Emilia Schüle, Louis Cunningham discuss 'Marie Antoinette' on PBS. Plus: 'The Crown,' 'The Great,' 'Bridgerton' and 'Harry & Meghan'

The Oscars are behind us, so it's time to turn our attention to new programming until the big summer movies return. But this week we find ourselves going back in time as we discuss "Marie Antoinette," a new historical drama on PBS.

The stars of the show, Emilia Schüle in the titular role and Louis Cunningham as Louis XVI, sat down with co-host Bruce Miller to discuss the program, the arc of the series that is planned for three seasons, and whether or not Marie Antoinette really said "let them eat cake." 

Leading into that interview, miller and co-host Terry Lipshetz discussed how this show is the latest in a line of recent period dramas that have dominated streaming services. 

"The Great" is among our favorites. The show starring Elle Fanning, which is very loosely based on the life of Catherine the Great, returns to Hulu on May 12 for season 3 with 10 new episodes.

Another show that is a bit more realistic is "The Crown" on Netflix. The sixth and final season should wrap production in a few months and could drop by the end of the year. The program, which changes ensemble casts every two seasons as characters age, is expected to bring viewers through the death of Princess Diana, but before the recent drama surrounding Princess Andrew, Prince Harry and the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

If you want some of that drama, you can watch the documentary series "Harry & Meghan" on Netflix. 

Another period drama, also on Netflix, is "Bridgerton." The series is a fictional drama based on the book series by Julia Quinn that takes place during London's Regency era of the late 1700s.

Perhaps "Marie Antoinette" most closely resembles another historical drama in "The Last Czars" that aired on Netflix in 2019. That show focused on the final years of Russia's Romanov dynasty.

About the show

Streamed & Screened is a podcast about movies and TV hosted by Bruce Miller, a longtime entertainment reporter who is now the editor of the Sioux City Journal in Iowa and Terry Lipshetz, a senior producer for Lee Enterprises based in Madison, Wisconsin.

Episode transcript

Note: The following transcript was generated by Podium.page and may contain misspellings and other inaccuracies as it was generated automatically:

0:00:03
Welcome everyone to another episode of streamed and screened and entertainment podcast about movies and TV from Lee Enterprises. I'm Terry Lipshetz, a senior producer at Lee and cohost of the program with Bruce Miller, editor of the Sioux City Journal and a longtime entertainment reporter. Bruce, welcome back. How's it going? No. We went through the Oscars We're good. We are looking forward to the spring shows. We're good.

0:00:30
I have watched all of Ted Lasso. I'm good. So, yeah, there's a there's a lot there that we've been able to peel off during the last last few weeks. But, you know, if I see a cocaine bear in the streets, I'm stopping. I'm excited. I have not seen cocaine beer and I will not until it's at least on TV for streaming purposes. But I am excited for Ted Lasso. That's the one show because I feel like Apple T. V. Plus, they've got some good programs. But I I can't pay for it year round because they don't seem to have enough at any given moment for me. Like, I like Tesla, so I like that space program. Where it was kind of the alternate history. Yeah. I really like that. So I've been waiting for Ted Lass, so so I can resubscribe for about a month or two Watch watch that.

0:01:25
Watch for all mankind. I still have to get caught up on that that Jennifer Aniston to the morning show. Morning show love that. Yeah. Look at what you're missing. You should be spending money. You're rich. You can do all that.

0:01:41
If I was rich, Bruce, I probably would be doing something differently right now, but I'm not. I'm rich in knowledge. I'm rich in movie and TV knowledge spending my time with you. You know, we don't need we don't need all that money because we have someone's experience that's where we're able to draw on that bank. And if you buy that graph, I'll tell you a little bit more.

0:02:06
I think we need a time machine, Bruce, for this episode. Like, I was looking I was looking locally for a delorean to see if I could whip something up. Because I I wanna go back in time because it feels like everything we're watching on TV now is going back in time. A lot a lot back in time. Yeah. And they're going back to the the days when maybe politics wasn't the same as it is today. Right now they're trying to kind of show us what was it like when x or y was in charge? What did they do? Right? And how did they react? And it's interesting. I don't know if we're learning anything because I think our politicians are making the same mistakes they've always made.

