It’s billed as an audacious 17th-century historical drama rampant with sex, scheming, skulduggery and a stellar turn by the inimitable Julianne Moore.
Mary & George is the new TV series that will give viewers a history lesson like no other when it lands on TVNZ+ later this month.
Academy Award-winning actress Moore stars as Mary Villiers, Countess of Buckingham, who in 17th century England moulded her beautiful son, George, to seduce King James I and become his all-powerful lover.
Moore talks about playing Villiers, riding around in vans and Mary & George’s “insanely wonderful words”.
How would you describe Mary Villiers?
In our story and historically, Mary Villiers was a person from a kind of middling aristocratic family, a mother to four children, and she was incredibly ambitious on behalf of her children.
After the death of her first husband, who we portray as a brutal and difficult man, she’s been living in less-than-ideal circumstances. I think she’s looking for a way to educate her children and keep herself alive. The only way she’s able to do that is through her relationships with powerful men.
When you think about what she managed to achieve, actually, with very little help, she really left everyone set up very well.
How would you describe her relationship with her children?
What was interesting historically is that she tried to educate both of her sons, and she thought, ‘How do I propel these kids forward? What can I do?’ And in her educating them, she learned that George was utterly charming.
He wasn’t great at academics, but he was great at dancing and entertaining people. She sees his charm, his great beauty and how attractive he is to other people.
When you first read the script, what drew you to this character?
There was something so outrageous about her, something so direct and unusual, and she seemed to have her desire for power and for agency in a situation where she might have none.
It felt really unusual, clever, entertaining and an interesting challenge with wonderful people. And I was lucky enough to get it.
How is this not a typical period drama?
It’s not a typical period drama because of the licence that it takes with behaviours and sexuality, which we don’t ordinarily see in historical fiction. I think the production values are really high. It’s absolutely beautiful, opulent and a wildly entertaining romp through history.
How did you go about playing someone like Mary?
I think she’s written brilliantly by our writer DC Moore. He wrote a really interesting, compelling, very funny, ambitious woman. She’s clever, exciting and fun. So, it was just a matter of settling into the language and the storytelling. And it was a pleasure to do that.
It’s wonderful to play somebody who seems to know what they want and doesn’t suffer fools to get it. I think it’s interesting what she achieved at a time when women couldn’t even own property and the fact that she managed to be buried in Westminster Abbey.
That’s a pretty amazing achievement.
Were you surprised when you first got the script to see sexuality in the Jacobean era being represented in this way?
No! [laughs] I think people have sex. I think that’s the thing, right? I think people talk about it in different ways, but none of us would be here if they didn’t [laughs].
George evolves under Mary’s tutelage, doesn’t he? Nick [Nicholas Galitzine] was so wonderful in his portrayal of this character. When you first meet him, he’s a young boy, and he’s someone who wants to hang around at home and be with the local girl. He doesn’t have a tremendous amount of ambition and doesn’t have a desire to be educated.
What Mary sees in him is potential.
He is beautiful, charming and interesting, and against his wishes, she sends him away to France, and she says, ‘You’re going to be educated, and believe me, this is going to be good for you.’ But he goes to France and comes back with a different sense of himself and of possibility.
Nick very beautifully modulates his performance, so you see him growing up and becoming more aware of his potential. But what’s interesting, too, is I think that Mary sees herself in George. She sees someone who is capable because she doesn’t have the access that he does because she’s female.
She uses him as a proxy but always feels very much that he will be her partner, that this is something that they’re creating together.
But of course, as George gets older and gains more power and influence and his relationships develop, he starts to chafe under her direction and begins to take his own path. And so it ends up being a power struggle between the two of them.
The show features some incredible women. What was it like working with Nicola Walker, Trine Dyrholm and Niamh Algar?
Oh my gosh, I was so lucky with the female talent. Nicola Walker blew me away. On our first day together, we had a long scene at a banquet table. We were seated opposite each other but so far away, and I was so frustrated because I just wanted to talk to her.
The minute she opened her mouth, I was just like, ‘Oh my God, she’s extraordinary.’ Trine is such an accomplished actor and a wonderful person, and they really brought this beautiful quality to Queen Anne.
And Niamh and I hit it off right away. She’s got this tremendous energy, a wonderful sense of humour and an ability to connect and just sort of light up the screen. I think we all loved being together the few times that we were together because we weren’t always there at the same time.
You mentioned that banquet with Nicola. Did you have fun with Mary’s incredible one-liners?
Yes. I think the language that DC Moore wrote is just wonderful. It was challenging as well. Some of the things that people say are pretty elaborate and incredibly clever. But that was part of the joy of working on this, to be able to say those really kind of insanely wonderful words.
Did the high production values make getting into character easier?
The production design is gorgeous. The costumes are wonderful. Annie Symons, our costume designer, is just tremendous and so talented, her department worked so hard, they had to churn so much out so very quickly. And it’s all handmade.
As you watch Mary gain influence and power and her economic situation improves, you see it reflected in how she dresses, in the fabrics, decorations and jewels and how elaborate things become. It’s an indication of status or identity.
My dresses were so big sometimes that I couldn’t get into a car. So when we needed to drive from hair and makeup to the location they had to get a van that I could stand up in. I enjoyed it so much that I got everyone to come with me in the van — costume, hair and makeup, and my dialect coach.
What do you hope audiences will enjoy about Mary & George?
I think everybody loves historical fiction. You know, it’s interesting because there’s an element of fantasy to it, of wondering what it would be like if you lived during that time. What would your relationships be like? How would you dress? How would you behave?
And it keeps a foot, obviously, in what happens historically, but it also allows you to experience history in a more vivid, live sort of way through these recreations.
And I think it’s wildly entertaining. I really do.
Mary & George will be available to stream on TVNZ+ on June 26.
