IN CONVERSATION WITH WILL TUDOR

interview by MAREK BARTEK

Will Tudor is best known for his roles in ‘Humans, Shadow Hunters: The Mortal Instruments’, ‘Game of Thrones’, and ‘Torvill and Dean’. Most recently, we’ve been able to watch him in the highly anticipated second instalment of the multi award-winning series ‘Wolf Hall’ and BBC’s drama ‘Moonflower Murders’.

shirt and trousers MSGM
shoes GRENSON

Starting off with some of your recent work, in 'Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light’, you take on the role of Edward Seymour. With the first episode airing in the beginning of the November, how would you describe the series to someone who hasn’t had a chance to see it yet?  

‘The Mirror and the Light’ follows the third book in Hilary Mantel’s ‘Wolf Hall’ series, but is the second series of the TV adaptation. It is a show about power and about the shifting dynamics within Henry VIII’s court and the unstoppable rise (and fall) of Thomas Cromwell—a man who came from being a blacksmith’s son, to being one of the most powerful men in the kingdom. It is full of intrigue, political manoeuvring, and stunning performances from Mark Rylance and Damian Lewis as Cromwell and the King respectively. Quite simply, it is the finest of TV creations and to be a part of it is an enormous honour, and extremely humbling! 

Your role as Barthanes Damodred in ‘The Wheel of Time’ places you in a richly layered, high fantasy world. How did you approach portraying a character in such an expansive universe, and what did you find most interesting about Barthanes?

‘The Wheel of Time’ is based on a novel series that, although I hadn’t read before being cast, I knew was perhaps the most popular fantasy series that had yet to be translated to the screen. Approaching the role was tricky at first, as there's a lot of information in the source material that is vital to know and understand, and as you say, it is a hugely vivid dense world—but I really enjoyed the discovery process. I am a huge fan of books that are very good at world building, and  ‘The Wheel of Time’ is one of the biggest there is. Barthanes’ place in the world is so important to his portrayal, so it was really important to me that his relationships and personal history were completely real to me. His relationship to Moiraine is based almost solely on his childhood relationship to her, so those memories of their shared past I worked hard to create for myself. I was really moved by the character’s plight—how his station had changed from one of destitution, to being restored to a position of nobility, and also how desperate he is to rekindle the relationship with his aunt that he remembered from his youth. I found the challenge of clinging on to the warmth of the past, when the contemporary reality was quite different and cold, really potent for my imagination, as a springboard for what drove the character. 

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And speaking of interesting characters, ‘Moonflower Murders’ sees you portraying two distinct ones. What was it like creating two contrasting personas within the same narrative, and did one maybe resonate with you more than the other?

I found the process of preparing and filming ‘Moonflower Murders’ to be immensely enjoyable. It is rare that one gets to play two roles in the same project, and especially when they are perhaps two sides of the same coin. Luckily, we shot the characters in blocks such that once I’d finished Algernon, I was able to then focus on Aiden. It would have been very 

tough to jump between them as they required a very different approach, even on the shoot days themselves. I found it liberating to play Algernon and really enjoyed improvising in my prep to work out his mannerisms, how he might speak and how he might play with those he interacted with. He is very unlike me, whereas Aiden is much more similar, I think. Strangely though, I think Algernon resonated with me more—and in a way, that was actually because of his distance from me. Quite often acting allows one to play the parts of their personality that one doesn’t allow out, because they might not be sociably acceptable, or they don’t adhere to one’s sense of self, despite them being a part of us. Algernon was very much that type of character and so I had a blast playing him. 

All of your latest projects feature casts with highly accomplished actors. What was it like working with alongside such seasoned colleagues, and was there anything you’ll take away from this experience? 

I’ve been very lucky in my career to work with actors at the very top of their game, the very best in the world. And it is an immense privilege to share the screen with them. It is always nerve-wracking when you start working with someone you’ve admired for a long time - but those actors tend to be incredibly generous as performers and so working with them is highly enjoyable, and one can get swept up in the scene. I am very curious as a person and am always eager to learn, so working with such wonderful people is always a joy for me, as both a learning experience and personally. What I will take away from both projects is the breadth of what one might define as a “beautiful performance” - both Damian and Mark for instance are very different performers in style and yet they both create stunning work. I love how there is no “one way” to act, no “one way” to approach any given role - it is all about what that individual brings to a part that makes a performance special. It is about how personal it is to you, that creates a work of magic. 

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Something we can’t skip—‘Game of Thrones’. Not only was it a cultural phenomenon, your role as Olyvar placed you amidst its most iconic storylines. How did it feel like stepping in such a celebrated series? 

I had binged the first two seasons and had become a huge fan of the show, before my audition came through. I never thought I’d ever be lucky enough to be a part of something I loved so much, so it came as a huge exciting shock when I found out I had been cast. Getting on set was incredibly overwhelming for a young actor as I was at the time—suddenly you’re surrounded by the characters you had been watching only a few weeks before, but the team could not have been more welcoming. The thing that struck me most was the detail in the set design, be that a block of cheese that had been half eaten, clothes placed as though they had been thoughtlessly discarded, but realising that they had been very deliberately placed by one of the crew. It was all wonderful, and showed me how much the entire team valued the show the were creating. I feel so lucky to have been a part of something so culturally significant.

