Mary & George's Nicholas Galitzine, Tony Curran Talk Scheming, Seduction And Sex In Starz Series — Watch Video
Only one episode into Starz's Mary & George, it's clear that the period drama isn't going to be a stuffy royal affair.
The series premiere (streaming now on the Starz app and airing on Starz at 9/8c this Friday) introduces viewers to Julianne Moore's Mary Villiers, who is determined to transform her son, George Villiers (Nicholas Galitzine), from a naïve, lovesick young man into someone capable of saving the family from falling into misfortune. As far as she sees it, George has two major advantages in life: "If I were a man and I looked like you, I would rule the f–king planet," Mary declares.
So Mary sends George to France to learn about the finer things in life, like the arts, etiquette... and the mantra "bodies are just bodies," courtesy of his male tutor. When George returns home transformed, Mary sets her eye on a pretty big seduction target for him: King James I (Tony Curran).
George is on board with the plan, which also allows him to continue exploring his sexuality as he seduces James. But Galitzine doesn't believe that is his primary motivation for the scheme.
"Choosing the King as sort of a point of sexual exploration, I think, would maybe be misguided," Galitzine tells TVLine. Although the plot to gain power and standing is his mother's idea, "he's very much on the same page as Mary."
With time, George's relationship with James even deepens into something more than just physical attraction.
"I think what is undeniable and maybe even surprising to George [is] his love that develops for James," Galitzine says. "He sees, in James, a very caring, vulnerable, very interesting man, as well."
Both Galitzine and Curran liken the dynamic between their characters to a mentor-mentee one.
"There's a lot that he learns from James about his pacifism and his political savvy, how James is sort of able to toe the line in a lot of ways, politically," Galitzine shares.
Adds Curran: "There's a vulnerability to James, but also a brokenness that I think brings a sort of empathy within George towards James. You can see the humanity in James, but then you can also identify it in George, as well, which I think is interesting in the relationship."
As for the physical intimacy of George and James' relationship, Galitzine credits intimacy coordinator Robbie Taylor Hunt, who also worked with the actor on Red, White & Royal Blue, with helping himself and Curran navigate the show's sex scenes.
"Tony and I just love working with each other as actors, and we have a great chemistry, and, I think, totally bought into who these people were to each other," Galitzine says, "and we really wanted to convey the wanting nature, the transactional nature, this sort of dominating nature, at times, the vulnerability. There are so many different dynamics to these scenes. For George, they very much tell a story about who he is and what he wants, and I think the same could be said for James."
And George's royal exploits weren't just limited to the King, as Galitzine discovered while making the series.
"For me, it was intriguing, and then actually not that surprising once I got to know George, [that] James [was not] necessarily the only royal that George bedded. Supposedly, the Queen of France, as well, was also on George's hit list. Bless the young man. He's very active," Galitzine adds with a smile.
Press PLAY above to watch our interview with Galitzine and Curran, then grade the Mary & George series premiere below!