James Norton
Whether as a villain, vicar or vulnerable lawyer laying his trauma bare on stage every night, the English actor fully inhabits each role – and then makes sure to let them go.
Photographer Rankin
Fashion and Beauty Editor Marco Antonio
Writer Scarlett Coughlan
Groomer Petra Sellge at The Wall Group
using Boy de Chanel and Chanel Hydra Beauty Micro Sérum Lèvres
Photographer Assistants Jody Evans, Harrison Phillips
Producer Sarah Stanbury
Production Co-ordinator Abby Rothwell
Retouching True Black Studio
James Norton is sitting in a minibus parked amid the vast hillsides of Iceland. He's on the set of King and Conqueror, the forthcoming drama series telling the story of King Harold II and William the Conqueror. Deep into the second week of shooting the Battle of Hastings scene, Norton, 38, is dressed in chainmail and leather armour and a crown. Having appeared in works like 2019's Little Women, James is no stranger to a period-drama costume, but this one – not including its actual heftiness – carries with extra weight. It's a physical embodiment of a piece of history.
This is something that Norton, as his flourishing acting career evolves, is keen to impart on the world. His other recent venture, Playing Nice, which will grace our television screens later this year, marks not only his foray into production but, equally, his dedication to telling consequential stories – this time thebtale of two couples who discovered their children had been swapped at birth. Apparently, you'd be surprised how often it happens, Norton says. It's by no means a niche experience to contend with, but something about the scenario speaks to bigger questions around family, a key aspect of Norton's own life. He takes his dad to film with him as an extra, after all. But you can make your old man's dreams come true, then why not?
Scarlett Coughlan: You're currently filming King and Conqueror, which is slated for release next year. What are you most enjoying about being part of a historical drama?
James Norton: I love this kind of experience, particularly if it's a real story like King and Conqueror. There's a certain gravitas and privilege to be telling these massive stories that are architectural moments of the modern world. And there isn't really one more profound and important than the Battle of Hastings in terms of English history. It's so fun to be doing big battle scenes on the side of a hill in Iceland in the blowing wind and rain like we're doing right now. But I also keep having these moments while I'm giving this big speech to the Saxon army about a guy from a thousand years ago called Harold, who was doing it for real, and realising how important that act was for millions of people. You also get to wear fabulous costumes. I mean, I'm currently dressed in, like, seven layers of leather. I'm wearing a fucking crown and I have sword and dagger and a shield. It's sort of my ten-year-old self's dream. It's insane.
SC: You also recently wrapped up filming Playing Nice. How was that experience?
JN: Playing Nice was the first TV show that I produced with my company, Rabbit Track Pictures, which I run with my amazing business partner, Kitty Kaletsky. So it was a bit of baptism of fire, I guess, taking on a show of this intensity and with this particular subject matter. We're locking the fourth episode right now, actually. But, yeah, we loved it. We were filming in Cornwall for four months and the whole community of Newquay were incredibly welcoming, so we just had the best time shooting it. We also had two wonderful little boys who played our sons and we became very close to them. So, while they weren't our children, the idea of losing them and having one's family ripped apart gave a lot of pause for thoughts.
JN: I've been thinking about this question for three years, since we started developing the show. I mean, a lot of it depends on the age of the child and, under a certain age, you're advised to swap them back. I think it's around two and half, three. And over that, you're advised to leave them where they are because it's too traumatic for the child to swap back. Our show investigates that grey area, where the guidelines are a bit blurred and no one quite knows what to do . But, yeah, I think it's in my nature to try to avoid too much conflict. As you'll see in the show, though, it's really about how you navigate the experience with the other couple, so if they weren't playing nice back, I'd definitely have a temper. It's a difficult one.
SC: As you mentioned, you also produced the show. How was it being on the other side of the camera?
JN: The biggest thing was recognising the sheer amount of work that goes into developing the script an the idea. I think, as an actor, I've been at fault. I would turn up on set and start wanting to change things here or rewrite a speech there, and I didn't really appreciate how much time and thought had gone into each word and how challenging it is to, quite literally, build a world and each character within that. I think there's often this misconception that the people behind the camera aren't in that same kind of creative club as those in front bof it, and that's compplete nonsense. There's an army of amazing artists behind those people who are in the shop window, if you like, who often take the glory.
