AN INTERVIEW WITH MATTHEW MACFADYEN
Playing Lord Uhtred
What sort of a man is Lord Uhtred?
Lord Uhtred is a very hard man and not in the least bit sophisticated. He is however a leader, a father and a toughened warrior. Like a lot of lives lived in that time his was short, brutish and hard.
Was it important to you to convey the emotional side to your character despite those brutish times?
The emotion is always bubbling away beneath the narrative. Especially informing scenes with his son who eventually becomes Uhtred the Younger. He doesn’t show his son a lot of love, which as the story unfolds you see really shapes the younger Uhtred. They’re not robots or totally unfeeling but emotionally the lid is firmly screwed on.
What was the relationship like between Lord Uhtred and the young Uhtred?
The young Uhtred is rather insolent with his father that makes for a great dynamic. My character, Lord Uhtred, is pretty tough on his kid. He realises how hard life is so he’s tough on young Uhtred in order to make him strong.
