Timothy Omundson – Galavant

By: Lisa Steinberg

Q) The King and Galavant are on a ship together under close quarters and they have kind of developed a friendship. What about their circumstances getting back to the castle shifts their dynamic this season?

A) That’s really the focus of the first half of the second season is (for my character) the road we go on. Galavant (Joshua Sasse) has taken a vow to deliver Richard back to his kingdom so he can be rid of him. So, the first three or four episodes are really about that. As you’ll see in the first moments of Season Two, I manage to wreck the ship. It’s one of the first of many fumbles that Richard that he takes part in. This season is really about Richard’s redemption where last season we broke him down from this evil man to an emotional wreck singing a lullaby to his friend. This year it is about building him up into sort of a righteous man, a true leader and a hero. That’s really the amazing arc we take the audience on this year. Through that, he and Richard go from disdain to one point where we absolutely have a balls-out fight and we part our separate ways until we realize we need each other. [SPOILER] So, once we get to Richard’s kingdom we realize he has no kingdom anymore. Then, it becomes what is a king without a kingdom? There is a bit of an identity crisis for Richard that he decides to join Galavant in his quest to save Isabella (Karen David). It’s a lovely sort of role reversal there and it’s them figuring out how they work together, are they friends and why are they friends. It’s a really lovely storyline.

Q) Last season he was an evil king and now he’s kind of reinventing himself. How has that been exploring that different facet to him?

A) It’s the greatest arc I’ve ever gotten to play for a character. It really is. Lassiter [on “Psych”] was an amazing arc. But that took eight years to develop. This time we do it in ten episodes and it was incredibly fun and satisfying to play. To go from where he was last year to sort of seeing him learn how to fight this season for real, how to wield a sword for real. He has a love interest this year. To watch him fall in love was so incredible to play and I just had a ball! I got to ride a horse a lot more, which is something I always love. So, it was pretty damn delicious.

Q) Season One didn’t seem to get as much attention from critics, but now it is this show that is really being shown a lot of love from fans. What do you attribute that to?

A) I think I credit it to people discover it over the break. We have been off for a year. There is something amazing about it. It didn’t catch fire like we had all hoped it would. With the scheduling, we were up against a wall from the get-go. I think people still tuned in. I know the DVR numbers showed we were one of the highest DVR’d shows last year across the board (certainly of comedies). So, people did take time to see it. I know I don’t watch live TV much anymore. I just don’t have time. I sit down and binge watch when I can like everyone else. I think people discovered it. I think people who had seen it first told their friends about it and word of mouth took over. People found it on Hulu and online. It feels like going into this season there is a lot more awareness about it. I know that certainly on Twitter people hit me up every week, if not every couple of days, when they have discovered the show. They love it, they’re telling their friends about it and they can’t wait for the new season. I think that’s really where it came from. It seems very grass roots. I think it’s a great show that really strikes a chord with people. If you like this sort of thing than you want your friends to see it because it is nothing but blissful fun.

Q) Even the first episode is called Suck It Cancellation Bear!

A) That sort of sets up to our kind of humor that we’re dealing with. Even with that opening number, we send up everything! We send up ourselves and the other shows we are up against. What I love about the show is that it does not take itself seriously, but yet there are moments where it does. We walk a very, very thin tightrope on the show and I think we do it very, very well. We give the audience super goofy fun, but every now and then we do it with heart. I think we can get away with it where a lot of shows can’t. We will have some tremendously emotional moments. I cried like Richard! I did some of the most deep, emotional work than I have ever done with this show. And it’s a silly, goofy comedy! So, it’s amazing what I have been offered to do by these writers.

Q) You and Madalena are perfectly paired. What can you tease about Richard’s return and revenge?

A) This is what I love about the show. The relationships are all scrambled up this year. So, I don’t have hardly any scenes with Madalena (Mallory Jansen) this year until the very end. You know in the opening song, where we basically spoil the entire season, there is a battle of three armies at the end. We shot it in Morocco and it was amazing! I don’t have a lot to do with her. Vinnie Jones is the one who gets to work with her this year. I get to work primarily with Josh (Galavant) and an amazing English actress named Clare Foster who comes in as Roberta, my childhood friend and new love interest. Eventually, Luke Youngblood comes to join us and reunites with us. That’s really the focus. It’s three separate worlds almost until the very last episode.

Q) This season is filled with riddles, references and homages. What has been your favorite?

A) Oh golly! There are so many! One of my favorites – I love the Notting Hill joke with Roberta. “I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy, over a dead body, asking him to like her.” I have a reference to action movies in there about actors not doing their own stunts, which I won’t reveal. It’s just a favorite joke of mine. Hugh Bonneville’s line in the opening song about guest stars that will cost a fortune while they pour bags of gold in his hand.

Q) Sophie McShera stars on the show and now Hugh Bonneville. Are you slowly integrating the cast of Downton Abbey?

A) We try! I think Sophie and Hugh were the only ones we were able to get this year. They pack a punch for everybody! The guest casting this year is almost entirely British actors. We got the cream of the crop! They are not names that are necessarily household names in the US, but I would tell my English friends who I was working with that week and they would all freak out. Between Robert Lindsay, who is this incredibly well respected song and dance man in London to Reece Shearsmith. If you know comedy at all, he is one of the best! He is one of the absolute best comedic writers, directors, producers and actors out there. Hugh comes back and Nick Frost is with us. Matt Lucas is amazing and Sheridan Smith. Kylie Minogue! Of course, the list goes on and on. Darren Evans, our beloved chef, is back.

Q) There are even a unicorn and a dragon in this season!

A) Yes! They are two very important characters for Richard. There is a dragon with a very specific name, that I am not going to reveal.

Q) Which was your favorite to work with?

A) You don’t often get scene partners like that. To be honest, the dragon doesn’t do a lot. He’s a little difficult to motivate. Although, I do have one of the most beautiful musical numbers I have ever done with the dragon. That’s pretty incredible! It’s called “My Dragon Pal And Me.” Alan Menken outdid himself in this 60’s pop number. The unicorn I never got to find out the name, but we have some lovely poignant scenes together as well. Out of all of them, between those two, my song and dance number with the dragon has to take the cake.

Q) What do you think it is about “Galavant’ that really draws people in?

A) It’s the most fun half hour of television you are going to get (in the initial episode an hour). So, you’re welcome. It is a light, silly, wonderful romp. This season, especially, the themes are really sort of about love and redemption. I think this season is going to really surprise everyone who is a fan of last year. It’s different. It’s different in a way that I think is even better. Again, it becomes a little more grounded. It’s not quite as goofy, but the goofiness is still there. We pair it with some really lovely moments that I think people are really going to be taken with.