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Reflecting on that experience, how did being part of ‘Game of Thrones’ shape your career and your perspective on the industry?

I was lucky to be cast in ‘Game of Thrones’ at that point of my career. It will always be a career highlight no matter what I might do next. It opened up a lot of doors professionally and I think it also informs the projects that I gravitate towards. I think a project as special as that does spoil you! And it’s a testament to its cultural impact that so many things are compared to it still - it is the touchstone by which every other fantasy, and indeed even every other drama, is measured. 

Having portrayed both fictional and real-life characters, how does your preparation differ for roles grounded in reality versus those in imagined worlds?

In all honesty I don’t think the preparation is wildly different, despite one world being so far away from our own. I need to make the words real for myself, the relationships real for myself - and that process requires me to step outside myself into the realm of imagination no matter what project I’m tackling. If the world has very little that is familiar to me, the work might take longer until I feel like I can see it all and understand it all, but the process is the same. As humans, we have this amazing tool, in imagination, to be able to put ourselves outside our current experiential reality - and actors are lucky in that they get to probe the limits of that. For me, I like to know everything about the world of the show or film before I start working, so that it is as real as everything around me. 

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From anthropomorphic robot Odi in ‘Humans’ to complex character of Sebastian in ‘Shadowhunters’, from period drama to high fantasy and contemporary thrillers, your roles  dive into many different genres. How do you approach transitioning between such diverse worlds, and is there a particular genre you feel most drawn to?

I think it can be tough if you’ve just thrown yourself into one type of character to then go straight away into living in a different world - for instance, after ‘Moonflower Murders’, I moved almost immediately onto ‘Wolf Hall’, which was a stark change in world and tone—but quite often it is just about sitting with the new character and the new circumstances in which you, as the character, find yourself. It’s about carving out that new space for yourself. As I say, imagination and Improvisation are very important to how I approach my work. I’ve always loved sci-fi and fantasy, as it really allows you to escape oneself and truly exercise that imagination. The sets and costumes are always incredible and you might get to do things you never thought you’d have the opportunity to. But that’s also why period dramas are so fun—a lot of our fantasy worlds borrow from our own past, and I suppose that’s because, to a modern eye, our history is a fantasy in its own right. “The past is a different country” and any chance to explore different worlds, whether that be in an imaginary world or in our past, is incredibly exciting. 

The entertainment landscape continues to evolve with the rise of streaming platforms and globalised audiences. How do you see these changes shaping the kinds of stories actors like you can tell, and what excites you most about this shift?

There has been an enormous shift in recent years and it really has changed how the industry works, and the type of projects that are being made. We’re seeing a lot more high-budget television projects, and with the current prevalence of CGI, the opportunities for show creators are boundless. I think the extent to which removing the limits of what can be done affects the output is an interesting conversation to have - art does need constraints so that it can flourish, a wall to push against - but we are seeing stories made now that just couldn’t have been told before. In a way though, the changes have also made space for the more intimate arthouse pieces to flourish. I think what excites me most about this shift is the reach one’s work can have - we live in a truly globalised world, and what once might not have caught the imagination of the wider public, can now suddenly hit and take on a life of its own.

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How do you define success for yourself as an actor?

When I left drama school, my bar of success was to be on a TV show—just one—and then once that was achieved the bar moved! For me, I want to be able to take on many challenging roles and play a variety of characters. I am a curious soul and I want to explore as many different lives and worlds as possible. So if I’m able to do that, then I consider myself successful. I think, further to your question about the globalised audiences—now that projects truly are global, the bar of what true success is has changed. A successful actor might be successful in their own niche, but unsuccessful in another niche or by another metric. Ultimately, if one is enjoying ones work, and sees that it is appreciated then that is all one can ask for. Having said that, sometimes projects which do change that come along and are globally enjoyed—and you can never know which projects might be a hit! 

Your latest projects have placed you in the centre of some highly anticipated series. As you look forward, is there a type of character or story you feel particularly eager to explore that you haven’t yet?

I’d be very keen to work on a project, which is incredibly grounded in the minutiae of everyday life. I’d love to do a piece that is very simple perhaps - purely about relationships, the connection or dissociation between two people—what is unsaid, the dynamics between two people. The simplicity and complexity of a single human connection that ultimately is the purest form of what we as actors do, and I’d love to explore a project that deals with those things in a very condensed way. I think I have a real urge to do more period pieces too, perhaps a Jane Austen or Dickens adaptation. But ultimately, I just want to keep playing roles that really challenge me—it’s the exploration or “archaeology” of a difficult character or world that really excites me. 

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TEAM CREDITS:
talent WILL TUDOR
photography ELLIOT WILCOX
styling CATERINA OSPINA
grooming SANDRA HAHNEL
styling assistant CENSI LUCENA
producer TOMS BARITIS at OMNIBUS PRODUCTIONS
editor TIMI LETONJA
interview MAREK BARTEK