Amazon Original
Carnival Row
Interviews Part 2: Arty Froushan, Jared Harris, and Caroline Ford
Interview Date: Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Immediately after speaking with Tamzin Merchant, Andrew Gower, and David Gyasi, I am whisked away to wait for my next round of interviews with Arty Froushan, Jared Harris, and Caroline Ford. Click here to read the first interview.
Arty Froushan (AF), who was recently in the History Channel series Knightfall, plays Jonah Breakspear, the son of Chancellor Breakspear. His appetites for indulgence in drinking and partying and consorting with Fae harlots will soon catch up to him.
Jared Harris (JH), a well-known character actor who can be in seen in film and television the likes of Sherlock: Game of Shadows, and AMC’s The Terror (Season 1), plays Chancellor Absalom Breakspear. His hold on parliament wanes as his opposition gains the sympathy of others who are tired of the influx of Fae refugees. His home life is also threatened by a dark secret.
Caroline Ford (CF), who many may recognize from ABC’s Once Upon A Time, and in the recent film Nekrotronic, plays Sophie Longerbane, daughter of the leader of the opposition in parliament. Her ambition, fueled by a lifetime of exclusion and loneliness, and a secret of her own, will come to a climactic head before the season ends.
Below is my interview with these wonderful actors.
Judy: I have been able to see the first seven episodes; the show is fantastic. It’s expertly crafted; the characters are so rich and well developed and have a nuanced back story. Was there anything in particular when you were approached with the script for your particular role that enticed you?
AF: For me, the scene that I was given for my audition doesn’t actually appear in the final script version. It was basically a scene between Jonah and Sophie. It was kind of a brilliant scene where Jonah walks in and he thinks he’s running the room and flirting the pants off Sophie. Then suddenly, halfway through, she cuts him off and it’s a total reversal and he blanches. That’s when he realizes that he’s dealing with someone with a lot more formidable. The writing of that was kind of monologued, it felt so authentically, it really kind of felt like an American series. I liked the nuanced understanding of the language and sounds, and I was really kind of excited by the style of the writing, kind of sexy, sophisticated. So that for me was what kind of what first drew me in and I thought yeah this is this is going to be fun to play.
Judy: Yes, the dialog is very articulated. I love the little nuanced part of the dialog where they say “By the Martyr,” and have different inflections, and turn of phrases for certain things.
JH: [to Arty] Did that scene get cut? I remember reading that scene. It’s already done so it must have been really over draft.
AH: The scene was in like Roman baths. Jonah dives into the pool, swims over to Sophie and starts to chat her up,
JH: [jokingly] It was just a ruse to get you take your shirt off
[Laughter all around]
AF: Thankfully for me, and everyone involved in the viewing and making of the show that it [the deleted scene] didn’t happen.
Judy: I think there is a version of that scene, a little bit of it, where you’re [Jonah and Sophie] in the carriage where Sophie sort of cuts Jonah down a little regarding their alliance.
AF: Yes. I actually think that the equivalent of that is our first proper meeting and it’s at that point where she [Sophie] really changed completely.
[Caroline nods and agrees]
JH: [in response to my original question]. I went to Duke University with one of the writers of the show, René Echevarria. René sent me the script to several years ago. Actually, it was a screenplay because it was originally going to be a movie. He asked me if I was interested and then it was going back-and-forth, and didn’t move forward, and went quiet for a while. Then it was happening again as a series and he [René] sent me the script again asking if I was still interested. And I was. I loved the idea of working with René, and to work with my brother [Jamie Harris, who plays Sergeant Dombey], who I don’t really get any scenes with. And I totally bought the world; that’s the hardest thing to do with these things, particularly if you don’t have a written source material. Like if there are no books to follow, the world building part is the hardest thing to do, to maintain and have consistency, and as an audience, you can smell bullshit very quickly when people can’t…
I think it helped that Travis [Beacham] had this world in his head for so long in those intervening years to make the screenplay. He had been continuing to build out the world in his mind so that by the time they started the story [for the series], he already knows where the story’s going to go and season 2-3-4, if we get there, you can feel that the first episode.
Judy: Oh yeah definitely when I started watching it, I finished the first episode and was addicted, I needed more…but I didn’t watch the finale before coming to the interviews…
[Arty comments]
AF: You didn’t watch the eighth episode!?
JH, AF, CF: You left it on such a cliffhanger!
PERSONAL NOTE: Perhaps I did it on purpose because I didn’t want to spoil anything while I was doing my interviews but maybe because if I had known what happened in the finale, which I do now, it may have changed my questions for the interviews.
The first question I asked (above) continues with Caroline Ford asking answering.
CF: It is the world that Travis [Beacham] built… I think the world is so fascinating and I’ve worked with Travis before; he is just so brilliant at creating these fantastical worlds that are completely real; also the character of Sophie is so interesting. When I first read during the audition, the scenes were more focused around her upbringing, her loneliness, and what she’s like. And it’s really fun to play those elements – she’s so strong, powerful and ruthless, and ambitious. She knows how to get what she wants but beneath it all, she’s a lonely pain-filleld girl who’s just craving something more than her current life.
Judy: We don’t officially meet Sophie until episode 4 and by then, the character of Sophie is already so well rounded. She’s already mysterious and when she talks in Parliament, it unleashes a whole new dynamic. I feel like the chancellor, Jared’s character, wasn’t anticipating that aspect of his daughter, now potential nemesis.
[Jared Harris chimes in saying there is also a rumor or a misleading story about Sophie being “slow,” so they’re not expecting her to do anything or amount to anything except perhaps she’s going to be slightly awkward and embarrassing.]
Judy: If there was one other character you could play, who would it be and why?
AF: Quill, the chancellor’s guard. I’d like to play Quill, a creature called a Puck because I can wear hooves and walk around in that…(laughs)
[Caroline and Jared go back and forth on who goes next, saying it’s a very hard question}
CF: I’m just sticking with Sophie. I mean, it would have been fun to have blue hair but I’m sticking with Sophie.
AF: I would like to see Sophie and Quill get together…
[There is a lot of cross talking, Arty says something about “given Sophie’s political position, that is really unlikely and yet very possible…” “And Sophie has her only friend who’s a Puck that is also her servant” …. I make a joke saying “should we be taking notes for season 2?” Then I get a signal from the press people to wrap it up.]
Judy: Thank you all so much. The show is absolutely fantastic, and I love everything about it. Again, thank you for so much for your time; I really appreciate it.
Carnival Row premieres August 30, 2019 on Amazon Prime Video.
Creators/Writers: Travis Beacham and René Echevarria
CARNIVAL ROW Cast: Orlando Bloom (Rycroft Philostrate aka Philo), Cara Delevingne (Vignette Stonemoss), Jared Harris (Chancellor Absalom Breakspear), Indira Varma (Piety Breakspear), Tamzin Merchant (Imogen Spurnrose), Andrew Gower (Ezra Spurnrose), David Gyasi (Mr. Agreus Ashtrayon), Caroline Ford (Sophie Longerbane), Ronan Vibert (Ritter Longerbane), Simon McBurney (Runyan Millworthy), Karla Crome (Tourmaline Larou), and Alice Krige (the Haruspex).
Photos: ©2019 Judy Manning/Your Entertainment Corner. All Rights Reserved.
Judy Manning
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