Edward Bluemel stars as Lord Guildford Dudley in My Lady Jane, which is inspired by the best-selling book. All episodes of season one are currently streaming on Prime Video.
Gird your loins for the tragic tale of Lady Jane Grey, the young Tudor noblewoman who was Queen of England for nine days and then beheaded, back in good ol’ 1553. Actually… f*ck that. We’re retelling history the way it should have happened: the damsel in distress saves herself. This is an epic tale of true love and high adventure set in an alt-universe of action, history, fantasy, comedy, romance, and rompy-pompy. Buckle up.
I spoke with the actor over Zoom to discuss the most significant parts of the season finale, why playing this character was so rewarding, Guildford’s love story with Jane, which of his improvised lines made the final cut, and much more. Keep reading for all the details!
What was the most rewarding part of playing Guildford and did you learn anything personally about yourself because of the character?
Edward Bluemel: I think the most rewarding part of playing the character was sort of his big twist of being half man, half horse. It was something that I had never really even slightly delved into before of something that seems so on the surface ridiculous, but ultimately for him, it’s a very real problem and a very real trauma. I think that sort of juxtaposition between outlandish, surreal storytelling but then, at the heart of him being very earnest and serious is sort of, for me, what I love so much about the show is how it seesaws between those things. Something that I learned about myself is that I wanted a leather jacket. I bought a leather jacket afterward.
I love that, very valid.
I know and it was a cropped leather jacket as well. I was like, ‘Gosh, these leather jackets, they shouldn’t be going anywhere near below the waist. They need to be higher up.’
You should have just taken one from set.
To be fair, I did sort of want to do that but I was under strict instruction that that would be not welcome because they were all handmade for me. They are beautiful. They are made from scratch, bespoke, and apparently not something that I’m allowed to steal. I stole my string of pearls, though.
What stood out to you about Guildford and Jane’s love story and how it developed from the first episode to the last?
I think what stood out to me about the love story is that this is a sexy show and it’s a funny show, but at its heart, the love story is actually very pure. Guildford is somebody who is on the surface roguish, sort of a rapscallion if you will, but at the core of it, he is truly obsessed with Jane and will do anything for her. I think that sort of sums them up is this sort of slight reversal of how these stories have been told a lot throughout history of the woman being a damsel in distress and the roguish, charming man sort of saving her and her being obsessed with him, devoted to him, and it’s actually sort of the other way around. The princess saves him, and he is just… from the moment he sees her, he’s completely and utterly in love with her. I think that’s actually quite lovely and was really fun to play.
Oh, I love it and the fans loved it too. I don’t know if you see stuff online, but…
I have been online from time to time and I have a lot of fun.
I mean, come on, you can’t help it.
Yeah, of course. I love to search my own name from time to time.
I don’t know if you watch video edits but the fans deserve awards for the edits they make of the characters and ships.
Yeah, they’re amazing. There’s some really good ones and there’s been a lot of Taylor Swift as well, and it’s worked fabulously.
Was there a scene or a moment that really helped you and Emily kind of figure out what these characters mean to each other either while you were filming or reading the script?
That’s so interesting. I think for me, it was quite late on. We had figured it out in lots of ways already, but we filmed the sort of climactic scene — it’s basically the execution — quite late on, but there was a real moment of like… it was really interesting because me and Emily had grown so close to each other by then as friends and really had been through something together, that there was a sort of very strange mirroring feeling of the absolute — like, I was truly horrified watching her get dragged over to get her head chopped off, even though it was all completely fake. The job had been long, especially for Emily, and a lot of hard work and we were coming to the end of it, which was making us all feel a bit emotional anyway. Then, there was that feeling of her running over and saving me, and it was all actually a bit of an emotional whirlwind in a strange way for all the actors involved and for the characters. It made that emotion of the scene come quite easily, I think, which was really lovely and it’s nice when you have a helping hand with the acting.
Bouncing off of that, did you film that sequence in one shot back to back, just in terms of doing the execution stuff and then her coming to save you?
