James Norton in King & Conqueror Lilja Jons/BBC / CBS Studios
King & Conqueror stars James Norton and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau are opening up about shooting one of the show’s most talked-about scenes.
The new BBC drama reimagines the events leading up to the Battle Of Hastings in 1066 by exploring the friendship between Harold II and William The Conqueror before they became political adversaries.
In one famous scene from the show, the two men are seen bathing next to one another, before a dramatic fight sequence breaks out when an assassin arrives.
Speaking to celebrity.land UK before the series’ debut, James and Nikolaj shared some of the difficulties presented to the production team by the scene.
“The challenge for the production team was to make sure the water was warm because there was no hot water source, so they kept having to top it up,” James explained.
Nikolaj also shared: “We spent a lot of time figuring out how to do it. First of all, there’s [the fact it’s] a long scene, sitting in water, so, how are we going to keep the water warm? All these basic things.
“And then also, [how to have] a fight – because the easy thing would be to just get out of the bathtub and then do your thing, right? But I remember saying, ‘let’s figure out a way to use the fact that they’re stuck in these wooden bathtubs and make it exciting’.”
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and James Norton in King & Conqueror’s now-infamous bath scene Lilja Jons/BBC / CBS Studios
He added: “And then, yeah, we’re naked. So there’s that adding to the equation. What’s not to like?”
James also clarified that he and Nikolaj didn’t actually shoot the scene completely in the buff, insisting: “We weren’t fully naked, I think we had some cloths on or something, I can’t remember exactly…”
King & Conqueror premiered earlier this month, and has received somewhat mixed reviews, with many critics taking issue with its approach to historical accuracy – which both James and Nikolaj have already shared their thoughts on.
All eight episodes of King & Conqueror are streaming on BBC iPlayer. The series is also airing weekly on Sunday nights at 9.10pm on BBC One.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source uk.news.yahoo.com ’
