SCIFI AND TV TALK: Q & A With Merlin's Anthony Head
by Steve Eramo
01/06/2012
As Rupert Giles on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, actor Anthony Head stood side-by-side with his charge, slayer Buffy Summers, and the rest of the Scooby Gang and helped battle demons of various shapes, sizes and degrees of nastiness. Over the past four years the venue has changed but the battle remains one of life and death. In BBC’s hit fantasy series Merlin, the actor plays King Uther Pendragon of Camelot, a monarch who has banned the use of magic in his kingdom, and whose entire future on the throne is threatened by those practicing dark magic.
At the start of the show’s fourth season (airing in the States on Fridays @ 10:00 p.m. EST/PST on Syfy, and in Canada on the SPACE Channel on Saturdays @ 8:00 p.m. EST/PST), Head’s character is a mere shadow of his former self, his spirit broken after his illegitimate daughter Morgana continues her magical rein of terror against Uther and all of Camelot. With the king incapable of leading the fight, it falls to his son Prince Arthur and The Knights of the Round Table to defend Camelot. Little do they know that they also have their own magical ace in the hole, Merlin, by their side. However, is even his magic strong enough to defeat the terrors that Morgana has unleashed?
Along with Merlin, Head was recently seen in both the British and American versions of the TV series Free Agents, as well as appearances in the feature film The Iron Lady alongside Meryl Streep and the upcoming sequel Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance...
... Q: How does Uther rank within the grand scheme of roles in your career?
Anthony Head: "I think he’s up there. He’s been a very interesting character to play, and he’s developed a lot – glad to say, (series co-creators/executive producers) Johnny (Capps) and Julian (Murphy) have always given me something to play. There’s always some underlying thing going on – he’s not just moody. I always like that challenge. Compared to a lot of other things, Uther is just fun to play. When I was first told about it, I was nervous because I thought he might be too two-dimensional. But once they really told me what they wanted, I saw the role had a lot of scope – and they always wholeheartedly embraced ways I suggested to play it.
I like to bring a whole person to the role. I like to believe that there’s a reason for everything somebody does, just not somebody being bad or good or dogmatic or tyrannical. They’ve got plenty of pathology going on, and it’s fun getting inside and finding out all about that mythology. It makes the characters who they are. The best roles are always three-dimensional..."
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