Netflix’s Cursed and the big shows on catch-up
Devon Terrell and Shalom Brune-franklin on a radical reimagining of the Arthurian legendsé CURSED
Hero: Nimue is on a quest rom the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail to BBC1’S Merlin and beyond, there’s no shortage of reimaginings of the Arthurian legends.
However, Netflix’s new fantasy series Cursed – adapted by Frank Miller and Tom Wheeler from their illustrated novel – puts a new slant on the story by telling it from the perspective of Nimue, a young woman who will one day become the tragic Lady of the Lake…
As the 10-part series begins, Nimue (played by 13 Reasons
Why star Katherine Langford) is ostracised by her peers because of her magical powers.
But she soon finds herself with far greater things to
Fworry about when the puritanical Red Paladins raze her village to the ground, killing her mother.
Faced with a perilous mission to honour her mother’s dying request, Nimue finds help from scruffy young knight Arthur (rising star Devon Terrell) and his friend Igraine (Our Girl’s Shalom Brune-franklin).
Here, Devon, 27, and Shalom, 25, tell
TV Times more…
Allies: Nimue (Katherine Langford) and Arthur (Devon Terrell)
What sets Cursed apart from other versions of this story? SHALOM: Tom and Frank have put the myths, legends and everything from every different version into a blender and mashed it all up – and the Lady of the Lake has come out and is leading us through it! DEVON: For me, it’s an epic journey with well-known characters that we’ve come to study and understand over time, but we see them in exciting new forms – and there are new characters who create a dynamic where anything’s possible. It’s about the fight for survival of your culture and your people, and discovering the depths of your true power and destiny.
This version of Arthur is very different – what was your take on him? DEVON: Originally he becomes a kind of travel companion to
Nimue, and there’s so much adversity that they find together – and as individuals – that they have to use each other in order to find the courage to push through. The two of them lean on each other throughout the series.
Igraine is quite an enigmatic character when we first meet her, isn’t she?
SHALOM: ‘Enigmatic’ – that’s a nice way of saying, ‘She comes in and slaps Nimue!’ She’s certainly a bit mysterious when we first meet her, but she’s an incredible character for me to play and she has an amazing journey throughout the series. I think she’s an incredibly loyal person, and very brave as well, and she fights for what she believes in – that’s an amazing quality that I’m really proud to represent within the show. I can’t wait for the show to get out there and people to see it.