0:02:48
It is fun to look back at these things. I love these ones that have great sets and costumes. I really like looking at that stuff because I think what are they what kind of hell are they going through to wear this this junk. You know? And when you see something like the great, which just turns it on its head and goes for the laughs. I enjoy it. It's fun.

0:03:11
But a lot of things are coming up before the end of the spring, Tom Jones. They're doing a remake of Tom Jones that will be a little less user friendly. Let's just say that Tom isn't the the dashing rogue that he once was. And so that's an interesting take on things. And then we have Maria Antoinette, which is a kind of a spin on how that whole story played out that the people who made it said that, really, Marie Antoinette was the victim. She was not treated the way she really should have been, and she was the victim of gossip in the court. People were she was, like, the first influencer who was canceled. Is one of those kind of things where permanent They were out together, and so they did whatever they could. And in this new this new series, limited series that they have, you'll be able to see how the people are really she wasn't that bad, but she was treated badly. And then we'd have the crown. Look how long we've been looking at the British dynasty and what they're up to. And how will that shift now when Charles is in charge?

0:04:26
Howard Bauchner: Right. So you mentioned the great, which that one's actually coming back pretty soon. Season three is coming back May twelfth. They're gonna drop ten ten episodes on Hulu. And I feel like that's gonna be one where I'm gonna have to tell my wife, like, we gotta take a couple days off because we're we're just gonna crush through all ten episodes back to them. And they're quick ones too. I I feel like that one you can kinda you can crush through the great -- Yeah. -- pretty quickly.

0:04:53
But I I love that show because it's it's so irreverent. Everyone's smashing glasses on the floor and Hazan and it it it's a little bit historically accurate, like, at, you know, like, one percent. But it's so fun. And very naughty, which I like naughty. Yeah. That's a that's a good thing. The gentleman who created the great. Also did the favorite. If you remember the favorite. Okay.

0:05:23
And that starred Olivia Coleman, she won her Oscar for that. And when me and Coleman was in the crown. Right? And I just talked her she's gonna be in great expectations. Another adaptation that's coming up. And she says, I have no interest in history. I really I am not one who who wants to go back and and dig out that stuff. In fact, she remembers being assigned great expectations when she was in high school. She's, I don't think I even read it. I really don't. So I I like the honesty that she she brings to all of this because it makes, I think, the character a little more believable. But yeah. But she was in the crowd.

0:06:05
And you know, I I I mentioned this before, I'm sure, that I don't like that they switching out the cast because I think they could do with some of that stuff. I think this latest cast, you know, the last one was really good. And now these once I'm not so sure I'm buying into it, but there you are. Yeah. I liked so and it was weird too for me because I didn't watch the crown initially. When season four of the crown came out, which was the second and final season with the second cast, my wife and I decided, let's kinda check this one out. So we went back and we we crushed through season one and two. Then immediately went to season three, which is very jarring when you go and look at the cast change because we really liked and we we kinda grew to like that initial cast. And then it goes to season three, and we didn't know kind of what to think of it. And I think it finally grew on us once we got about halfway through maybe the second the the third season.

0:07:06
It was a really I really I think ended up liking the season three and forecast the most because I thought Olivia Coldman really nailed a a kind of middle aged queen Elizabeth, somebody who is no longer, you know, the young pop in who's kind of settled into herself and taking charge and knows what she has to do, but you had hell in a bottom Carter playing her her sister, which was kinda fun. And then I didn't even realize it until almost after the fact, but they brought back Dana Sculley, Julian Anderson played Margaret Thatcher. And she was fabulous. It was so good. And and the actor that was from the Game of Thrones who played he he was the the member of the family that was blown up by the the bomb, the boat bomb. Oh, the Fort Mount bat or was it Fort Mountbatman? Yeah. Yeah. Because he was Tywin Lannister in the Game of Thrones. So it was just they had a really solid ensemble cast. So I I absolutely loved it.

