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By
Suzanne

Interview with Katheryn Winnick of "Vikings" on
HISTORY 2/27/13
Unfortunately, I was very sick last Monday and couldn't
make this interview. She does a great job in her role as
Ragnar's sturdy, passionate, and kick-ass wife!
HISTORY
Moderator: Katheryn Winnick
February 27, 2013
12:30 pm CT
Operator: Please stand by your program is about to begin.
Welcome. We have on the line Katheryn Winnick who plays
Lagertha Lothbrok, shield maiden and wife of Viking ruler
Ragnar Lothbrok from Vikings. The 9-part series premiers
this Sunday, March 3, at 10:00 pm/9:00 Central. Our guest
will be available for 30 minutes.At this time if you would
like to ask a question please press the star and 1 on your
Touch-tone phone. You may withdraw yourself from the queue
by pressing the pound key. Please limit yourself to one
question so others have the opportunity to ask. Once again,
that is star and 1 if you would like to ask a question. And
our first question comes to us from Pattye Grippo with
Pazsaz Entertainment. Please go ahead, your line is open.
Pattye Grippo: Hi, thanks for talking with us today.
Katheryn Winnick: No, thank you for taking the call.
Pattye Grippo: So let me ask you, "Can you tell me a little
bit about your character?"
Katheryn Winnick: Sure Pattye. I play Lagertha, who is a
fierce shield maiden. She's based on a real person, a real
Viking. And a shield maiden is really a female warrior of -
in the dark ages, in the Viking era. Her role was to fight
alongside with the men during a shield wall. And her
specific role was to plug up the holes in battle when the
Vikings were falling.
And I play also a young mother and a loving wife who has a
true partnership and equal relationship with her husband.
And she's a very strong woman. She's definitely modern for
her time.
Operator: And we'll make our - take our next question from
Jamie Steinberg with Starry Constellation Magazine. Please
go ahead, your line is open.
Jamie Steinberg: Hi, it's Jamie Steinberg. Thanks so much
for taking the time.
Katheryn Winnick: Thank you Jamie.
Jamie Steinberg: I was wondering, was there anything about
this role that wasn't scripted for you that you added
yourself?
Katheryn Winnick: Very good question; yes. I come from a
martial art background. And for me with trying to figure out
how I can relate to her, it's for me a very different one.
She's a Viking, and there's very little information out
there on Vikings.
I had to do a lot of research and pick Michael Hirst's brain
-- Michael Hirst created the show, he also did Tudors and
Elizabeth -- to try to figure out women and who they were in
society in the Viking era. So for me, since I had the
martial art background, I wanted to be able to add her - the
spirit of combat in who she is as a person in her day-to-day
life.
The fact that she is a warrior, you can see that not only in
a battlefield, but you can also see that, how she deals with
her young children, how she deals with conflict with her
husband, how she deals with the community and different
struggles to survive.
And that spirit of combat was really important for me to
find in Lagertha, because I think that really is the core of
who she is. She's - when I started to do my research on her,
I fell in love with her. She's such a strong, fierce
warrior, and definitely a forward-thinking woman for that
era.
Operator: And as a reminder, if you would like to ask a
question please press the star and 1 on your touch-tone
phone. Our next question comes from Jamie Ruby with
scifivision.com. Please go ahead, your line is open.
Jamie Ruby: Hi, thanks for talking to us. So...
Katheryn Winnick: Thank you.
Jamie Ruby: ...what has been your favorite part about the
role so far?
Katheryn Winnick: My favorite part? Good question. You know,
when I first got on set in Ireland, I was the only girl. I
was surrounded by 14 Viking men and I remember thinking
like, "Wow, this sounds and feels familiar."
I grew up in a martial art gym surrounded by guys and men
and boys. And I pretty much call myself a tomboy. So it was
a little bit of getting used to, you know especially the
Viking cast members are all 6-foot-5 and huge.
But I think it really helped with the character and also,
you know, who she is she would - since she is a shield
maiden. And in those times women were actually allowed to
fight on the frontline with their husbands and their
brothers and other men.
