Rupert Young talks the popularity of Merlin ahead of Supanova and plans for 2015

An interview by Sosefina Fuamoli for The Iris in the lead-up to Rupert’s attendance at the Supanova cons in Australia.

I mean, how often do you get to be in a show that, two years after you finish filming, people still want to meet you and still care about it? It’s very humbling.

Read the full article here.

An interview with Rupert focussing on his work in Merlin – and on the fact he isn’t related to Will Young – by Abz and colleagues for The Jitty.

Some guy did show me a photo of Will Young with his brother Rupert, and he asked me if I could sign it and I was thinking “Can you not see we’re two different people”, it was very weird, anyway.

Read the full article here.

Another interview with Rupert prompted by the Merlin fifth season finale in the US – again by Curt Wagner for RedEye Chicago.

I’m waiting for my big moment, you know? I am waiting for the spinoff. I think it will be more ‘Games of Thrones,’ a little bit darker. So kind of a nine o’clock show. Maybe Starz can pick it up, make it a little bit more adult—more nudity.

Read the full article here.

ETA 21 May 2022: I have copied the full text below for the sake of preservation.

“Merlin” has ended its five-year run, but that doesn’t mean a knight can’t dream of more adventures in Camelot.

“I’m waiting for my big moment, you know?” Rupert Young said, laughing, during a recent phone call. “I am waiting for the spinoff. I think it will be more ‘Games of Thrones,’ a little bit darker. So kind of [a] nine o’clock [show]. Maybe Starz can pick it up, make it a little bit more [adult]—more nudity.”

Young played Sir Leon, one of the few Knights of the Roundtable still standing after the terrible battle at Camlann in the series finale that aired May 31 on Syfy. It’s quite an accomplishment for a character that, according to Young, was supposted to be in just one scene in the second season.

“Two years ago I got killed and then the Druids brought me back to life,” he said. “But that was a bleak time when you read the scripts and go, ‘What? All these knights are lying dead including Sir Leon?’ That was quite brutal. You think, ‘That’s a horrible trick. You’ve killed me off!'”

During most of the show’s five seasons, cast members wouldn’t get scripts until Friday and start filming the episode on a Monday, so they were never sure who was going to be killed off. “It’s a scary thing,” Young said. “You open the scripts and hope you’re going to be there.”

Because the final few episodes of the series were filming out of order, the cast knew a bit earlier than normal who would survive, Young said—and he was happy to see Leon shouting “Long live the Queen!” when Guinevere was crowned ruler of Camelot.

“It was lovely to be there, but it was quite a sad day in terms of knowing the few people who didn’t survive—that was quite hard work,” he said, then chuckled. “But deep down–you know what?–I am smug and I tend to see that Leon would singlehandedly ruin Camelot, but make it a fun place.”

Spinoff anyone?

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.”

Rupert was interviewed by Curt Wagner for the RedEye Chicago website as part of Merlin‘s fifth season finale promotion. This interview in particular is nice and in-depth! (I love how the first direct question is about his hair…)

You heard I played a donkey? That’s very good knowledge. Yeah, that’s when I realized I was destined to the stage, I think. My mother made me an amazing donkey ears. I was always taken to the theater with my mum to see things. Theater seemed really exciting to me. … I’ve been so lucky.

You can read the full article here.

ETA 21 May 2022: I’ve copied the full text below for the sake of preservation.

Rupert Young unofficially started his acting career playing a donkey at age 4, but on “Merlin” he’s been able to live the dream of a lot of youngsters.

“Every boy kind of grows up at some point in time having a sword fight or wanting to do it. So when you actually do it with real swords having these huge battles, it never ceases to be exciting,” said Young, who plays Sir Leon in the tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable. “It’s very rare that you grow up and you can actually take a picture of sword fights and watch them back and they actually look really cool. So we always loved doing that and then tried to make them more and more exciting as we went along.”

Continue reading “Rupert Young on ‘Merlin’: ‘We saw the show out in style’” by RedEye Chicago (2013) →

Rupert was interviewed by Jenna Busch as the final episodes of Merlin were being broadcast in the United States. Among other things, Rupert said about the series finale:

I think we wouldn’t have done our job if people aren’t sad. I think people are going be satisfied. I think it could’ve gone on for another few series, but I think it’s good to end with people wanting more, so I think we end on a high.

