Stephen Moyer – The Bastard Executioner

Q) Who will Milus, the right hand man of Lady Love (Flora Spencer-Longhurst), attempt to slip into bed with next?

A)  I think that, given that you have seen my character with the French servant [in the pilot], I think that it’s fair to say that there is something there [between Milus and Wilkin]. I think that’s safe to say. He’ll explain some of his choices and desires.

Q) Does Milus use sex as a way to gain power and control?

A) I asked Kurt [Sutter], because in the scene when Milus sees [the French servant] in the toilet with Ventris (Brian F. O’Byrne). I said to Kurt, “What is that there? He’s obviously sort of taken in by the boy.” And [Sutter] says, ‘He’s new to the castle and [Milus] hasn’t had him yet.’

Q) Does Milus see sex as being the same thing as power?

A) I think that Milus comes from a sort of place if he can have dominion over everything around him as well as his sexuality –he will. Anyway that he can [have] a positive advantage over somebody – to hold over them in the future – he will. It’s classic alpha stuff. Milus wants to be the alpha in his own way and the way he’ll do it, he’ll take whatever he can and spin it, whether it’s a piece of Intel or sexual intelligence. So I do think he’s physically and mentally active as well as sexually.

Q) What originally made you want to take on this role?

A) I met with Kurt Sutter for coffee and he pitched the idea to me. I was hooked on both the story and the mythology of the characters that the fans will see develop over the course of the season. Then, he just said, ‘Look. Go away, read it and get back to me.  He didn’t tell me any particular part of the time. I went away and read it. There was one that jumped out at me straight away. I knew I was too old and gray to play The Executioner, but obviously Milus was the one that was interesting to me. I went back to him and just said, ‘This is amazing. I love the world. I know this world. I did a two year project in high school on medieval history. That was my period. So, that was also another hook for me because I already kind of knew quite a lot about that. I just loved the idea of this character who is hanging onto his best friend’s bootstraps and getting himself into a position that, by birth, he would never have been in. It was the world, the darkness and also the richness of the scoring (if you like) that was already written into the pilot.

Q) Do you see Milus as a villain?

A) I don’t see him as a villain. I see him as somebody who is trying to push himself forward and taking an opportunity where he sees it. We talked about the idea of somebody who – again, this was all sort of back and forth between Kurt and I. We went over the ideas that he’d had and the whole backstory that I worked on for myself, which truthfully was my own stuff. Whether it ever came to be…Whether it was ever reckoned or Kurt consulted with me on it, for me it was to have a sort of rich part to draw on just for myself.

Q) What is to come for Milus this season?

A) Suffice it to say, he’s from a very, very poor upbringing and he’s found himself in a position where he can change at the core because his best friend was a warrior. He was loved by Edward I. His best friend becomes the Lord of the Shire that gets created for him by Edward I. It’s a gift for what he does in battle. His best friend who was Commander of his troops, my character, becomes The Chamberlain. Now that the Baron is gone, it’s up to Milus to sort of work out where it goes  from there.

Q) What challenges do you face filming in Wales as opposed to filming “True Blood” in Louisiana?

A) I never thought it would be bested and it’s not that it has been – but  my mum walked on last week and was just like, ‘I cannot…’ You just cannot believe the detail. Joe Masters, our set designer, his father was the set designer of Lawrence of Arabia. So, he comes from very good stock. It’s extraordinary. We have got four studio spaces and an entire village and castles completely built for us. We do stuff on the road as well. We’ve set up a complete world.

Q) Would you like to see historically accurate elements incorporated within the show?

A) We are shooting in the castles that our characters would have invested in. That’s kind of a beautiful idea that 800 years on, we’re walking the same stone floors as the main characters and historical characters, which you get to see existed. We are going to be crossing over with the real things that happened in history and I think that’s just fantastic! We’re loosely, roughly based in 1312. If you get a little time, check on 1312. You’ll see hints of politics and things like that, that start creeping into our story.

Q) Does Milus have in mind the possible liaison with the Baroness?

A) I don’t think so because she is so far above him. Ventris, himself, became a Lord, which is never going to be something that my character would get thrust upon him. So that aspect of it would only ever be a dream as opposed to reality; however much he may want it or her.

Q) What will Milus’ thoughts on punishment and torture be this season?

A). We’re telling a story of this girl who went over and accidentally broken the nose off Brian’s statue. In the scuffle of attacking the cart, the statue had fallen out or something and I hadn’t quite realize that it was as simple as she just landed on it – knocking the nose off. It sort of shows this innocence in her and this belief of holding on to your land and freedom – holding onto your piece of territory  and how important it was to the world and still is. That was one thing. When I was reading the script, I remember literally thinking, ‘Oh, they’re going to kill her again.’ We’re leading up to something else like we were for the pilot. Maybe we are going to end every single episode with a death. Maybe that’s the thing.

Q) What have you added to Milus that wasn’t originally scripted for you?

A) To be fair to Kurt, he’s written a really complete character. Going back to that sequence in the pilot, I wanted to be seen to be taking that character – taking that French servant. This is a man who takes what he wants and I didn’t want it to be some kind of heavy petting happening behind the pillar. I want it t o be straight fucking, which is an oxymoron. Now, I’m going back to that sexual element. I don’t want to go into too  much detail with it because I’d much rather it play out. As a man from a place called Essex, I grew up in a place where I didn’t particularly belong. I went to drama school and sort of came out with a posh accent because I kind of felt like that was what was what I was supposed to sound like. It’s very nice for me to go back to playing somebody who is going to be doing that, but he also is the straight, blood or nothing guy. That’s who he kind of prefers to be. One of the things that I have been experimenting with is the way he speaks around people that he is with.

*CONFERENCE CALL*