So it was nice to be able to mirror that and get a chance to
hang out with these guys and see them after work and on set
and catching up with a Guinness, and also get a chance to
work with them.
But I guess my favorite part, you know in a longwinded
answer, is learning about the Vikings and who they were, and
the history of it. That's what's so great about this being a
historical drama; you really get a intimate look at the
Vikings and their family life and how they lived their
day-to-day life.
And it was interesting to learn about the mythology and the
fact that they were pagans and the believed in many gods,
and they believed that gods walked among themselves.
And it's - it was really - for me it was really something
that, it was such a gift to be able to immerse myself in
what Lagertha would have been and how she lived her life and
how she spoke and the accent and the language. It was - for
me it was a real treat.
Operator: And our next question comes to us from Tim
Holquinn with TV Over Mind. Please go ahead, your line is
open.
Tim Holquinn: Hi, it's a pleasure to get to speak with you.
I've been a fan of yours for years.
Katheryn Winnick: Thank you (Tom). It's very nice of you to
say.
Tim Holquinn: I was curious if you could tell us if you have
a favorite episode of the first nine? And if - in case it's
not the same one, is there a favorite episode of yours that
focuses on your character specifically?
Katheryn Winnick: Great question. I wouldn't - we shot in
blocks, which means we shot episodes in three episodes at
the same time just because it was such an epic series.
I would probably think - in terms of my favorite scene, must
have been really working with my husband, Ragnar. There was
a scene where he tells me that I can't go on the raid
because I need to take care of the family and take care of
the farm because the farm was at threat to - from
((inaudible)) in terms of getting raided and being taken
over.
And my character, or Lagertha, is one not to just sit and be
pretty. She definitely has a strong voice. And the scene
that I'm specifically talking about is when she shows up and
really beats him up with her shield and her sword. And they
have this lover's quarrel, and they're in a fight.
And they actually start punching each other and snapping at
each other and fighting in between kisses. And I just think
that that scene specifically shows their chemistry, the
flirtiness, but also who they are and the fact that they're
equals and partners. And she's one to stick up for what she
believes in and will fight, and won't stop at anything to
get what she wants.
Operator: And as a reminder, if you would like to ask a
question please press the star and 1 on your touch-tone
phone. Our next question comes from Katrina Rego with
SpoilerTV.com. Please go ahead, your line is open.
Katrina Rego: Hi, thanks so much for chatting with us today.
Katheryn Winnick: My pleasure Katrina.
Katrina Rego: My question is, "Do you hope that your
character, as a strong female role, will have an influence
on the female audience that is watching the show?" And,
"What kind of influence do you hope that she would have?"
Katheryn Winnick: That's a great question. I definitely -
one of the most - the what - the major thing that attracted
me to this role was the fact that Michael Hirst wrote it,
and he wrote every episode.
And the fact that he knows - he will - he knows how to write
women, and also you know, he worked with a historian to try
to get the facts. He wrote Elizabeth also too, so I trust in
him in getting the right side of who Lagertha was as a
person and how women were portrayed in that society.
And women were very strong and very - they held equal
partnerships with their husbands. They were allowed to own
land. They were allowed to divorce their husbands. They were
allowed to fight alongside with their - with the other men
on the frontline so - and to be warriors, not only young
mothers, but wives, but warriors.
And I think that for me it's so important, especially in the
dark ages, that women - there's not much information out
there. And I think it would be so great for people to
realize that in the Viking era, women were celebrated and
they were very empowering.
And I know I fell in love with her when I was doing my
research on her. And I haven't seen a female role written
that is authentic and real like this in a very long time,
especially for TV. And I think it's so important for people
to realize that women were very strong, even in the dark
ages. And they were very powerful.
And if you look at the society, I think that there was
definitely as - in history there was a backward movement in
terms of women rights. But in that period, in the 7th
Century, women were fierce.
Operator: And we'll take our next question from April Neale
with Monsters & Critics. Please go ahead, your line is open.