Oh God, Sophia, it was crazy filming that scene. So firstly, we did it actually in Dover Castle for a week and it was such bad weather that we only got some of the shots. So then, we rebuilt Dover Castle in Pinewood Studios exactly the same, which was one of the most amazing things. Sometimes the crew blows your mind in a way that you’ve never seen before. They built it exactly the same in a studio indoors and we got all the shots that we didn’t get at the actual castle. So it was a really long process, very stuttery and I remember coming away from it being like, ‘I just don’t know what that’s gonna look like because we’ve shot it in so many different ways from so many different angles, little clips here and there.’ Then, for me, it was one of the most satisfying bits to watch and I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, I’m just so overwhelmed,’ like how amazing the direction, the art direction, the supporting actors, the stunts, and the CGI, it was such an amazing moment to watch that in its finished product.
I often hear about actors adding stuff in for their characters, whether it’s a small movement or an improv line, anything improv-related that they feel is in character that wasn’t in the script. Is there anything that stands out that you personally added that you felt had to be in there because it was so in character and it actually made the final cut?
I improvised in the first episode. I improvised a line where we’re hiding in the tavern and we’ve just met, and Archer turns into a bear, and I improvised, “You’ve never seen a bear in a bar before?” I made that one up and I was very happy that got into the final cut. Then another improvised line I did was when she makes me jump when I’m following her in the woods to try and protect her, and she comes at me with a rock and she’s like, “I thought you’re a vagabond or a brigand,” and I say, “I’m far too handsome to be a vagabond or a brigand.” I made that one up because there was this whole thing that I really wanted to continue, it was important to me to continue all the way through that he is like a muppet. He’s arrogant and he’s a bit of a tool. And so, it was fun to be able to put in that moment of sort of slightly deluded arrogance that I think it was quite fun. It’s very satisfying when you make up a line [and it makes it in]. I also made up tons of lines that didn’t make the final cut and I’m like, “Oh, okay, I get it.”
Can we get an improv reel?
There should be an improv reel because Anna Chancellor and Rob Brydon would just come up with so many things of — like, every take almost they would say something that was a surprise. It was so funny.
Can you talk to me about the significance of that conversation in the finale between Guildford and his dad when they’re talking about his mother and how he needs to forgive himself? I loved that moment.
Yeah, it’s so important. I think in general, it’s really nice to also have a conversation between Guildford and his dad because there’s only sort of about two or three of them in the entire series where it’s just the two of them and it’s a really interesting relationship. I think it is so nice to see that moment that Dudley Sr. finally sort of gives Dudley Jr. permission to forgive himself. They’re not very good at communicating with each other but I think it’s sort of Jane that has an effect on both of them indirectly that allows them to talk to each other in a way that they’ve never talked to each other before.
I wanted to ask you about the scene with Jane saving Guildford. The “I love you” is obviously such a beautiful moment for the two of them, do you feel like that declaration or anything specific about that moment is what gave him the strength to control his transformation so they could escape?
I think it is. I think it’s massively that. I think hearing that “I love you” also stands for so much from Jane. Hearing “I love you” is, for Guildford, so important because that’s what I think since his mother, he’s never felt that. He’s felt guilt only, and he’s sort of convinced himself into thinking his own family hates him and he has felt completely unlovable. They have that conversation in episode seven as well, where she listens to him talk about it and she doesn’t show any sign of sort of disgust or like, “Whoa, that’s crazy. You killed your mom,” and all of these sorts of things. I think for him to feel completely unconditionally loved is the key to what would help him release himself from the trauma. I’m sure he hasn’t completely released himself, that’s something you can never get over but it’s the first big step of his attitude towards it changing. I think that’s what grants him the ability to control his Ethianism.
With where we left off, everyone is eagerly awaiting a season two. For a potential second season, what advice would you have for Guildford after the events of season one?
I would imagine my advice would be, “Stick with Jane.” I think that he is at his absolute best when he’s with Jane doing what he’s told, but I’ve got a feeling if there is a season two, he might ignore my advice because we also need some dramatic tension.
Listen, we love the drama. We’re ready for it.
Exactly, but if I really wanted him to stay safe, I’d be like, “Stick with Jane.”
