Reign might presently be on a hiatus until January 8 rolls around, but we have obtained some insight from one of this season's newcomers.

Charlie Carrick is the British/Canadian actor portraying Queen Elizabeth I's not-so-secret lover, Robert Dudley, who first appeared in the first episode of Season 3 back in October. He has since appeared four other times with many more appearances coming up in 2016.


(Photo : Lane Dorsey)

Enstars caught up with Carrick to chat about all things Reign, including the shocking death of King Francis II, as well as another project he's involved in.

Enstars: You joined Reign this season so what has the reception been like from the cast and fans?
Charlie Carrick: The cast has been very welcoming, right from my first day. They were already a tight-knit group, having done a couple of seasons together, but they made a real effort to welcome me to the show, and I was very thankful for that. I'm not really a social media user, so I'm not always fully up to date on what the show's fans are thinking, but I'm sure it must have been a big adjustment for them to get used to so much of the show now taking place in English court and I hope they've taken to these new characters.

Reign doesn't totally stay true to history, but did you research the real-life Robert Dudley prior to filming?
I knew a little bit about Dudley before getting the role and then I read as much as I could about him in the short time I had before filming. This is the only the second time that I have played a real-life figure and I think it can be burdensome to try and bring too much of your research to your performance. I tried to isolate things that would really help me to play the role, because while it's relatively easy to find facts about a historical figure's life, it's harder to gain insight into his personality and motivation. I did find out that Dudley's father was the Duke of Northumberland, which is the part of England that I am from, so when my own northern English accent slips out, I can tell our accent coach that it's deliberate! 

What can you tease about his storyline coming up with Queen Elizabeth I?
I think right from their very first scene together, in episode one of the season, it's clear that Robert and Elizabeth are in an impossible situation. He is one of the only people that she can trust and she wants to keep him close, but they both know that for various reasons, they can't truly be together, certainly not while Dudley is married. And Dudley is very uncomfortable with his ambitions and reputation being so closely entwined with his relationship to Elizabeth. So something is going to have to give.

Many of your scenes so far have been with Rachel Skarsten, who plays Queen Elizabeth I. How has it been working with her?
It's been great and we get along and have a laugh, which is just as well since there are a lot of days when we are the only two actors on set. I don't think Rachel will mind me saying that we have quite different personalities, but we've enjoyed trying to figure each other out. At least I have!

Will Robert Dudley be known for more than his relationship with Queen Elizabeth I as the season continues?
I think so, yes, but he will always be tied to Elizabeth in some way because she will always be his Queen and his life's work is to serve her as best he can. I definitely think we have seen Dudley feeling emasculated by Elizabeth's treatment of him and wanting desperately to prove to his peers and countrymen that he is more than just her "favorite".

Recently on the show, King Francis II (Toby Regbo) was killed off. Can you comment on how that will affect the show moving forward?
I think to some extent, Reign has always been Mary's story and Francis' death marks the end of the chapter of her life that the show has depicted thus far. Now we have to wait and see what the next chapter is. 

Were you aware that such a major character death was coming? Did it affect the dynamic on set?
Yeah I think I found out about it pretty soon after joining the cast. I guess I already knew that I was coming in during a period of change for the show, because English court was coming into the equation. Because my time on the show overlapped only very briefly with Toby's, I can't really speak to how the dynamic has changed. I'm definitely sorry that I didn't have the chance to get to know him better because the entire cast and crew has nothing but lovely things to say about him.

Can you tease a favorite upcoming scene you shot?
The show has some incredible outdoor sets built in the back lot of the studio where it's shot. And it also uses some beautiful locations where the actors get to do all kinds of cool stuff. But my scenes always seemed to be indoors. Every day on the call sheet, I'd see that someone had a horse riding lesson or a fencing lesson or something fun. I waited so long for an outdoors scene and now I've finally had a few! And I got to fire a bow and arrow. So I feel like one of the cool kids now.

Who would you like to have scenes with in the future on the show and why?
Dudley has some history with Gideon Blackburn, a character who has just been introduced and is played by Ben Geurens. Ben and I have discussed how much the two men hate each other and every time he has to say "Dudley," he spits it through gritted teeth. So I hope that the two of them get to meet on screen at some point and display their mutual loathing. I should say, for the record, that I like Ben very much.

Your indie film The Devout premiered in October at the Vancouver International Film Festival and is still making its rounds at film festivals. Can you tell us what it's about?
The Devout is set in the mid-1990s, so I suppose it is a period piece of sorts! The film is a crisis of faith drama about the power of belief. It's also a very sad study of a family with a terminally ill daughter. It's quite a different role for me. I play Darryl, a small town teacher trying to make it through the last weeks of his daughter's life and questioning everything that he holds dear and his place in his family and his community. I think it's a very atmospheric and engrossing film with nuanced things to say about faith and family.

Tags: Reign television the cw Charlie Carrick