal just because that’s what they were told from the legend, from foreknowledge and not the show’s knowledge. I think what happened and that ending was brilliant and you’ve heard from Colin himself and from the rest of the guys that they’re happy with how it ended, I agree with them.”
I think it was modelled on a Smallville-style approach?
“That’s a very good comparison I think, and if you realise that people are waiting for one particular moment, you’re not going to give it to them at the start of the series are you? Because then the magic of the show in some respects would be gone. Johnny and Julian didn’t pander to the fans and I think that got them a lot of criticisms but people loved it, people loved the show and quite rightly too because I think it was very good family television.”
And of the 8 million viewers, only a small proportion would be the ardent fans clamouring for something in particular?
“8 million nowadays, when there are about 400 channels on the box, is good work – especially when competing against X Factor in that death slot on BBC, competing against reality stuff. I think they should be given a bloody medal for that!”
You’ve said before you were a fan of Merlin and you’d done a bit of research. Had you read up around the character of Mordred with respect to his fate? In some versions of the legend he gets a pretty grizzly end!
“I read a little bit before I started and read one where Mordred gets Queen Guinevere, but I always knew the show wasn’t going to go into dark territory, playing on the incest or the fact that in the legend he’s the son of Arthur and Morgana. That was never ever touched upon.”
We read one version where Guinevere dies and Mordred is entombed with her body alive and left to die for his crimes!
“That’s probably the version I read, but that’s what makes these legends so great! I’ve said this before but it’s like the whole thing has been dipped in gold. If you bring it to television and do it well, it’s going to go out… but obviously only to some degree. I doubt the BBC would show me settling myself down in a tomb with Angel Coulby!”
> Buy the complete Series 5 DVD boxset on Amazon.
Look out for the third part of our exclusive interview with Alexander on CultBox next week!
> Read the first part of our exclusive interview with Alexander.
Watch the Series 5 trailer…
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