'The Last Kingdom' star Alexander Dreymon shares insights about Uhtred and more [Exclusive]

Uhtred son of Uhtred is busy forging a kingdom in the TV series “The Last Kingdom.” The show's star who plays the fierce warrior, Alexander Dreymon, is here in Australia to promote the launch of the DVD of season 2. In an exclusive interview with International Business Times Australia, the actor shared some insights about his character and the sights and sounds of the country down under he has explored so far.

International Business Times, Australia: It has been a great journey for Uhtred so far. Congratulations on winning the love and support of the fans. Do you remember when you first got a call for this role? And what the audition was like?

Alexander Dreymon: Sure. So it was 2014 and the first audition was a self-tape and I think that was in April. And then it was a pretty long time with several different self-tapes and then there was a screen test over Skype in LA, and then there was a screen test in London. I think I finally got the part in September.

Yeah it was quite a process. But see the show especially at the time in the first season, it was produced by Carnival who is the product company that produces ‘Downton Abbey,’ which is owned by Universal. NBC Universal, sorry. And it was made for BBC 2 in the UK and for BBC America over here. And so, all the department heads, all those different companies had to agree so a lot of cooks in the kitchen. So that's why it took a long time.

IB Times : Beocca is a sort of a father figure to Uhtred. He is someone who constantly steps in to fight for Uhtred. What's it like to work with Ian Hart on the set? Does he have great one-liners like his character?

Dreymon: Yes, he is. Some of my favourite scenes are with Ian because he is a wonderful actor. He is so good at what he does and it’s so easy to suspend your disbelief when you're working with him. So you don't need to substitute for anything, you're just there in the moment with him and any emotional scene with Ian is always going to be a piece of cake. You hardly need any prep because you just talk to him and he gets it out of you. He's really good to work with.

IB Times: Does he have great one-liners like he does in the show?

Dreymon: Oh yeah, he's a blast [laughs]. There's never a boring moment when Ian's around [laughs].

IB Times: Despite his obvious talents, Uhtred is always underappreciated. Please talk about this aspect of your character.

Dreymon: Well, Uhtred is many things. He's quite often not a nice guy. He can be a bit of a di-k and that's fun to play as an actor. I think for Uhtred, the fact that Alfred lacks trust in him is very frustrating because one thing that he is, is trustworthy. He has one word and he sticks to that word and he's not a liar. So the fact that Alfred mistrusts him again and again and again is a big issue for him. Yeah.

IB Times: Now that Uhtred and Ragnar have taken their revenge, can you tease what's next for the character?

Dreymon: Do you mean after the second season or?

IB Times: Yeah, like moving forward.

Dreymon: Well there's not much of a tease, it's all in the books.

IB Times: You will be visiting Sydney in May. Have you been to Australia before? What do you look forward to the most in this trip?

Dreymon: No, [it's my] first time.

IB Times: And what are you looking forward most to in the trip? Or what have you done so far that has been the best?

Dreymon: Just anything I can discover. The best now has been walking from Bondi beach to Coogee. That was so beautiful.

IB Times: Sydney planes maybe?

Dreymon: Hopefully. If that works out, that'd be awesome [laughs].

The full interview is available on SoudCloud.

Set in the year 878, the second season returns as fearless and instinctive warrior Uhtred continues his fight for his native land of Northumbria. Uhtred, having given his sword to King Alfred despite his upbringing by the invading pagan Danes, embarks on his voyage north to reclaim his own fate: to avenge Earl Ragnar’s death and recapture his ancestral lands of Bebbanburg.

“The Last Kingdom” season 2 is available on Blu-ray and DVD from May 10, 2017. The season 1-2 DVD Box Set is also out on the same day.

Make sure you watch the behind the scenes video of season 2 below, in which the producers explain how they set the bar a little higher. In terms of the battles and scale of the production, everything is bigger this year.

Credit: The Last Kingdom