Interview with George Blagden

How did you prepare for the role of King Louis XIV?
Quickly and in a panicked way! (laughs) I was cast about four weeks before we started filming and I was shooting a different television series in Ireland at the time. I actually finished filming on that series on the Friday, came over to Paris on the Saturday for costume, hair, makeup and rehearsals on the Sunday, and then started filming Versailles on the Monday. So the joke is I had a weekend to prepare for the most powerful monarch in European history! Though I did as much research as I could have done in those four weeks and I very much trusted in David and Simon’s writing. Knowing their vision for the show, I felt in very safe hands.

Can you describe King Louis XIV’s relationship with his brother?
Complex. I think it’s a real pillar for what drives the narrative of the show. I think that basically Philippe’s character is a very, very interesting one which effects Louis greatly - and vice versa. I really enjoy watching scenes between them and seeing what happens behind closed doors with them. It’s very powerful, this brotherly relationship. You have lots of elements of love and hatred and anger and betrayal and Alex does an amazing job with Philippe. When I’m doing scenes with Philippe there’s this great chemistry that’s kind of accidental and I don’t think anyone foresaw. It allows for lots of unspoken understanding between us of how we’re going to portray these brothers. In short I think he makes me look very good, and I’d like to hope to think that the reverse is the same - and that when we’re on set together the relationship is very powerful.

How about his relationship with his wife?
It’s a very interesting relationship because it was an arranged marriage and they married when they were teenagers I think. Of course it was a very political marriage to enable relations between France and Spain to go smoothly, and that as a starting point for a relationship can be quite difficult. I think that of all of the women in Louis XIV’s life he has a great deal of respect for Marie-Therese and at no point does their relationship become jeopardised by this knowledge that they’re union was initially for political reasons. They have become fond of one another as a result.

What can BBC Two viewers expect from Versailles?
They can expect lots! It’s very much an attempt from all of us to try and put a different light on this period of history and show it in a way that really relates to a modern audience. I think the way that we’ve been able to play with the historical facts and put pieces in between those facts that are very dramatic and very human really means that the audience will be able to identify with this world and these people. And everyone will have a different favourite character – there’s not one favourite character that everyone will come away from the show liking. It’s a real ensemble cast that delivers, in my opinion, a very powerful story.

What were your highlights of shooting series 1?
I don’t think I have an hour and a half to tell you! There were so many. There was one moment at the start of series one - on our first day of shooting at the real Palace of Versailles, on a Monday when it’s closed to the public. We had ten minutes at the end of the day and we really wanted to film this monologue of Louis talking to camera in The Hall of Mirrors. Almost a ‘Frank Underwood from House of Cards’ vibe, but in a dream sequence envisaging what Versailles would one day become. We decided to have a go at recording it with ten minutes left of the day. I quickly went and changed into this different outfit and came back out into the hall of mirrors with five or six minutes to shoot this monologue.

At that exact moment the sun dropped down underneath the clouds and this beautiful bright orange light flooded in through all of the windows into the hall, bounced off all the mirrors and the room was just literally golden. It was on the 400th anniversary of Louis XIV’s death and it felt as if everyone in the room had this spine-tingling feeling of, wow - we’re doing something quite special here. I delivered the monologue - I had two goes at it - and it’s there for viewers to see in the final cut of episode 1. It doesn’t get much better than that as an actor. I’m just blessed to have been given an opportunity like this show.

Related Downloads

• Versailles - full Media Pack (PDF)