“Mud, Blood & Layers Of Leather”: James Norton On His Period Epic ‘King & Conqueror’

deadline.com:

EXCLUSIVE: James Norton was fresh-faced as he greeted a London Screenings crowd to talk about his upcoming period drama King & Conqueror, but that was not the case during filming in Iceland. “I was covered in mud and blood and layers of leather, it was a brutal shoot,” the star said.

Icelandic helmer Baltasar Kormákur directed the first episode and was heavily involved in the series, which brings an historical tale of Harold, Earl of Wessex (Norton), and William, Duke of Normandy (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), to life.

The result is a gritty and earthy look. “He had a very clear vision around the tone and the aesthetic – from the very beginning he wanted to avoid this being a clean, cozy period drama,” Norton explained. “It took me hours every day to get ready because I had layer after layer of leather and chain mail.

It paid dividends because you can see everything is so authentic. That was something [Kormákur] was very stubborn about and it was so worth it in the end.” The London Screenings are a diary logjam for international buyers, with numerous events happening in and around Soho.