Not that he had to worry. His portrayal of the limp, bullied, and mollycoddled French monarch is fantastic. “I think Sam respected the way I approach my work. I really enjoyed acting with her because she makes you bring your best work. I definitely learned from Sam that as we played powerful you don’t need to play up to the comedy aspects of the show.”

Here, Bill chats about the challenges of breathing life into a renowned historical figure, his unique approach to the role, and what fans can look forward to in this gripping new season. He also opens up about his desire to break type, embrace tougher roles, and, as a queer actor, explore more queer roles.

Shirt and Trousers Danshan
/ Shoes Grenson

Bill, this second series of The Serpent Queen is a hoot. Did you immediately feel drawn to it? 

Initially, when I got the audition, I planned to watch just one or two episodes from the first series to get a vibe of it but I was totally hooked and finished watching it in a day. I really felt like the tone of the writing suited my style. 

The show breaks the fourth wall and has elements that make it edgier than expected. 

There’s a trend of that in historical drama and historical fiction now. Justin’s writing toes the line carefully—it’s not too bombastic or trying too hard to modernise but still maintains a historical sentiment, making it accessible to younger viewers. 

What was your experience preparing for this role?

There are so many complex storylines—it’s hard to keep up! I had to watch the episodes again because I got confused with some of the storylines. The show is historically accurate in broad plot points but bends history in places. There’s only so much research one can do about the world it’s set in. You also really need to know the script. There are four or five main storylines happening at once, so you narrow it down to your own part, especially when it concerns the king and ruling a country. Honestly, Justin [Haythe], the showrunner, makes life so easy. You always know it’s good writing when the lines are easy to learn. It’s not simplistic; it just makes sense, flows well, and you can trust what you have to work with.

Dressing up in that full regalia must help with the character.

Absolutely. I was very nervous about playing this role before heading to France. Simple things like how you carry yourself were on my mind. I found myself walking with my hands behind my back in a regal manner, and a friend saw me and said, ‘What are you doing? You look like an old man!’ But once you’re in costume, it places you in the world of the drama.

Jumper and Trousers Ahluwalia
/ Shoes Grenson

He may be a king, but Charles is under his mother’s thumb and gets bullied by his brothers. How did you approach that dynamic?

It’s all part of the game of politics. I had many conversations with Stanley [Morgan], who played Anjou. You always look after your character’s interests. Charles believes in patience and seeing the bigger picture, while Anjou’s approach is more aggressive. It’s a sense of control, even though Charles is seen as a mummy’s boy. Dealing with historical fiction, you wonder what’s real and what’s not, but it’s fascinating.

History is open to interpretation, isn’t it?

Yes, history is influenced by propaganda and how it’s remembered. Anjou, for example, is known as a somewhat queer character. He had a lot of young men around him, which may be true. It was also used as an attack against him – as in, ‘Oh, the king’s gay’. And now that’s how he’s remembered in history. It’s interesting whether we remember history or remember a version of history being remembered because of the attacks on the monarchy. It’s interesting whether we remember history or a version of it.

You have great on-screen chemistry with Samantha Morton. Were you nervous about working with her?

Definitely, she’s so professional, focused, and hardworking. It made me step up my game. My character’s anxiety to prove himself to his mother mirrored my need to prove myself as an actor. It worked well for the role. By the end of the season, I felt we had a really nice working relationship.

Minnie Driver plays Elizabeth I and she is camp!

She’s a wonderful human being—warm and lovely. Minnie joined the cast later but was very generous and open. On set, she was brilliant and spoke about how much fun she was having. It’s a real challenge to carve your own niche within this character that’s been portrayed so many times. And what she does nearer to the end is clever.  

Jumper Peregrine
/ Trousers Danshan
/ Shoes Universal Works
/ Jewellery Talent’s own


From your previous interviews, you have a wonderful gentle manner. But is there a different person lurking beneath?

I’m actually more outgoing. Being a child actor, I wanted to present as neutral and approachable. All the roles I got were of a charming, sweet boy. Nerves play a part too. My friend Maisie Williams from Game of Thrones handles public attention well, whereas I get nervous. Photo shoots make me nervous. I feel frustrated that I’m maybe not able to be the real me. I end up playing this character. I don’t think it truly reflects me and I feel frustrated that I can’t present myself because I’m someone who gets nervous and a bit shy and I go to auditions and I’m suddenly shaking and I’m just wanting to be palatable for a casting director and I come away thinking they don’t know the real me. 

That is fascinating. 

When I was having my hair and makeup down for the shoot today, I was asked what I wanted done and I said, ‘I don’t really know because I’ve always just wanted to be neutral.’ It wasn’t until a few years ago that I shaved all my hair off, bleached it, dyed it, grew a mullet out, got tattoos. And a costume designer on a set tutted and said  ‘God, I don’t know why actors get tattoos.’ And I was like, ‘It’s because my whole life I’ve been trying to be neutral so you could all see me in all roles while actually, I’m not presenting myself, which is actually what people cast.’ I was trying to be as many things as possible, whereas actually, it’s so much easier if you just show yourself off. I feel like a lot of people don’t know about me. Not that they should, because I’m also not a big name in the industry. But I think I’m just quite neutral because I have not shown myself off in that way.  On set, though, I feel at home, calm, and confident.

There’s a lot of pressure landing a role. It must be nerve-wracking.

My brain thinks of all the what-ifs, but once I book a job and get on set, I’m calm. I grew up on set since I was eleven. Failing on set isn’t terrifying; everyone is there to create something great. I get nervous at auditions because I know I can do it and want to prove myself.

You present as quiet, but you’re not. Are you keen to take on tougher, more challenging roles?