SC: Speaking of writing, Sally Wainwright, the scriptwriter of BBC1's Happy Valley, has received a lot of praise recently. How does having a great script affect your performance?
JN: I mean, Sally Wainwright's scripts are incomparable in their elegance and excitement. And just in terms of dialogue, she's one of the few writers who are able to write how people speak. I know that sounds really simple, but it's true. When you're lucky enough to be in the orbit of someone like Sally, it really makes your life as an actor so easy. You just have to trust the script and believe in her brilliance and you will do a brilliant performance as a result.
SC: Your character in Happy Valley is really despicable, but on the flip side, you play a vicar in Grantchester. What's it like to go from one extreme personality type to the complete opposite?
JN: So I was shooting Grantchester when [the first series of] Happy Valley was coming out and I remember being on set for Grantchester and the crew and cast were watching Happy Valley in the evenings. They were coming into work and giving me more and more disapproving, disconcerting looks. Sort of looking at the psychopath dressed as a vicar. They couldn't quite get their head around it. But, while I aways find certain things that I learn about myself in relation to a character, I'm quite strict about trying to keep a fairly clear line between work and life. Acting is a job at the end of the day. That said, I've had experiences where my work has consumed me. I did a play called A Little Life last year and, during that process, there wasn't any room for me or my life alongside the work, which was really challenging. But generally, once the project done, I'm quite keen on disentangle myself from that character and reconnect with myself. Go on holiday and see friends. I make a point of not sitting in one particular role or headspace for too long.
SC: There can also be quite drastic changes in your physical appearance when you're swapping between roles like that. How do those transformations make you feel?
JN: I love a good transformation, a good haircut. It's great because you end up having hairstyles, wearing certain clothes, cultivating certain images that you never would have on your own. I think people find their look and most of us are pretty conservative in terms of changing that up. It's such a big part of your identity. So it's a really wonderful part of being an actor to throw caution to the wind and get out of your comfort zone – grow a moustache, shave your head, cover yourself with tattoos, grow a mullet, whatever it might be. And having great make-up and costume departments, where you're surrounded by authenticity and texture, makes your job so much easier. Your body naturally reacts in a certain way and your performance is partly done for you.
SC: What about the things that aren't physical in your role? How do you prepare for those?
JN: It depends. Some roles require more practical preparation, like if you have an accent or a certain physical quality. I'm really careful when it comes to making sure that I do the work, especially when it comes to an accent when I'm not from that part of the world. I want to make sure that it's right and I'm serving that accent correctly, otherwise you'll just get found out and that's embarrassing. As an actor, I think you have a responsibility to put that practical work. It's also a different experience when you've produced a character, building them from scratch, like with Pete in Playing Nice. After three and a half years of discussions, note sessions, scripts and drafts, when it came to shooting the actual project, he was already there, you know, embedded. But, with other roles, like in Happy Valley, you just spend as much time as you can sitting in the headspace of that character to allow them to become second nature.
SC: Is it true that you bring your dad to be an extra on shoots? What's it like having him on set with you?
JN: Yeah, my mum and dad fly out everywhere I'm shooting and I bring my dad on as an extra in every job I do. He was here in Iceland yesterday for the Battle of Hastings, playing a Norman soldier with a spear and a shield. He absolutely love it and he just gets really excited about it all. It reminds me how weird and wonderful and exciting my job is. His enthusiasm is infectious. He's beginning to get a little cocky, though. He's started requesting roles. He turned up in Lithuania for War & Peace and decided that he wanted to be a count. There's a little diva in him I'm just realising, so maybe we need to keep that under control.
SC: And what about roles that you'd like? Who would you love to work with?
JN: Where does one start? I'd love to work with Joanna Hogg, Pawel Pawlikowski – Yorgos Lanthimos, obviously. Paul Thomas Anderson. As for dream roles, playing Jude in A Little Life, that was a dream role. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I've never done anything so challenging. I was actually so scared of it that I didn't want to do it. The dream roles are the ones you don't expect. Right now, if I were to describe my dream role, it would be a 1 1/2 hour play straight through, no interval. In the bar by nine o'clock. Though, I say that and I don't think I believe it. There's something about theatre and the intensity of it. There's nowhere to hide and it's just addictive. It's that strange love and addiction to that hyper-awareness. It's a drug. So, while A Little Life was one of, if not the hardest thing I've done, there's a part of me that really wants to go back and do it again.
I crave that.