You can read the full article here.

At last the true magic has been revealed! This show was actually about Sir Leon all along… Rupert Young explains the whole story to Bradley James in this fascinating interview.

With many thanks to MerlinOfficial for sharing such delights!

Rupert wrote an article for the BBC’s TV Blog website during the lead-up to the fourth season finale of Merlin. He talks about how he was cast for Sir Leon, and how the character has grown since then. Among other things, Rupert said:

Sir Leon started off as a very small role. I was only meant to be in one scene jousting Arthur, but at the read-through I was given a couple more lines. I arrived on the first day of filming series two, having learned my line for that day – “The King commands your presence immediately” – and when it came to my first take I fluffed it.

You can read the full article here.

ETA 21 May 2022: I’ve copied the full text below for the sake of preservation.

As the fourth series of Merlin draws to a close I find it hard to believe it’s almost three years since I auditioned for the part of Sir Leon.

I had 24 hours’ notice and I’d missed the first series as I was working when it came out. So I bought the DVD and watched as many episodes as I could in the hours leading up to the casting.

I instantly loved the show and really wanted to be a part of it which made the audition even more nerve wracking – partly because I might get to fulfil my childhood dream of being a knight!

Sir Leon started off as a very small role. I was only meant to be in one scene jousting Arthur, but at the read-through I was given a couple more lines. I arrived on the first day of filming series two, having learned my line for that day – “The King commands your presence immediately” – and when it came to my first take I fluffed it.

I managed to get it right the next take, despite my heart pounding and all colour draining from my face. There was no way I thought that two years later I would still be in the show.

I feel immensely lucky and grateful to the producers for making Sir Leon such an integral part of Camelot. I used to say Sir Leon was the Gunther of Camelot. Gunther worked at the coffee shop in Friends and would pop up sporadically in episodes like I did in series two and three. After series four I think I may have finally surpassed Gunther!

I’d describe Leon now as the rock of Arthur’s Round Table of Knights, a real A* pupil of the Camelot School, a prefect – he does everything well and to the book.

He’s diced with death on a number of occasions but he always manages to bounce back unscathed! I should probably thank the druids for letting him drink from the cup of life.

Leon’s been wounded in many a battle, incinerated by the Great Dragon and has still managed to return to Camelot without so much as a scar. Thank goodness he’s such an incredible fighter and that he has sleeves on his chain mail – if he was dressed like Percival he might not have been so lucky!

People always ask whether the chain mail we wear is heavy. It’s lighter than it would have been hundreds of years ago, but it gets weighty by the end of the day.

The most annoying thing is that it gets filthy so when you take it off, your neck is grey, as are your hands. I have so many books I’ve read on set which have grey hand marks all over them!

Chain mail also conducts heat and cold, so if it’s a boiling day you roast and if it’s freezing you freeze too – but we are Knights, after all, so I think we can live with it.

My favourite scenes to film are the big fight sequences.

Every move is carefully rehearsed and I trained in stage combat at drama school so I’m quick at picking up the routines. The stunt coordinators are fantastic, it’s their expertise that makes us look so great on screen.

I remember filming the battle with the skeletons last year and having to learn a fight with the stunt coordinator. We were tussling together and then he stepped out and they filmed me fighting nobody, but pretending there was someone there.

I felt very stupid doing the moves and making all these battle cries against the thin air. I was convinced it was all a wind up to make me look silly but of course when the Bafta-winning special effects team put their magic to it I was fighting a skeleton and it looked incredible.

This Christmas I’ll be celebrating with my family and, of course, will be tuning in to see the Merlin grand finale on Christmas Eve.

It is so exciting to be concluding the series the night before Christmas. My favourite episode to watch so far this series has been Lancelot du Lac as it was so exciting and dramatic but I have a feeling episode 13 is going to go out with a bang… I can’t wait!

Rupert and Angel Coulby (Gwen in Merlin) were interviewed by Gemma Cairney on BBC Radio 1Xtra on 13 October.

• This audio is shared with respect but without permission. All rights remain with the BBC for Radio 1Xtra. With thanks to BJsRealm on YouTube for being such a great resource.