April Neale: Hi, thanks so much for your time today.
Katheryn Winnick: Thank you April.
April Neale: I've watched the first five episodes and I'm
absolutely in love. The - it's just fantastic. And I want to
know the physical preparedness you had to go through as an
actress, as an actor, to inhabit this very physical role.
(Crosstalk)
April Neale: ...planning and the things you had to learn,
the skillsets.
Katheryn Winnick: Sure, definitely. Well for me, I started
training martial arts when I was 7 years old. I got my first
Black Belt at 13. I started my own martial arts school at
16. And by the time I was 21 I had three different schools.
And so I grew up having a very physical background anyways.
I'm a 3rd Degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do, 2nd Degree in
Karate, and a licensed bodyguard. So I'd been looking for a
role that I can actually get a chance to be that physical.
But it's first and foremost well-written and has many layers
as a character.
And the physical side of it, I definitely had to learn a new
craft. Tae Kwon Do and karate is based on using your - the
art of footwork and handwork. And it's a sport, whereas a
shield maiden used her shield and her sword as her weapons.
And that for me was very new and a new art form that I had
to try to master in a such short period of time.
But it was great to see that they actually - how they fought
and how they used what they had with them in terms of little
((inaudible)) resources as weapons. And her - and Lagertha,
being a shield maiden, which was probably passed on from her
mother and her grandmother and through different
generations, she grew up fighting. So it would - it was
interesting to learn how to use different household products
for example, or different aspects of the shield as, not only
to defend myself but also to attack.
And physically I definitely got a chance to work with a
trainer and work with a fight coordinator to try to get it
down. But it was a different style of fighting that I wasn't
used to, because it's not like I was able to do spinning
roundhouse kicks or spinning back kicks. I had to learn how
to use my sword and shield as an extension of my arms and an
extension of me as a warrior. So that was different.
Operator: And once again, if you would like to ask a
question please press the star and 1 on your touch-tone
phone. Our next question comes from Jamie Steinberg with
Starry Constellation Magazine. Please go ahead, your line is
open.
Jamie Steinberg: I was wondering if you could talk about
what it is about this show that will make it such an
interest for people to tune in.
Katheryn Winnick: Good question Jamie. I think if people are
interested in history, if they want adventure, conflict, and
to see the authentic side and the raw side of who Vikings
were, the society, and to see an intimate look of how they
dealt with their day-to-day lives, I think they would really
love the show.
The show has - is very epic. It is - it does have - it has
the action, it has violence, it has chemistry. It's -
everything about it, we try to make it as authentic as
possible, in terms of from the set design we worked - they
worked with incredible set decorators to try to mirror what
the Vikings and how they lived.
And they lived in one - really one-room house and had one
center fireplace to be able to - as their only central
heating system. And they had to make holes in the roof of
the house just so the fire can actually breathe. And from
the set design to the costumes to the accents and who - how
they sounded like, there's not that much information out
there so we had to work with a dialect coach and try to find
what kind of sounds they made and how they spoke.
The fact that they were Norsemen, they had a Scandinavian
accent with an old Norse way of speaking. And we created a
bible of sounds that the cast can really tune into and
really be able to use as a source of a base because we have
such an international cast from Canada, from Ireland, from
Australia, from Britain, from Sweden. So it was important
for us to create a family of words and sounds just so we all
were part of the same village.
And I think people would really - you get a chance to see
this. it's a family saga at its core. You - there are not a
lot of people - there's a lot of stereotypes in terms of
Vikings were these barbaric creatures that just fought and
were - and just really were these uncivilized people. But
you actually had the opposite, you see how they lived their
lives and that they were very sophisticated in that time
period.
Operator: And once again, if you would like to ask a
question please press the star and 1 keys now. Our next
question comes from Jamie Ruby with scifivision.com. Please
go ahead, your line is open.
Jamie Ruby: Hi. I have a fan question. They want to know,
"Did you - how did you like working with Gabriel?" Did you
have any scenes with him? I believe you did in the
beginning, I was trying to remember.