0:08:12
I thought they had a really good young Prince Charles in that program. Right. I thought they had a really good young Princess Diana, but it didn't translate well when they jumped to season five. I I thought, like, it It wasn't as jarring because it'd been so long since I'd watched seasons five four and five, but I I'm not in love with the current cast. Dominic West, isn't he Prince Charles now? Mhmm. Yeah. I think No.

0:08:40
That was miscasting. Right there. Right. Right there is miscasting. But you know, it I get what they're doing. What's funny is that they kind of take a Jackie Collins approach. To that whole royal world, and yet they're trying to play it as very masterpiece theater. You know, there's there's a lot of down and dirty stuff that you think, is this really what happened? Or are you going a little too far on the edge here? So I don't know how accurate it might be, but I bet any money that the people who are in the royal family had a great time watching it. I heard I don't know if you heard this, but around the time of the first season, one of the Queen's sons I can't remember if it was Prince Edward, but they they would go to her house, her castle, whatever she lives in. And they would watch it on, like, Sunday nights. Once a week. You're gonna be great? Yeah. So they threw on the Netflix and watched themselves. And then you would be, like, screaming at the TV. No. That's not the way it is. That's not true at all. Right? The one yeah. I know.

0:09:52
The one actor who I really thought has nailed the role in the newer season, though. Jonathan Price is Prince Philip. I I feel like I believe him in that role. It feels like Prince Philip to me. Well and, you know, isn't it weird that we know these characters? Or we feel we know them because we've seen them in the media. We've seen them doing things. So you have a a a different approach. Whereas the ones that are from Katherine or Grace era, she can be whatever. You know? Because we've enough about her that I don't know that that's true. But so it's I think it's easier for an actor to play one that we aren't familiar with. But something, but that really kinda grazes your radar. I think that's difficult. Yeah.

0:10:35
So that program has the final season coming up season six, which will maintain the current cast. I've read that it's scheduled to wrap photography sometime in May or June. And that Netflix, there's no release date, but Netflix has historically dropped that show in either November or December. So take that for whatever that's worth. We probably will see it by the end of the year maybe. Will they go up to the death of Elizabeth, or will they No. I I thought the plan was to kind of bring it up to, you know, we'll obviously see the death of of Princess Diana, and I think they have a young Kate Middleton cast. So we will see like William meet Kate in school. But I don't think it goes any further than that. I think that was their point was they wanted to kind of bring it up to sort of modern times, like, where we would recognize transition from that to almost the present day, but they weren't planning to bring it much further. Didn't you see though a standalone movie where they do the death of Elizabeth, where that's kinda and then the transition of power -- Yeah. -- that'd be cool.

0:11:45
And just the drama, the Harry drama. Oh, the spare, I've been reading the book. Have you? Yeah. The spare is very interesting because you can see First of all, the media is the devil. He has the media responsible for everything, which I find kind of like Boy, they really fed him the kool Aid, didn't they? Mhmm. But he does have an altered view of his importance his place and the family drama. Now, he tells a lot of things that are very fascinating, you know, about how bad the the plumbing is in the palace and and how the sheets are repaired so many times that when you're in bed, you feel like all these these holes that used to be in there are darned over and it rubs against you.

0:12:36
I think, well, that that's kind of information I would well, I'd want that. I'd like to know that kind of jump. But then he gets into his military career and single handedly, he is, like, Liam Nason here. He's doing a flying into Afghanistan and Yeah. It's and, you know, there are there are a lot of girlfriends mentioned that I never knew. I I'd be going if I were British press, I'd be going back and asking them a few questions about Is this the way that book actually happened? Can you fill me in on this? This is the truth. But he always is going about the paparazzi And early in the book, he has this philosophy that he thought his mom was not dead, that she was you know, just hiding out because she wanted to get away from all of it.

0:13:23
And it took him going to the site of where she died to really come to a different different kind of conclusion. But it it is fascinating because those people don't reveal their feelings. For the most you never we don't know what the queen was like. She could have been a big old lush. But, you know, all we have to go on is that she has a purse, she likes corgis, and she always wore a hat. Right? And worse racing. Right. This is like this is what we know about the Queen. Yeah. So Queen speculation that a TV show does It is what it is. Yeah.

