The upcoming eight-part series ‘King and Winner’, James Norton and Nicolas Coaster-Waldou, along with Herold Godwinson and William of Normandy, take a furore in the lead roles, which step into the lead roles.

Indiaotody.in to sit with director Balathajar Kormakur and executive producer Kitty Kalaski to talk about making a good balance between history and drama, to work with two powerhouse actors and talk with creative chemistry that shapes the series.

Excerpt from interview:

How difficult was it to rebuild a part of the history of Balakshar, England, while it was also to ensure that it remains attractive and cinematic?

Balthazar: This is definitely a challenge to condensed such a huge, huge history in eight episodes. You have to pretend events to make them exciting while staying right for a sense of time. But it is part of fun, there is too much conspiracy, family drama and political stress to detect. Marriage, bondage, betrayal, they became compelling as a big fight.

With such a large -scale project, was there a creative difference between you and Balthajar?

Kitty: (laughing) Oh, it was a bad dream working with him! No, honestly, it was a real happiness. The beauty of this period is that when we had a treasure of source material, from primary documents to hundreds of autobiography, there were also large -scale intervals and contradictions. This gave us a place to play.

Balthazar always pushed for both epic scale and intimacy, and as a manufacturer, we wanted to support that balance. The only real challenges were practical, could we shoot everything that we had at that time? How do we reproduce set? But creatively, it was a meeting of the mind from the beginning.

Did it help to keep James and Nicolaj as lead, they were given their familiarity with period drama?

Balthazar: Absolutely. It is fantastic to lead the show to two such major actors. James was already invested as a manufacturer, it was developed with kitty from the beginning, and Nicolaj is my old friend who I brought to the project. His participation also attracted other incredible talents for the series.

Kitty: Nicolaj did not just star, he also directed the episode Five. They both played an important role in front and back of the camera. They know how to walk, wear those endless layers of leather, and actually live in the world.

James also wears an executive manufacturer’s cap. Was it difficult for him to balance her with acting?

Kitty: He is a real supporter. Acting has been a life for over two decades, and he can originally flip between James Norton EP and Herold Godwinson The King. I sometimes withdrew some discussions until after wrapping, especially if he was in an intense scene, but she managed the switch so easily. One minute he is eating a sandwich as a manufacturer, the next he is donating a crown as Herold.

Balthazar: What this directors do, not the opposite. Sometimes you are handling hard production issues, and then you step on the set and have to be creative. James never mixed both of them. While he was acting, he was just an actor. And honestly, being part of production, he got a deep understanding of the whole world, not only his character. It was priceless.

King and winners will be available to the Indian audience on Kiohotstar.