Vikings creator Michael Hirst has said the History Channel’s hit show is a series about family. With the show’s popularity soaring, the actors cast as two competitive brothers and the show’s leading men, Clive Standen (Rollo) and Travis Fimmel (Ragnar Lothbrok), now find themselves in the spotlight. I spoke to them during the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con and I’m happy to report they shared quite a bit about where Rollo and Ragnar are going in season 2.
Just like cast members Katheryn Winnick (Lagertha) and Gustaf Skarsgård (Floki), Standen and Fimmel seemed to enjoy their quick trip to the convention. During their brief break from filming in Ireland, Comic-Con afforded them the opportunity to be happily surprised at the strong fan support for not only the show but them as well, which was most evident during the Vikings panel on Friday.
Fimmel noted one the peculiarities of Ragnar is he always laughs at the wrong time.
“That audience was pretty funny, they’re great,” Fimmel commented. “They get into it; they’re all yelling in there. It’s a good environment.”
Fimmel was first asked about the peculiar mannerisms he’s given Ragnar and whether they are his own acting choices or whether they came about from consulting with Hirst.
“A lot of it is I’m forgetting my lines. I’m laughing at myself.”
The press table nearly exploded with laughter, and this response was a sign of things to come. It also set the tone for the remainder of the interview, during which the personalities of both actors shone through.
Fimmel gave the question another try but this time, his response is more serious. “I never liked to watch somebody do something they don’t want to do. I want to watch somebody enjoy doing what they do. If he’s [Ragnar] attacking somebody or whatever, I want him to have fun and I want to go on the adventure with him. We do a lot of horrible stuff, and…”
The actor unfortunately lost his train of thought and charmingly blamed it on his jet lag causing the entire table to breaks into laughter again. Mind you, were laughing with Fimmel, not at him.
“It’s a lot like making love with sinister faces,” Fimmels adds in a cheeky way and then goes on to share some terrific insight about his characterization of Ragnar. “There are so many typical bad guys and I want him to enjoy a lot of the stuff he’s doing. It’s exciting for us; they’re having fun and this character, he wants to conquer places and do whatever he can to do it, and he’s not going to be miserable about it. He always smiles at the wrong time. It’s like getting in a fight — I’d rather fight somebody that looks angry at me than somebody that is smiling at me and still wants to fight me. That’s all I got!”
Clive Standen was looking forward to Comic-Con. He likes Marvel and The Punisher is his favorite character.
I approached Standen next and given how Rollo appears to have taken sides against Ragnar by the season one finale, I’m curious to learn if there is a specific moment or instance he considers to tip the scales for his character.
“The choice is he stays on his brother’s side all the way through the season. They love each other…”
Travis loudly objects, causing more laughs to be heard all around.
“He’s tested,” Clive states, undeterred. “Earl Haraldson wasn’t clever enough to manipulate him. I think Rollo sees the Seer, Rollo sees the bones, sees Haraldson just had his fortunes told, so to speak, and he knows that he’s only asking him for the reason that he needs him more than Rollo needs him. Rollo bides his time; it’s not a deal closer.”
Next came a discussion about the conflict among characters and based on last season’s events, Ragnar is in big time hot water…with more than one person. Fimmel reveals he embraces the conflicts for this character: “It’s always better as an actor to have a lot of conflict. I certainly dug myself in a hole that I’m going to try very hard to get out of. It’s kind of exciting. I made it really hard for myself and it’s a real challenge. We’ll see how it goes.”
As Fimmel smirks, he adds, “She’s not very understanding – my wife. A lot of Earls back then had many wives; it’s not a rare thing. I don’t know why I get picked on!”
The press roundtable is giddy with laughter and here I am, realizing Fimmel has a natural flair for comedy. He next confirms that a rocky road lies ahead for Ragnar on both a personal and political level: “He got a bit cocky at the end of last year and now, he’s lost everything. He’s lost his brother; he’s gone to the other team. He lost his family; his family was betrayed by him. He’s going to fight for it back. He’s going back to his basics. It’s not about the treasure anymore; it’s more about helping his people. He doesn’t want to have conflicts in his own country.”
Last but not least, he volunteers that although Ragnar’s goal is to help his people, he’s still got a bit of ego and seeks to be recognized for helping them.
“We’re brothers still; we sacrificed a lot of stuff for each other,” Fimmel pointed out, hinting at a continued bond between Ragnar and Rollo.
Since the battles and fight scenes were such a strong draw for the fans last season, I wanted to know what we should expect in the action department in the new season. The actors were excited to talk about it.
“There’s more boats, there’s more ships, there’s more fights, there’s bigger battles. It’s the golden age of the Vikings now,” Standen explained. “Ragnar’s stepped up…he’s got more toys to play with but the battles themselves, we’ve got a great stunt team and they got better and better.”
“They’re so talented, we don’t have the budget, we have, like, half of the budget…” Fimmel stated, not quite finishing his sentence but he doesn’t need to; we all know what he means. In terms of conveying the complexity of how the show and stunt crew successfully overcomes this challenge, Standen and Fimmel both proudly noted that Vikings doesn’t use CGI and relies on strategic filming techniques to capture battle scenes.
What’s in Store for Season 2?
“We’ve done Vikings and Saxons and as you’ve seen from the trailer, this is the first time we’ve seen Vikings versus Vikings,” Standen explains. “What happens when you fight Vikings is you know the tricks the other Vikings play, how to counteract. This is the elite against the elite.”
We can also expect more ships sailing west too.
Rollo and Ragnar’s Motivations
“It’s about providing,” Fimmel explains. “It’s not about the treasure as much. It’s about the land. Jarl Borg is fighting King Horik about land; there is so little of it to share.”
Standen builds on that: “It’s not about the land, it’s about minerals and it’s about the crops.”
Fimmel summarizes it best, it’s “the survival of the people.”
I thought it was interesting that Jarl Borg was brought up in the conversation just as I remembered thinking about him during last season’s finale: “He would be a character to keep an eye out for next season.” Standen confirmed my thought:
“King Horik (Donal Logue) is coming to the end of his reign, he knew he was weak. Jarl Borg (Thorbjørn Harr) is a completely different character; he’s a young warrior,” Standen says about the leader of Götaland. “We’ll learn about Jarl Borg and we’ll learn his past and how he burned his own brother alive.”
More with Clive Standen and Travis Fimmel
Vikings will return in 2014. Check out the Season 2 Teaser
Vikings will return to the History Channel in 2014.
To keep up with show updates, please visit http://www.history.com/shows/vikings.
Follow @HistoryVikings on Twitter.
Vikings Season 1 is out on Blu-ray/DVD on October 15. The Blu-ray trailer is available now at http://youtu.be/i6itoUtILxU.
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