0:13:59
I I haven't read the book. I'm not really interested in reading it. I I have not watched Harry and Meghan on Net flix and I I really don't feel like feeding that beast. You know, it's funny you mentioned the the the devil and the media yet they have no problem using the media to their own advantage. It's only when it it doesn't serve them right.

0:14:21
But I think my problem is he he it just comes off as very elitist and entitled on his part. I mean, he I I I don't doubt that he's probably felt disparaged in some way. You know, we we all know going back to when even he was younger they were referred to as the heir in the spare. So I totally get that. But you're living a very gilded life to begin with. I I don't care about your problems all that much. It's it's a, you know, you you can have a lot of problems. And I also think too, like, you're kinda burning bridges at this point.

0:15:02
We all have people in our families who we don't necessarily like. You see them on Thanksgiving, you got your crazy uncle or somebody that believes in weird conspiracies or that UFOs are coming down to com and you just kinda like, get denied politely and you move along. But in theory, he's really not that far removed from the monarchy. So Like, you would almost wanna be, like, let me just play it cool for the time being. Because in, you know, what happens if if Charles were to die? And then something crazy like William and his family are flying off somewhere in the plane crashes. All of a sudden, you're the king of England. So it's not you know, it's one thing with his his cousins who are like fourteenth in line and they're never gonna smell the throne room. But he's actually still not that far removed from from that position. Like, just kind of let it roll out and then maybe you know, years from now, but, you know, it is what it is.

0:16:00
There I think Meghan and Harry are playing it like a reality show. You know, they all give me all that kind of angst that we should get on their side and we feel sorry for them. Look, I'm feeling sorry for nobody who has you ring a bell and you get a meal. I have to scramble to get a meal. So and they haven't they don't have to worry about any money. They can buy whatever they want. They can get whatever they want. But I do see the the kind of velvet handcuffs on them where you gotta go cut a ribbon or open a store or something and Is that really a job?

0:16:38
Right? And he acts like he's the only one who's seen the real outside world. He hasn't seen the outside world at all. He wasn't working at seven eleven. He wasn't doing, you know, some of these things that they act like, oh, we are real commoners. We are just weird. You know? And so it's fascinating. I like I say, I enjoy reading this because it's so kind of diluted -- Right. -- about what the real world is.

0:17:06
And then as you said, Putting the blame on the media when you don't really even know how grateful you should be to the media for carrying your water. Where would his side have been in this whole thing if Oprah hadn't said, hey, let's do a little let's do a little interview. You know? And so he's naive. Naive is a better word than spare. But he brings up the spare aspect all the time in that book. Yeah. I am just this Oh, feel sorry for me. He's gonna beat the queen's pony until its death on that one. Well, and yeah. And I think they will go. They will go to the coordination. Because that more content. They're it's they're just, like, influencers that have to have more content for their site. So they're going and they're not gonna look happy, but they're gonna go and then they're gonna bring the kids and then they all say that somebody dissed him or Camilla didn't grab the kids and hug them like she should have or it'll be some crap like that because it keeps the monarchy going. As long as there's interest in that, nobody is talking about, let's get away from Let's not do that. Let's just make those some museums that we can send people through. Of course.

0:18:29
Now some royal drama that I do enjoy Bridgerton. Bridgerton. Yeah. I you probably are looking at me like, Terry, you you really Bridgerton? Yeah. I I enjoyed that. I kinda got roped into it with my wife and I've been sucked in. It's it's fun. It's just fun good old drama.

0:18:47
I tried the first season, and there were so many disconnects. That I thought, you know, I can't. I can't do this because it's one more that I'm gonna have to watch. And I did not buy the characters But this is me. This is just me now. You enjoy. Go. Do. Enjoy. But I you know, when they lost their leading man after the first season. I thought, this is gonna really kill it. But then they've got enough people there that each year they can have a new one who's looking for love even though the plot seems a little familiar.

