Tony Curran on King James I's Vulnerability in 'Mary & George'

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For Tony Curran, playing a Scottish king was an opportunity he couldn't pass up—because he would be bringing a little-known monarch to life.

The new Starz series Mary & George depicts King James I's blossoming relationship with George Villiers (Nicholas Galitzine). (King James I is also known as King James VI in Scotland.) Throughout the series, George—with the help of his mother Mary, played by Julianne Moore—schemes his way to a position of power in court.

"There was a great tenderness between George and James," Curran reflects. "The show has raunchy, lascivious, sexual elements of [their relationship], of course, but a lot of these moments are a means to an end, or they're a way in, somewhere. James felt very lonely, and obviously, George Villiers was famously rather attractive. The way we portrayed it [is] as realistic as it was back in the day—there's no smoke without fire."

To understand the king, Curran spent time with Benjamin Woolley, who authored The King's Assassin: The Secret Plot to Murder King James I—the book Mary & George is adapted from. "Benjamin would show me photographs of King James, and he would ask me, 'What do you think about these pictures?' and we came with the conclusion that he didn't really want to be sitting on that throne, being the monarch of this kingdom," Curran says. "He was a bit of an academic. He wrote a lot. He spoke three, four different languages. He was well-educated."

Much of King James's decision-making, Curran believes, is a product of his traumatic childhood: His father, Henry Stuart, was assassinated, and Queen Elizabeth I imprisoned his mother, Mary, Queen of Scots, before ordering her execution. Scottish nobles also kidnapped James when he was a teenager in an event known as the "Raid of Ruthven." Given James's history, Curran says he and Woolley landed on the idea that the monarch "was nourished in fear." He explains, "Your younger years have a huge bearing on the rest of your life and where that road may take you, so I delved into that a lot. I felt that term—nourished in fear—was quite a telling and compelling statement that I always had in the back of my mind."

Curran also notes how the lack of maternal influence in James's life undeniably shaped him. "He had very few women in his life that he trusted," he says. "He wrote a book on witches, on demonology, and he had a part in the execution of many women, unfortunately." He adds, "There was something missing in [James's] DNA—the matriarchal idea that Mary, Queen of Scots wasn't there did have a profound effect on him."

Playing the Jacobean king, led Curran, who was born and raised in Glasgow, to reflect on the modern British royal family. "If you can walk in someone's shoes for a day, or their heels, as it were, you might—I'm not saying have an appreciation for any kind of monarchy, but you can maybe try and empathize with them, or understand what they go through," he says. "Certainly, I think there's a vulnerability to King James, and obviously he's wealthy, he's affluent, he's a king. But his psyche, his physiological makeup, is one which is quite tragic, in many ways, and quite sad. If you look at Harry and William and what happened to Princess Diana, you empathize, you can feel for [them]."

He understands both why people remain fascinated with royalty, and why many are so critical of them. The interest remains in the royals, Curran says "because it appears to be like a drama unfolding in front of your eyes, whatever happens in their life: the scandal, the births, the deaths." Yet, because they've been around for centuries, Curran says, and "born with a silver spoon in [their] mouth, a lot of people are very critical. At the same time, the way I look at it, it's all very relative in many ways: King Charles and Kate Middleton, they've both got cancer. Harry and Meghan are now in California. They've decided, 'I'm out of here,' and I don't particularly blame Harry for that after what happened to his mother, and the way the British press can hound celebrities or people in the monarchy."

He continues, "The thing is, I guess they've always been there, haven't they? Queen Elizabeth passed away, [and that] rocked British society, because she was always a stalwart. Queen Elizabeth II, she was always there. I'm not saying that the British monarchy is now crumbling, but the idea that this woman was on the throne for seven decades—I mean, King James was only on the throne for 23 years! She was there for 70."

Soon, Curran will be trading his crown for a lordship—at least on screen. He's set to play Simon Fraser a.k.a. Lord Lovat, whom he describes as "a bit of a lothario" in the Outlander prequel, Blood of My Blood. "I'm obviously not very happy being demoted from a king to a lord," he says with a laugh, clearly joking.

Fraser, a real historical figure who is the fictional Jamie Fraser's grandfather in the Outlander story, fought on the Scottish side in the momentous Battle of Culloden in 1745, the conflict which brought about the end of the clan feudal system. Just one year later, British forces captured Lord Lovat and took him to London, where he was sentenced to death. Lord Lovat's execution by beheading was the last to take place in Britain, and when he died, the story goes, he was laughing. Curran tells it better: "Apparently, when Lord Lovat was on the chop, about to be executed, he made some quirk about some English lord, and he was infuriated, and the last thing, apparently, that Lord Lovat was laughing as the axe came down. So when his head tumbled, he was still laughing, and that's where the term 'laughing your head off' comes from."

Curran is looking forward to joining the Outlander universe, saying, "I don't know what to expect, but I'm thrilled to be part of it." He adds, "I don't know if there's been a character quite like Lord Lovat in the Outlander series so far. He's a man who feels he's been crossed. His title, his lands, have been taken away from him, and he's got a bone to pick with many of the Grants, the MacKenzies, et. al. He's quite the chess player when it comes to a sort of calculating approach to how to deal with getting his estate back and his name, and he's extremely ambitious."

One plus of playing Scottish figures, Curran says, "it was quite nice just to use my own accent in Mary & George. I think when I first came to L.A. 20 years ago, my accent was a little bit stronger, and you may have required subtitles. In Blood of My Blood, my accent's got a sort of a Highland flavor to it."

Curran's career is a long and varied one—with roles ranging from a memorable turn as Vincent van Gogh in Doctor Who to a police officer on Ray Donovan. Yet, there's something about Scottish period dramas that keep drawing him back; he even previously starred in Mary Queen of Scots, the 2013 film about the Scottish queen (he played Protestant clergyman John Knox), Outlaw King, about 14th century Scottish king Robert Bruce, and is set to appear in the forthcoming Lockerbie, Netflix's miniseries about the 1988 terrorist attack.

"I'm always fascinated to be part of any project or character that delves into the past. It's always challenging, inspiring, and compelling," Curran says. "I love Scottish history, British history, world history. I think that's one of the more compelling and fun elements of being an actor: When you get a role [and] it's a historical figure who existed and walked this earth."

The first two episodes of Mary & George are now streaming on Starz. Shop Now

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