Not often. I love playing King Charles, but one day I would like to explore queerness in my roles. I have so many queer actor friends who only play queer roles and I’m the other way around. I’ve never explicitly played a queer role and that’s something that I’d love to explore as a queer person myself. I have been previously so nervous to be other than neutral and calm that people don’t get to know me. 

Shirt and Trousers Danshan
/ Shoes Grenson

More queer stories are being told these days, don’t you think?

Yes, and I’d love the opportunity to explore that. Queerness is complex and messy, and it’s an opportunity to reflect on oneself and the world. There’s no perfect label for LGBTQ because it’s too broad. Exploring it through roles would be wonderful.

I feel like I know you very well now.

I rarely get opportunities for conversations like this. It’s nice to talk about my work and experiences. 

We live in a moment in time where there seems to be so much more divisiveness than in the 80s and 90s. 

I was speaking to a friend the other day about this unspoken privilege in queerness where regardless of class, ethnicity, religion, you know, financial background, all these things that can define you that may or may not hinder or benefit you and your relationship to yourself and your sexuality. There’s also this sort of unspoken privilege of just having the good fortune of growing up in an environment, whether it be at school, at home, just in the town you’re in, in the culture that you’re exposed to, of being accepted as a queer person. And I was speaking to a trans friend who is 25, and she was saying I had a much easier time than a trans person who was five or ten years older than her. And that’s not necessarily just to do with the world moving forward. It’s also that she understands her privilege of growing up in a welcoming family, being in a school where she wasn’t bullied, and where people were accepting of who she was.  

That’s an interesting take. 

I recognise that myself. I grew up with the privilege of never having to question my queerness to others. It was more about understanding my own feelings and presentation. There’s a privilege in that. Older generations in the queer community are just now enjoying freedoms like dressing as they want or attending events like Mighty Hoopla in a skirt. Younger generations can do that more easily. In today’s Gen Z, TikTok world, we can discuss sexuality and gender more openly and humorously. The more we are open, the better.

That’s the good thing about the generation we’re in now because younger people just grow up with it. 

As someone who grew up comfortably queer, I never fully understood the hype around shows like Heartstopper. Celebrities saying they wish they had something like that growing up seemed odd to me because I live in a London bubble. But I must remember that many people around the world and even in parts of this country go through tougher times being queer or aren’t exposed to diversity. Seeing queer kids being comfortable on a Netflix show is actually amazing.

Jumper, Jeans and Jewellery
Talent’s Own
/ Shoes Universal Works

Did working on film sets make it easier for you to become comfortable being queer?

I don’t think I was ever conscious of queerness or my relationship to it. I could have easily grown up seeing other queer kids having awful experiences, but I didn’t. I was jokingly ribbed at school for being the gay one, and a friend was ribbed for being the lesbian. Now he’s a man. We didn’t acknowledge our queerness until our late teens, early twenties. Kids can sense it.

You’ve been acting for 19 years. What was the dream when you were younger?

I fell into acting after attending a drama group and getting cast in a film. I was lucky. Had I realised my passion for acting later, I don’t think I would have pursued it. I wouldn’t have gone to drama school or started from the ground up. By 16 or 17, I already had several films under my belt, giving me a head start. I recognise that privilege. If I had that realisation earlier, I might have focused more, but I was also happy just being a kid.

Did you get to live a real life?

I wasn’t homeschooled or constantly filming. It was one film a year, usually an eight-week shoot. My parents made me understand it might just be a fun experience. It wasn’t until 16 or 17 that it got harder, and I had to knuckle down. You constantly reevaluate your position in the industry. At 11, 12, 13, I played leading kid roles because there weren’t many of us. It was me, Asa Butterfield, and Charlie Rowe. If you wanted a cute-looking white kid, it was us three.

It must be difficult as an adult to compete against more people.

I’m in a similar casting bracket as Timothée Chalamet and Barry Keoghan. I’m under no illusion that I’m not in their position. People talk about making choices, but I’m just trying hard to get a job. If offered, I say yes 100 times out of 101. I’ve done more guest roles, appearances, and supporting roles. I did a role in A Small Light on Disney+, playing a Dutch Nazi police officer, which was new territory for me. World War II roles have been quite lucrative for me.

Jonathan Bailey’s career soared after Bridgerton.

I’m coming out of a long period between jobs. We wrapped The Serpent Queen last July, and now I’m starting rehearsals for a stage version of The History Boys. Previously, I’d have been anxious about time off, but you have to see it as a long game. It’s a different experience and my chance to carry a storyline through eight episodes. During the actor and writer strikes, I had actor friends panicking about downtime. Having done this longer than most, I know the highs and lows balance out over time. Five years ago, a twelve-month gap would have broken me, but now I’m more resistant to worry.

Jumper Peregrine
/ Trousers Danshan
/ Shoes Universal Works
/ Jewellery Talent’s own


How do you spend your time off?

I love hobbies. I built a two-meter rowing boat at 18 and taught myself to crochet. A friend taught me to use an industrial knitting machine, and I made my first jumper recently.

You’d be handy if the world ends—you’ve got your boat and jumpers.

Yes, I can crochet a fishing net if needs be. I’m also a big football fan, which takes up a lot of my time.

Are you a bar person?

I recently stopped drinking, so I enjoy pubs but mostly stay sober. I had a drink or two at Glastonbury.

What made you give up drinking?

For general health and to stay fresh for scripts or auditions. I didn’t want to be foggy.

How do you cope with drunk people?

It can be annoying. At Glastonbury, a friend kept asking if I was all right, but I had to keep telling them I was having a nice time.

The Serpent Queen Season Two is streaming on Starz now.

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