0:19:21
I also like as a music buff they have, like, the vitamins yeah. The vitamin string quartet and there's another group too where they take contemporary music but turn it into ballroom dance songs. So when I'm watching it, I'm thinking, like, I know that song somewhere and then it's still there's still There's Nirvana. I can't believe you can dance to Nirvana. So that's kinda some good old fun. But, you know, it's It is what it is. I that one's I guess, they're still working on season three, no release date. Again, they're kind of like changing over some of the cast because they're gonna focus in on a different character or something, but it's it's not reality. So but it's kinda got that drama.

0:20:14
With the newest with Miranda Gwynet, which is coming out this month -- Mhmm. -- they go back and they looked at all of the way that she was treated. And they looked at the books that were written about her and how people reacted to her. And they realized that what we know, the things like she says, let them eat cake. She never said that. Off with their heads or any of those kinds of things that seemed very kind of fictitious. It was all made up. And instead, she was just another person throwing into this this royal world. She had no idea what she was doing, and they hated her because she was an outsider. She was not somebody that was picked from the inside. And she really kind of had to learn with her king because he was thrown into it when his family died. So they were these naive kids.

0:21:13
This is probably more like Romeo and Juliet than anything else. Yeah. And they had to figure out What do we do now? An interesting factor. We I think we have the interview, but I talked to the two stars of the of the mini series.

0:21:31
Amelia Schul and Lewis Cunningham, and get this. He was never gonna be an actor. He did a couple of shows in his college. Right? And thought, oh, that's interesting. Okay. But he was all geared I think he was a German major, and he was gonna do something else. And suddenly he gets cast in this thing and his co star was actually serving as his kind of his adviser telling him what he needed to know to be able to be in a mini series. So it is it's fascinating how all of this world kind of opens up to certain people. And it's not unlike royalty, but you could be the star of a mini series tear. I could. You know, all you need and then the actors can lead you through it. So there you go. I'll I'll start looking for parts.

0:22:25
The the closest thing that I could think of with this series, Netflix did one a couple years ago called the Last SARS. Did you see that one at all? Might have seen, like, an episode. I usually see the first episode of everything, and then after I'm done with that, I just bail. So the last star is if you haven't seen it, It's one of those shows where I'm not gonna recommend anybody you're listening to it to go see it because it wasn't that good.

0:22:48
But the problem with it is once you watch one episode, you kind of feel compelled to finish them off because it's not that bad either. It's sort of in between. It's one of those that has It's, like, fifty six percent on rotten tomatoes. So it's not terrible, but it's just not great either. We need it. We don't have completion. That's what you're looking at. Exactly. And it was short enough. It was only episode. So it's kinda I can I can kinda work my way through mediocre series?

0:23:13
It's but this that one felt a little bit like this Marie Antoinette where it's the czar, the last czar of Russia. It's it's how he gets married. The the the influence from Rasputin and kind of what happened leading up to the Bolshevic revolution and then ultimately the family getting wiped out. And and I think it might have it's been a while since I've seen it, but I think it might have even began with, you know, did Anastasia actually survive it because there's somebody in the hospital who's roughly that age who claimed to be the daughter of the czar and it was a fascinating look, and I think it provided some insight into the time period. And it was a good you know, it's somebody who's a student of history like myself and I like to think of myself, it was good to watch from that perspective. So I feel like I might actually hop into this one because it seems interesting enough to kinda cap my my attention.

0:24:07
They shot at her side, so you actually get to see the locations and they were shocked because they said there's a lot of show there. You can see the, you know, the the grand ballrooms that they have, but they were living in, like, back rooms basically. They didn't really have all that opulence around them at all times. I don't think that's true with you know all all regal people. Mhmm. I don't I think some of them do have the the good stuff. But, you know, interesting, isn't it that you can go and I don't know that you as a tourist could go into those back rooms and see what it's like. They got an opportunity because they were filming there and they said, you wanna see this room and, like, Yeah. Okay. Let's go look.

0:24:50
So that's and it this will be a three parter too where we have to so I just know that it's three years that they'll be doing this. I think that's eight episodes or so for the first season, then they'll do a second and they'll do the third. And so we don't get head cutting until the end. And then and there's no cake because we've we've already ruled that out. Cake. We are not having cake. No. Unless they decide to do it at the end. You know, let's end by the way, to celebrate this month's fundraiser on PBS. We're gonna be having cake. You don't get the tteok bag. You get a piece of cake. We're selling it. A hundred dollar donation. You we'll send you a piece of cake. We'll get the piece of cake. That's right. Alright. So let's queue that up.

