CBS Studios and the BBC’s period drama series “King & Conqueror” has revealed additional cast members, including “The Crown’s” Luther Ford and “Game of Thrones” actor Joseph Mawle, as it begins production in Iceland.
According to its official plot description, “King & Conqueror” is “the story of a clash that defined the future of a country – and a continent – for a thousand years, the roots of which stretch back decades and extend out through a pair of interconnected family dynasties, struggling for power across two countries and a raging sea. Harold of Wessex and William of Normandy were two men destined to meet at the Battle of Hastings in 1066; two allies with no design on the British throne, who found themselves forced by circumstance and personal obsession into a war for possession of its crown.”
Additional cast members include Eddie Marsan (“The Power,” “Ray Donovan”), Juliet Stevenson (“Truly Madly Deeply,” “Riviera”), Jean-Marc Barr (“The Big Blue,” “American Translation”), Geoff Bell (“Absentia,” “The Curse”), Elliot Cowan (“Black Cake,” “Foundation”), Bo Bragason (“Renegade Nell,” “The Radleys”), Bjarne Henriksen (“Borgen,” “The Killing”), Oliver Masucci (“Dark,” “Look Who’s Back”) and Clare Holman (“Inspector Morse,” “Lewis”). They join the previously announced James Norton as Harold, Earl of Wessex; Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as William, Duke of Normandy; Emily Beecham as Edith Swan-neck, Harold of Wessex’s wife; and Clémence Poésy as Matilda, William of Normandy’s wife.
Ford, who recently played a young Prince Harry in Netflix’s “The Crown,” will portray Tostig, the youngest son of the Godwin family. Tostig idolizes Harold and wants to always do what is right for his family, but he’s yet to find his place in the world.
Mawle, who also has a role in “The Rings of Power,” will play Fitzosbern, William’s protector since he was a boy and the closest thing he has to a friend. A grounded and straightforward soldier who has stood beside William his whole life.
Marsan will play King Edward, the weak and pious King of England; Stevenson will play his mother, Lady Emma, the true power behind the throne; Barr will play King Henry of France, a father figure to William and the uncle of William’s wife, Matilda, and an extremely dangerous man to have as your enemy; Bell will play Godwin, the patriarch of the Godwin household and a fierce protector of Wessex and the Godwin legacy; Cowan will play Sweyn, Harold’s eldest brother and arrogance personified; Bragason will play Queen Gunhild, the youngest Godwin sibling who married King Edward to secure Godwin blood on the throne; Henriksen will play Earl Siward, a rough, old-time Dane; Masucci will play Baldwin, the father of Matilda and a cunning politician; and Holman will play Gytha, Harold’s mother and a strong force in the Godwin family.
“King & Conqueror” was created and written by Michael Robert Johnson (“Sherlock Holmes”). The premiere episode is directed by Baltasar Kormákur (“Everest,” “2 Guns”), who is also a creative lead on the series with his company, RVK, co-producing and providing production services in Iceland. The series will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the U.K., and is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution elsewhere. It is also produced by Rabbit Track Pictures, The Development Partnership and Shepherd Content.
Johnson serves as an executive producer alongside Norton and Kitty Kaletsky for Rabbit Track; Kormákur for RVK Studios; Robert Taylor for The Development Partnership, Dave Clarke and Richard Halliwell for Shepherd Content; as well as Coster-Waldau, Ed Clarke, Robert Jones and CBS Studios’ Lindsey Martin.