Katheryn Winnick: Yes it's a great question. Yes, I am such
a big fan of Gabriel Byrne. He's - I grew up watching him in
movies and on TV. And when I heard that he signed on to do
this I called my agents, I'm like, "You've got to make sure
I get this role."
You know, he is such an incredible actor. And to have him on
set and to see how he approaches his craft and how he dives
into his character really raised the bar with me, and with
everybody else and the other cast members to really bring
their A-game.
And I did have a few scenes with him. And it was such a
pleasure to see how he delivered his lines and what he
brought when the camera was rolling. In one aspect it's very
different than when you first originally read the script. He
had his own interpretation of his character and found
strengths and weaknesses in it.
I can't speak for himself, but I know for me, it definitely
made me nervous. But it also inspired me and pushed me to
really work hard and try to be able to hold my own alongside
with him.
Operator: And again, if you'd like to ask a question please
press the star and 1 keys now. Our next question comes from
Tim Holquinn with TV Over Mind. Please go ahead, your line
is open.
Tim Holquinn: Hi, it's me again.
Katheryn Winnick: Hi Tim.
Tim Holquinn: I was wondering if you can talk about the
audition process you went through to win this role, like how
many times you put yourself on tape, if you did, or how many
callbacks you had.
Katheryn Winnick: Sure. I got the script from my agents and
they told me that they weren't doing any - since Michael
Hirst was in - I think he - where was he? He was overseas in
the U.K. and he wasn't taking any meetings.
I had to put myself on tape in my living room. And so I did
that, and I was really nervous about the accent since I've
never dealt with a Scandinavian accent before. So I worked
with a dialect coach to try to get something down on tape.
And then I didn't - and then I know that they were focusing
on casting Ragnar, so I didn't hear from them for a while.
And when I was in Toronto shooting a TV show I got a call
from my agent saying, "That they want me to go in for
another callback."
And there was a casting director in Toronto that was working
on - since it's a Canadian/Irish co-production, I was
working on the Canadian casting side of it. And I went to
great lengths to try to do everything I could to try to get
this role. I ended up actually going to a Halloween costume
store and I rented a costume to try to really embody what
Vikings would wear and - for my screen test.
And then they flew me to Los Angeles to do a chemistry read
and another screen test for MGM and to meet Travis, who was
already cast at that point. And we had to do it on camera
and to see if we had chemistry and to screen test opposite
each other. And instantly when I met him he was such a great
actor and so great to connect with that I felt so blessed
when they called me and told me that they offered me the
role.
Operator: And again, please press star and 1 if you would
like to ask a question. Our next question comes from Katrina
Rego with SpoilerTV.com. Please go ahead, your line is open.
Katrina Rego: Yes my question, "In talking to some of your
other cast mates and learning what they had to do to
research their roles and kind of what they had done, I'd be
curious to know if - and what research you had to do into
Vikings and what you kind of drew from to kind of shape your
character the most."
Katheryn Winnick: Great question. Lagertha, not only is she
a warrior, she's also a young mother and a wife who is madly
in love with her husband. So there's - one hand I - it's
coming from a really ((inaudible)) spot of who she is. And I
don't think you necessarily need to do that much research on
her day-to-day conflicts.
But what's most fascinating, in terms of how she lived her
life and how - and her belief system. The fact that she
believed in - that was a lot. I really tried to get as much
information as I possibly could on the Internet, talked to
Michael. I tried to get as much as - as much facts as I
could to try to understand who these - who Vikings were and
how they lived their lives.
Lagertha believed in - they were pagans, so she believed in
many gods. And specifically she told stories to her young
children about the mythology. And Freyja is a god that she
worshipped.
And the Goddess Freyja is a goddess of fertility. And as the
series progress, you actually see her struggles of - in
questioning how - why her life has so much conflict with -
when she is such a religious and such a faithful worshipper.