0:25:34
Amelia Schul is is Marie Antoinette. And Louis Cunningham, who plays Lewis King Lewis, are are the stars of this. And they became very, very, very good friends. In fact, before I was interviewing them, they were just sitting on a couch and he had kicked off his shoes. And his shoes were like they were huge. They had a huge heel on them. They were like, it looked like something you'd walk in a in a fashion show with. And I said, can I look at those shoes? Do you mind? He says, oh, they my feet hurt so bad from wearing them, but they look cool. And he didn't have enough room in his luggage. So she brought the shoes with to do the interviews. And so he he would have a look, but it wasn't like it was gonna be suffering for his art. But that was kind of a a little insight into their friendship. They really are close friends now. Because of this. And they're they're excited about going back.

0:26:31
If they say it's really cool to know that you have another job to go to. That's the best part of being in a mini series or a limited series is that you're not just one and done. It's like, well, now we can go and see those same people next year. And keep up and then maybe look for some other work in the process. So, anyway, there's lots of fun.

0:26:50
Here they are, Amelia and Lewis. This reminds me that please don't think I'm crazy for suggesting it, but it's a very hair Meghan kind of thing, where they're kind of the victims of all the people who just gossip around them. Did you see that at all? Or am I just crazy? It's been, like, brought up a bed. In different reviews.

0:27:11
And I I'm not if I'm honest, I hadn't thought about it at all before. And I guess Yeah. Someone knew coming in to a big royal family really. I know. I guess maybe James kept saying that as well. James couldn't afford anything. Yeah. Maybe there are definitely something. But it definitely didn't it wasn't something that I could have thought of going into it. But yeah. Yeah. No. And maybe you're right. But look, I haven't really thought about it as well. I mean, courts are difficult, and there's always intrigues and, you know, like Social media is kind of the the the whispering that goes on in the a thing. And so it's like, oh, I wonder if that's I mean, if you could make that that parallel. I mean, I did make I didn't make the parallel Harry and Meghan, but I make the parallel that she was a victim of fake news and canceled culture. And, yeah, of this whole campaign that was designed to destroy her and to support the revolution. You know?

0:28:08
When you look at all the things that are written about her, do you say, well, what can I believe What can I you know, because some people thought she was good, some thought she spent too much money, some thought she was fooling around? Yeah. I mean, where do you find her? That was definitely a challenge for me because I've, you know, been diving into the prep and we seeing all these books. And and then we have our script, which is an entirely new take on her. And then I I had this conversation with the red neighbors. And I was, like, naming all the books I've read and she was, like, what, you've read the Stephan Spike book? When I read that, I wanted to throw it against the wall. I hate that book. Mhmm. And I was, like, okay. You could Stephen Spike obviously didn't think she's a great person. And, you know, it's like the description of a mediocre character. It's like the subtitles of the of the script. So yeah.

0:28:54
And this is when I kind of understood that. I have to we, you know, distance myself from all this and find my own Marie Antoinette and we have this script. We have my work and, you know, did did you like her? Oh, yeah. I totally sympathized with her. Like, I didn't know like, I had all these cons conceptions about her before I, you know, got this part. And then when prepping, I, you know, I fell in love with her because her life was tragic, you know, like, she's getting sent away from a home country. It's kind of child marriage. She's a husband who doesn't touch her So she has to bear the humiliation of, like, hold Europe. And she can't fulfill her only job that she has to do to, you know, produces air. Mhmm. So I do get why she, you know, distracted herself with the partying and the dresses and the wigs because she's been traumatizing stock up to stock up since, you know. Yeah. So yeah. I think Cover.

0:29:53
I think it was what's really interesting is reading the history books and then seeing yeah. As you said, how things are so different in different accounts? And thinking, okay, why is that? Why a perception? Changing. And then from that, you can kind of get a slight understanding of what you might want to portray within, you know, your character. Could you relate at all to him? Or is it, like, yeah, do you see it? Oh, I'm not like that I I talk. Yeah. I mean, on that level No. Not so much. But absolutely. I mean, I think I've -- Yeah.

