Tom Cullen & Jessica Raine – Becoming Elizabeth

By: Jamie Steinberg

Q) Tom, I’m sure a million people have asked you why another period piece?

Tom: I just love wearing tights

Q) It’s the beard. I think that you just have a need for that big bushy beard.

Tom: I had a makeup artist that said to me, “Tom, you look so much better when you’re covered in dirt.” I think that that’s why. I think that the dirt attracts me and I take the dirt. Hence I’m always in a medieval.

Q) Jessica, was there something that about Catherine story that really drew you to be a part of this series as well?

Jessica: Yeah, I think the primary thing was reading Anya’s [Reiss] script. Rght from the get go. I was really drawn into this world. I thought it was forbidden. I thought it was passionate and the politics of the time always really fascinates me. So, I thought her intelligence was something that people didn’t really know about so it was really a big opportunity to show people that there was a lot more to her than just the wife that survived Henry the Eighth. I suppose, truthfully, what I was really drawn to was the relationship with Elizabeth (Alicia von Rittberg) and a relationship with Thomas Seymour (Tom Cullen). And Catherine trying to desperately keep ahead of Somerset (John Heffernan) and Gardiner (Alex Macqueen) and trying to hold on to the power that she has. So, all of these things together just made it this irresistible package.

Q) Thomas is sort of what we would describe as a player somebody who leads with his heart maybe or some other or can he has is what kind of backstory do they gave give you about his interest in women? Is it just a powerplay or is it more?

Tom: There isn’t there isn’t a huge amount written about him. He’s a character that kind of just existed on the periphery really? He’d hate me for saying that, but it’s true. But it’s well documented that he liked the ladies and the ladies liked him. In terms of the backstory, that is who he is. But he was madly in love with Katherine Parr and sent away by Henry the Eighth. And I think that that ate him up. And I think that the thing that really drives him more is his relationship with his brother. He feels constantly in the shadows of this much better, more brilliant brother. And so I think what really drives in terms of his backstory is kind of wanting to better him at all costs.

Q) Jessica, it’s such an interesting tightrope that Catherine walks between herself interests, but also having to protect you know, or at least, you know, attempt to warm herself up to the young king. I mean, was that such a challenge? For you to always be on that balance between self interest and also loyalty to the king?

Jessica: I found that the most exciting thing to play and that’s what kept it alive. I feel like from line to line Ididn’t know whether she was a good guy or a bad guy. She’s on her own side. She’s her own allies. So, she does whatever she has to stay ahead. But that’s not to say she doesn’t have genuine, warm feelings towards Edward (Oliver Zetterström) and Elizabeth. I think she definitely does. But that tightrope is exactly what makes it thrilling. I mean, I remember the first scene I played and Justin Chadwick, who’s the director of the first first half of the series, was just like don’t decide that she’s manipulative or evil yet and it was a really good note, because I was like, I just if you just warm her up a bit it becomes so much more interesting than a cold, evil. person. Those people don’t really exist. So, I found that utterly intriguing. The dynamics between especially between Elizabeth and Katherine because she really deeply does care about Elizabeth, but she underestimates her and it’s one of her great downfalls.

Q) I think also, that’s what’s so fascinating about this series because you never know what anyone’s true intentions are. And I guess that’s also part of the time period as well. Tom, is that what you think is really going to fascinate people and really intrigued them about becoming Elizabeth is that interest, not just in history, but also watching it play out on our screen as if it was today?

Tom: Yeah, definitely. I think that part of history is just a hotbed for drama. Most of us are lucky enough to live in a world where we feel very safe. Ultimately, it’s very different to a Tudor world in a way where everyone’s life and death lives right on the line there, whether it be just the short life expectancy due to the living conditions or the fact that at any moment in a more court environment, you can get your head chopped off if you make the wrong turn. So, that in itself inherently is just the kind of really exciting place to make drama just because everyone’s human experience is just so much more heightened and I think that it’s very entertaining to watch. And to know that it’s true, and everything in our show is true and it happened – it’s obviously an interpretation of those historical kind of flagpoles – it makes it even more entertaining to watch. It’s one of the real classic truth is always stranger than fiction. And that’s definitely the case with a story.