And for me I think the research of, not only the accent of,
and how they wore their clothes -- they only had one or two
outfits -- and how do I make these outfits so personal. I
know my warrior outfit took about half an hour to get on
since it didn't have zippers. They only laced me in. and I
had three people to try to lace me in for my warrior outfit.
And they used different aspects of leather as armor.
And that was really interesting to see how - and how they
would use one outfit and how they would personalize it. My
character really related to the bird, the raven bird. And on
her warrior belt she had a raven symbol. And a raven also
symbolized her relationship and her partnership with Ragnar.
The raven's used a lot in this script or in this series.
I think the combination of the accent, trying to figure out
- and their belief system, who they were and who Lagertha
was as a woman, all that stuff really is such an amazing
treat to be able to sink my teeth into and try to dissect of
who Lagertha was as a person.
Operator: And with about six minutes left in our program
we'd like to ask our participants, if you do have a question
please press the star and 1 on your touch-tone phone at this
time. Our next question comes to us from Jamie Ruby with
scifivision.com. Please go ahead.
Jamie Ruby: Hi again. You talked about, you know all -
everything you've had to do. And a lot of it sounds
difficult. But was there one thing specifically that was the
most challenging?
Katheryn Winnick: The most challenging? You know my
character goes through a lot of conflict and struggle as the
series progresses.
And as her husband goes off to raids, Lagertha has to deal
with the community and hold the community together and to
have and still struggle with the personal conflict of her
husband being gone and the fact that their relationship is
tested. She also has to deal with the village and other
Vikings and her daughter, and to deal with other tragic
things that happened. For me it was definitely very
challenging.
And also just shooting in Ireland in the middle of nowhere,
if anything, I think actually that really helped, the fact
that we were shooting in the - in this incredible landscape
and some locations where there was no cell phone or there
wasn't any access to BlackBerries or Internet.
You really got a chance to sit still and visualize and
really feel like we were real Vikings. We got covered in mud
and rain and blood in some of the war scenes. And I think
all that stuff really helped. This is definitely not a
pretty role. It's, if anything, it's very raw and authentic
and real.
And for me it was such a treat to be able to not wear makeup
and not be glamorized. And too, the dirtier the better
because Vikings, if they were lucky they only got a chance
to - even though they were clean people, they didn't get a
chance to take showers like we do every day.
So I think all that, and being able to have dirt underneath
the fingernails, all that stuff really helped to - for me at
least, to feel and really try to embody of who these people
really were.
Operator: And once again please press star and 1 if you
would like to ask a question. We'll go next to Tim Holquinn
with TV Over Mind. Please go ahead, your line is open.
Tim Holquinn: Hi. I was wondering if there's any amusing
anecdotes or interesting stories you have with the behind -
about the behind the scenes, filming with Travis Fimmel?
Katheryn Winnick: Travis. Travis is such an amazing actor.
And he's a prankster, that's for sure. he would always test
all the other cast members. And right before your close-up
he would like either whisper something in the ear or pinch
you or something. And you have to keep a straight face.
There was one time I remember where one of the other Viking
cast members, he - they would always pull prank on each
other. And all of a sudden they hear screaming. I'm like,
"What's going on?" He ended up putting a rooster in his car,
surrounded by hay. And this poor guy had to clean it all up.
And he definitely kept everybody on their toes and kept it a
lot of fun. And also just how he - how hard he worked and
how prepared he was really inspired everybody else to work
hard as well.
And he was great to work with. He - obviously it wasn't very
hard to fall in love with him. He's such an amazing person,
and also very good looking. So I think that's important, to
have that chemistry between Lagertha and Ragnar. And it's -
hopefully you'll see how evident it is. It's definitely a
love-match.
Operator: And once again, if you would like to ask a
question please press the star and 1 on your touch-tone
phone. We'll pause for a moment so all questions to enter
the queue.
And it appears we have no further questions at this time. I
would thank - like to thank you all for your participation.
You may disconnect now.
Katheryn Winnick: Thank you guys. Thank you all very much. I
really appreciate it.
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