0:30:24
-- a hundred percent been in situations where kind of anxieties or fear takes over and you it's kind of a fight fight or fight type situation. Yeah. And I just shut off. I was saying the panel that we've just done, you know. I just almost kind of on zombie mode of automatic function, kind of just rolling out. And obviously, I was speaking there, but it's that kind of because it's stressful. It's stressful. It's stressful. It's of that. But at the base of it, I was just like, okay. Put myself in his shoes. Fifteen year old fifteen years old getting married. Your parents have both died, your brothers died, you know that you're gonna become king of this country that you really don't know much about, to be honest. Never see much of it other than your massive castle. Yeah. And the pressure that has put on you is a normal and especially the pressure in the bedroom. It's like how on earth could you ever perform -- Yes. -- sexually under such political stress and kind of Yeah. Yeah. Sorry. Excuse me for being stupid.

0:31:27
Did you major in acting in Not Oh. So what were what was that career that you were studying? Yeah. So the career no. I I studied German and philosophy at university. Speak to and French. We have another show, the deck of Filiens. Okay. So very great.

0:31:43
And I but I always loved loved theater. And I did a bunch of theater on the side of my degree at my university. And I I was at the mindset that, okay, maybe if I finish university and then I still really wanna do this. I'll play drama schools in the UK and then go from there and to patterns or I'll get it out of my system and then go and do I have no idea what. But I got so lucky, a casting director saw a player that I was in and then introduced me to my I'm saying? Do you tell him this doesn't happen? No. It doesn't. I told him that I waited seventeen years to get a job like this. And it's his first job, like, proper job. Is that fair? Not really fair. No. No. No. But I had her. I haven't heard a guy. Honestly, I can't I will say this to you for a quarter machine.

0:32:37
Amelia is one one of the most insanely talented people I've ever met in my life. Two, the kindness. Three, the most impressive guideer ever. You know, if I was lost, stressed nervous or just didn't really know how something worked. Always always always explaining it to me, helping me out, pushing me along right now. She didn't say scared in my share them. Yeah. Hold on. And she would make everything vibrant and exciting and fresh and energetic and, you know, we would play with everything.

0:33:05
And these like, by the end, when I know you're gonna be. I'm just like So does it make you wanna do this then? This is the career? So all that other careful just It's like a drug, you know, like, once you, you know, try it from once you're hooked, like, acting, doing the films Have you both thought about what this could do for your careers? Nope. No. I mean, because this will be a big platform. It will be a big launch. And Yeah. Yeah. But then again, you know, like, the market is so big. There's so much out there. So I'm trying to be like, shit. Build and, you know, it can go in either direction and you just have to be grateful, you know, like, take a day by day. Yeah. What did you shaved your hair? For for filming Germany.

0:33:46
Did they shoot those scenes then when she is executed? Maria Antoinette? No. No. No. Because it didn't she ever I mean, this is what I've read. I don't know if they've like, to be honest, my prep went up until the and where we finished season one because there was a lot a lot to prep for. So she still has her head at the end of season one. So we could have season two, and it would be fine. That would be fine? Well, I mean, you you gotta do the same. You should be alive. It isn't like No. I'm still alive then. Yes. Yeah. Okay. It's your free season concept.

0:34:20
Do you think about though doing that last kind of moment of these characters. It's really interesting. Deborah was very specific and she said in the history books, don't read a past a certain point? Yeah. Because these people didn't know what was coming for them. So why why should he Yeah. So we didn't think about that moment. No.

0:34:39
But it's in the in the first season, there are a couple of tiny things that I kind of foreshadowing wants to come. And that was a really interesting things to think about. And also, the first season is really just within Dasei and in the court. So it shows how blissfully unaware there were, everything going on without side and the reality of life in France for the normal people. And to Yep. It was it was kind of more interesting to play these roles with no concept.

