Rupert did a Merlin fifth season finale interview with Noelene Clark for the Los Angeles Times ‘Hero Complex’ site. It’s worth a read!
Leon was always a stickler for rules, who would probably be really annoyed if he didn’t win Knight of the Year award every year.
You can read the full article here.
The Hypable site ran a pared down version of this interview here on 31 May, titled ‘The knight who wouldn’t die’.
ETA 21 May 2022: The LA Times article is no longer available. I’ve copied the shorter Hypable version below for the sake of preservation.
The knight who wouldn’t die: ‘Merlin’ actor Rupert Young reflects on playing Sir Leon
As Merlin wraps up its final season in the U.S., Rupert Young (Sir Leon) looks back on his time working on the series.
Not only do we mourn Merlin, which ended last December in the U.K., but also Leon, the spinoff show that never was.
The Hero Complex has a new interview with Rupert Young where he reflects on the series and recalls his best memories from the set.
Speaking about the show overall, Young shares his belief that Merlin improved from year to year. He says, “The first year was quite good, and the second year was definitely better, mostly because I joined [laughs]. And then it just got better and better.”
By season 4, “the format changed, and they shot it on a different kind of lens and different camera,” he explains. “Everything about it, the effects looked better, the stunts got better.”
Talking about his own character, Young provides a nice bit of new insight. “I always felt that Leon was kind of the annoying guy you’d have at school who did everything by the book,” he explains. “Leon was always a stickler for rules, who would probably be really annoyed if he didn’t win Knight of the Year award every year.”
As the longest-serving knight on the series, Young also remembers when each of the other knights would join the party.
“I remember one of the first days we were all together,” Young says, “riding into this castle with chain mail and cloaks and all of that, just looking ’round and going, ‘This is really cool.’ And there was a school party of 8-year-old French children looking up in awe, and we were like, ‘It’s pretty cool, isn’t it? Look at us.’ That was when we kind of bonded.”