Cursed actor Devon Terrell has opened up about the "terrifying" challenge he faced on the set of the new Netflix series.
The new series is a retelling of Arthurian legend and follows the magical being Nimue (Katherine Langford), a young woman with a mysterious gift whose destiny is to become the Lady of the Lake.
Terrell takes on the role of King Arthur on the show, and admitted to Digital Spy that the most challenging thing about his involvement was the "endurance" of the role.
Related: Cursed star Katherine Langford responds to show comparisons with The Witcher and Game of Thrones
"I think it's keeping that up for 10 months," he explained. "It's keeping in the kind of shape that you need to keep in. Mentally, where is my character right now? And, emotionally, where am I right now? And trying to pitch your character at different points.
"Because, at points, we'll be shooting episodes one and six, all within the same kind of period of time. So you're thinking to yourself, 'Oh, I really like how I'm playing episode one, but why am I playing the same character in episode six? This is terrifying.
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"You never, as an actor, think you've gotten it right. You just always hope you're letting the audience in to discover the character, rather than you telling them who the character is."
Related: Cursed season 2 on Netflix: Release date, cast, plot and everything you need to know
Terrell went on to describe it as "a super physical role", though explained that he wanted to show 'the beginning of him maturing' as he is at the start of his journey.
"And so I didn't want to have this gym body," he continued. "I remember talking to [showrunner] Tom Wheeler and being like, 'What kind of body type do we want to go for?' He was like, 'Whatever you feel comfortable with. Whatever you want.'
"But I'm very much a physical actor, so I had to get into that process first of, physically, what does it feel like in this person's body? And, when wearing the costume, what does that feel like?
"So there was horse training – which was tiring on the legs – and then a lot of sword-fighting… They wanted us to be in this kind of shape that we couldn't get injured during the process – because there's a lot of running through forests, and fighting people at random.
"And mentally, it's very much a process of reading a lot on the myths around King Arthur. I just wanted to always identify 'who was the person?' rather than trying to identify 'how do I show people he's going to become king?'
"It was a very physical role. Mentally and emotionally, it was a crazy journey."
Cursed is available to stream on Netflix now.
Netflix/Left Bank Pictures The Crown season 3 with Amazon exclusive box artwork
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Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies, TV and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME and Screen International. Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings to Love Is Blind, and is equally in his element crossing every 't' and dotting every 'i' as a sub-editor.
After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival.
In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.
David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.
Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends.
As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound.