0:35:11
Did you think you could live this life? Did you say -- No. -- I really No. No. It's horrible. I mean, you come to code, everyone, like, as a Spanishman gentleman, everyone hates you because you're Austrian, everyone's to get rid of you. And and there's are these, like, stupid one hundred your old rules, you have no privacy, you're always observed, always judged, and controlled, and you have no life on your own, of your own, you know. This is why she was so rebellious because she wanted to, you know, be human being.

0:35:43
Have you watched the great? Yes. Yes. Do you see parallels between characters? Or Yeah. I mean, it yeah. But both of them but, I mean, Katherine just That's played for humor, but it's still I mean, both wanted to change the court, and Katherine succeeded, and Melania didn't. So, I guess, Katherine was just more lucky, you know.

0:36:08
Did you think she was pretty? I mean, I I don't Maria Twonette, do you look at pictures of her because some, you say, and then some, they say she was just beautiful. So how do you find what the visual is of her. I honestly haven't thought about that, but what they do write about in the picture is that she was just very very and she had this aura and this playfulness and that was just seductive, you know. That's what I've, you know, try I've been trying to And the hunter? Are you hunter hunter? No. I'm really No. I'm I'm a gatherer. I'm a gatherer. Yeah. Great. I but also get back to the kind of, like, image of these people. They had their portraits painted. You haven't you never know. They can take a look at some eighteenth century photoshop -- Right. -- on those things. Yeah. Sure. Sure. It could be worse. Right? Who knows?

0:37:02
I mean, I think the idea of an arranged marriage where I mean, is that just so foreign to you that -- Yes. -- where do you where do you find a way in? It's views. It's not right. I mean, people in India would see, you know, see that differently. There's a lot of range. Marriages. I I think what even more than just being in a range marriage, it was that they were children. They were I mean, I think of myself at fifteen. I was the you know, and I was keen. Yeah. Yeah. I was just so unprepared for the world and that you're forced to marry someone you don't know. You've never met.

0:37:41
But I think, you know, with Louis, he's trying to weigh up. He's angry because he doesn't wanna be kidding. He's been forced to marry his brother as horrible to him. Everyone thinks he's useless. And then this woman comes in and he's kind of simultaneously reguiled in or of her, but also doesn't want to do that because it kind of, you know, he falls in line with everything that has been laid out for him then. But so he's just completely drawn in every direction.

0:38:06
How is it working in France? Is that interest thing. The rumor is true. They do have wine at lunch, but first of all, it's true. Like, it's I've seen it. And then the other If you will get around to the house of people.

0:38:26
The other rumor that they don't speak English is also true. Like, or hearty and English. So that's been a challenge, but then also beautiful for me because, you know, like, my hairdresser who has spent, like, I I counted. I must have spent like four hundred hours on the hair chair and he didn't speak any English and I didn't speak any French. But you can communicate age, not verbally. Because we do best parties. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. That's if that sums it up.

0:38:55
And also, we were living in Paris. We were living in Paris. But That's not too bad. It. You know? Yeah. We were all kind of five minutes away from each other. Yeah. We could. Yeah. From a You were living in Paris. Do you have, like, go betweens to help you talk to people? Or But What does it go between? Somebody who would need to translate Oh, wait. Well, actually, half of the costs were friends So -- Yeah. -- that helped a lot. Yeah. They've managed to find the most incredible number of half French half English actors. And, you know, they all live in Paris, but then have, you know, one parent is English, so they'd be perfect English, perfect English. Tractor. But so they would help a lot. Yeah. No.

0:39:37
But there were moments where they said like action and French, and I didn't realize we were filming. Yeah. Yeah. You know what we've stated in those. Yeah. We'll we'll tell them on these what they say. What? So how would they approximate? Did your French get better than? A little bit, a little bit. The petite. Let's eat it. Yeah. Yeah. It was amazing by the end. Not up by the end. I didn't have any time at night six for days, but I started to learn French after we stopped filming. You say that, but actually your friend. She knew the good words. Right? She was able to say certain things. Then when you come to the next two two years of this, when do you go back to do something thing on this. When would you feel? We don't know, but something. No. That's not. Yeah. Well, that that isn't that the best. Yeah. Alright. Thank you so much. Thank you so appreciate it ever.

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