One massive hit can quickly change the course of someone’s career, and that’s certainly what happened for Katheryn Winnick with Vikings in a number of respects.
While on Collider Ladies Night celebrating Season 2 of Big Sky, Winnick took the time to revisit her journey in the industry, touching on how she initially shied away from highlighting her martial arts background. Winnick started a martial arts school when she was just 16-years-old and had three locations by the time she was 21. With that skill set, one might expect Winnick to get swept up in the action end of the industry from day one, but that wasn’t the case. In fact, Winnick admitted that initially, she shied away from emphasizing her martial arts skills.
At that time, it wasn’t common for actors to do both. Winnick explained, “You’re an actor or you’re a martial artist or you do stunts.” On top of that she noted, “At that point, there wasn’t that many good female written characters for action films.” Winnick continued by pointing out that there's still some resistance to the idea that there can be strong female action stars, but things are changing.
And she’s part of that change. Not only has her work as Lagertha on Vikings contributed to making the power of the female action star undeniable, but that particular project also proved pivotal to the evolution of her own career because that was the gig that convinced Winnick that she could indeed play a well-layered character and also put her martial arts abilities to use. She explained:
“Vikings was definitely a big turning point in my career. But also, getting a chance to do all my own stunts and doing all the action, and the action pieces are just a way to tell the story. But Lagertha was such a character that was so well-developed in everything that she went through. Fighting is just a part of her, and it wasn’t her only thing. Yes, she was a shieldmaiden but she’s also a young mother and an Earl and a Queen at one point. She had a lot of different challenges as a ruler and as a civilian, and that’s evident. That full story is what really attracted me than just necessarily the martial arts or the fighting of it.”
Vikings ran for six seasons and amassed a very passionate fanbase along the way. A great experience in the moment, and also one that could open doors to new opportunities that weren’t available to Winnick before. Here’s how she put it:
“Definitely Vikings gave me a platform. People now recognize Katheryn Winnick from Vikings, Lagertha is Katheryn Winnick, so it definitely was a big turning point in my career. I jumped into another show right after so I haven’t got a chance to really see what else is out there, but with directing and producing, more opportunities are coming to me. Because I directed Vikings as well, now I’m seeing that come into fruition.”
After directing an episode of Wu Assassin, Winnick scored her second directing credit when she was at the helm of “Valhalla Can Wait,” the eighth episode of Season 6 on Vikings. Not only did that experience raise awareness in the industry that Winnick had the interest and capabilities to increase her workload behind the scenes, but it also impacted her work in front of the camera as well.
“When you’re acting you see yourself as you’re a lead in your own movie even if there’s so many other storylines going on and there’s so many different other scenes that you’re not even in. But as a director, you need to have the overall whole story in your head, and the entire episode is its own little movie, and you need to have a common theme for that. So it’s a very different skill set. If anybody gets a chance to direct, I think they should because it makes you a better actor. You get to see things differently. You get to see how things are edited, you see how performances can be changed and the narrative can be changed just in the editing room, and how you talk to different actors and what you need from other actors to get the performances. I’m very grateful to have the foundation as an actress knowing what we need as actors, but also getting a chance to see it from a different point of view.”
During the Vikings portion of our Collider Ladies Night chat, we also discussed the challenge of figuring out when one’s run on a show must come to an end. While many weren’t thrilled to see Lagertha go in Season 6, Episode 6, Winnick insisted it was the right moment.
“Enough was enough for Lagertha. She definitely has done everything at that point. I was putting on a gray wig every day and was a grandmother, maybe a great-grandmother at some point soon. And at that point, Vikings didn’t live that long. I think the median age was 40, so you know, it was pushing it. But we needed to send her off in style. It had to be the right ending, the right death, something that’s impactful, and Michael Hurst did a great job.”
While Winnick’s iteration of Vikings has come to a close, the franchise lives on via Netflix’s new sequel series, Vikings: Valhalla. Wondering if Winnick’s watched the new show yet? Here’s your answer:
“I have not yet. I actually haven’t even seen Vikings all of it yet either. I was too close to it and I promised myself one day I’ll sit down and binge-watch all the seasons. I actually have a hard time watching myself on TV. I had to watch a few episodes as I was directing to catch up in terms of style and stuff like that, but to see your own performances, it’s tough. It’s really about the journey. For me, I know when you do good when you’re actually in the process of it. The end result is the end result.”
Looking for more from Winnick on Vikings, Big Sky, and other pivotal moments in her career? Be sure to check out our uncut Collider Ladies Night interview in podcast form below: