King Arthur Interview 3 by Martyn Palmer Previous “In our movie, King Arthur is half Roman and half British and he is split between the two, he is trying to decide where he really belongs and that's something that has to be played out outwardly, so the audience understands, but internally too. And Clive is a strong actor and I wanted guys that could really deliver.” Jerry first noticed Owen's work in the critically acclaimed Mike Hodges film, Croupier. “I thought he was an extraordinary young British actor. And I met him and he had dignity and the strength to play King Arthur. And I think if you put a very famous American actor in that role it takes away from the authenticity of the role. What we did was go with a cast of pretty much unknowns. They are not household names yet, but hopefully, after King Arthur, they will be..” The Knights include Ray Winstone (Sexy Beast, Cold Mountain) who plays Bors, Ioan Gruffudd (Titanic, television's Horatio Hornblower) is Lancelot, Hugh Dancy (Black Hawk  Down, Ella Enchanted) plays Galahad and Joel Edgerton (Ned Kelly) as Gawain. The Knights are highly trained killers. They have been posted in the hostile environment that is Britain for years and their job has been to serve their Roman bosses - even though they want to return to their homeland. They are, says Franzoni, like an elite special forces group who share the bond of years having face extreme danger. “They're at the end of the tour and then this Roman, who they hate anyway, blackmails them into doing one last job,” explains  Ray Winstone. “And each man knows that fate's dealt them a really bad card and from that minute you know that they will be lucky to survive - whether they do or not is not for me to say. “And you know, the audience has to care about these guys. They are killers. But when something happens to one of them you've got to think `I'm gutted about that..' Because they are good men trying to do what they've got to do in hard times.” Stephen Dillane (Spy Game, The Hours) is Merlin and Keira Knightly (Bend It Like Beckham, The Pirates of the Caribbean) is Guinevere. Stellan Skarsgard plays Cedric, the brutal commander of the invading Saxons. “Guinevere is crucial,” explains Jerry Bruckheimer. “She is a Brit and Arthur falls in love with her and she is one of the main reasons he decides to stay in Britain rather than go back to Rome. He wants to stay and protect the Brits against the Saxons. “So for that role you need someone who you believe, someone who is tough, who's smart  and beautiful - Keira is all of those things. And when you see her in battle, you believe it. She worked really, really hard.” Whilst Guinevere is undoubtedly beautiful, she is a freedom fighter too, committed to fight to save her country and her people - and that suited Keira just fine. “I'm not quite sure how to put this politely, but I fight in a bitch pack” Keira laughs. “I mean, looking at my size it's going to look a bit odd if a six foot four Saxon - and we seem to be fighting Saxons a lot of the time - comes up to me and I kill him quite easily. Next		Home Interviews Antoine Fuqua Interview King Arthur Interview Arv Grewal Interview Asia Argento Interview Behind the Scenes of "War of the Worlds" Bernie Goldmann Interview Clive Owen Interview Dakota Fanning Interview Dennis Hopper Interview George A Romero Interview Greg Nicotero Interview The Hulk Press Conference Ang Lee Press Conference Ioan Gruffudd Interview John Leguizamo Interview Kathleen Kennedy Interview Keira Knightley Interview