CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A coup d’état of idealism over corrupted power is where audiences were left at the end of the exciting, smart and hilarious huzzah first season of “The Great.”
Unfortunately for Catherine the Great (Elle Fanning), the second season -- which starts streaming Friday, Nov. 19, on Hulu -- finds the transition to be anything but peaceful in the sexually charged court that formerly belonged to her husband, Peter (Nicholas Hoult).
We recently participated in a virtual press event with the pawns in “The Great” -- Gwilym Lee (Peter’s loyal best friend and noble of the court Grigor), Phoebe Fox (Catherine’s best friend Marial and a newly re-instated noble) and Sacha Dhawan (Catherine’s chief political advisor Orlo).
Here are the fun and insightful highlights.
“The Great” debuted in 2020 during quite a divisive time with a presidential election looming and social unrest related to George Floyd’s murder. Do you see any parallels between world events and the show?
Gwilym Lee: Season 1 starts with a kind of narcissistic, self-involved, self-aggrandizing, megalomaniac tyrant in charge surrounded by sycophants, so you can make the parallels if you want. What I find really interesting is how do the characters around this tyrannical head figure hold onto their humanity? That’s a fascinating question throughout history in the time of despots and terrible leaders. It’s like, ‘How do hold onto decency as an individual in our society?’ What’s brilliant about the writing, they all have some forgiving aspect to their character no matter how awful they might appear. Grigor is ultimately a bully and a bully’s best friend, but there is context that makes him human.
Sacha Dhawan: The show can be quite shocking and people say how can there be humor in that. I think sometimes by making it shocking forces people to kind of sit and listen and also initiate the conversation. One of the things I’m quite proud of is you wouldn’t necessarily see someone like me in a show like this. If you would, I would be serving tea. I wouldn’t necessarily be Catherine the Great’s righthand man. I really respect (show creator) Tony (McNamara) for initiating the conversation, reimagining this genre and flipping it on its head slightly. I think it’s constantly evolving as well. Tony is very in tune with what’s going on in the world and carefully throws (that) into the show without necessarily making it so apparent -- leaving it to the audience to have the conversation.
Continuing the discussion of representation in Hollywood, how important is it to have a British-Indian actor play the role of Orlo?
Sacha Dhawan: I feel like the industry can be a little dated at times, set in its ways, and it needs shaking up a little bit. I think we underestimate our audiences. I generally believe audiences don’t care who plays the part, as long as they’re being entertained. We’ve got to keep reimagining these worlds and we’ve got to be telling new narratives, new stories. That’s starting to happen on the back of certain movements, and it certainly helped my community as well. I’m learning, almost like Orlo in a sense, to find my voice and have confidence in that because the industry has been so conditioned in a certain way where you can just kind of keep quiet and just be grateful for what you’ve been given. In a sense, the show has given me the confidence to challenge that, and I’m going to continue doing so.
The character of Marial, who was both a servant and noble in her past, ended last season going against Catherine. Phoebe, were you worried about the ramifications of that decision going into season 2?
Phoebe Fox: Yes, absolutely. I spend the whole season 2 being like, “Are they going to make a servant again?” I can justify what she did but I don’t think she went about it the best way. She’s more cunning than maybe people give her credit for.
As an actor, one would assume costuming for a servant would be comfier than that of a noble.
Phoebe Fox: Yes, 100 percent more comfortable as a servant. (Laughs) It’s cotton, it’s lovely, so soft and kind of roomy. With the lady costumes, you really get a sense that fashion was a tool of oppression for women. This was a way to keep women so immovable that they could not stand up and catch a breath and say “(Expletive) the patriarchy.” They literally didn’t have the lung capacity. All they could do is sit and embroider. I felt that very keenly.
What stands out for all of the idealistic members in Catherine’s court is the notion of how power corrupts. Sacha, how will Orlo -- a student of history -- fare in this new dynamic?
Sacha Dhawan: Initially I see Orlo is incredibly smart and astute. He’s been working in that court for a long time and he knows exactly how things should be done, but one thing I realized, especially in season 2, is he’s also quite naïve and vulnerable. He maybe doesn’t have the experience he thinks he has. I see him as incredibly loyal to Russia and Catherine, but this season we’ll see that loyalty is tested. This is a whole new experience for him.
Gwilym, you famously played the role of Queen guitarist Brian May in “Bohemian Rhapsody.” With that in mind, which Queen song best describes season 2 of “The Great?”
Gwilym Lee: Oh, gosh, I think the second season would be Queen’s “Somebody to Love.”
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