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colinmorgan-beautifulsmile · 1 year

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Colin Morgan has an exclusive brand new in-depth interview with Radio Times

In brand new thriller Dead Shot – which arrived on Sky Cinema and NOW last week – former Merlin star Colin Morgan stars as Irish paramilitary Michael, who is on the verge of retirement when his pregnant wife is brutally murdered by a British army soldier.

Based on an original screenplay by Top Boy creator Ronan Bennett and directed by brothers Tom and Charles Guard, it's a harrowing film that takes place during the height of the Troubles in 1975, following Michael as he embarks on a revenge mission that sends him to the heart of IRA operations in London.

When Morgan first got his hands on the "page-turning" script, he was struck by a number of things, not least the contradictions inherent in his character, and he was especially won over by a certain ambiguity regarding who the audience should be rooting for.

"As a Northern Irish guy, you think I'd be biased to one side, but it's absolutely seeing both sides of this tale and this drama," he tells RadioTimes.com in an exclusive interview. "And so it says quite a lot that I was kind of on both camps, I think that's quite an achievement.

"Contradictions are the main thing I look for," he adds. "You see somebody in a cause that some men were drawn into in the late '60s and early '70s in Northern Ireland, particularly in the border counties. And I'm wondering, if I was born around that time would I have been any different? Might the times have dictated what I needed to do to survive as a man?

"Those are the things that are compelling to me... he wants to be a dad, he wants to survive his future. At the very beginning of the film it feels like he's just about to begin the rest of his life, he's left the cause behind, and it just gets taken away from him in a second."

In preparing for the film, it helped a great deal that Morgan himself grew up in Armagh, the same town that Michael is from. Despite growing up in a different era, the star was very much able to draw on his own personal experiences when it came to getting a handle on the character.

"One thing I said to the Guard brothers before I started was I'm gonna bring everything I bring to the character from my point of view, but also the stuff of just being someone who grew up in Armagh," he says.

"You get that for free, because that's the complication of living in a place like that, even though I grew up in the tail end of things – it is just part of your culture and in your blood. You see all those things growing up, and they're just in my own kind of memory bank. So while I didn't go through the times, I was certainly surrounded by adults who did."

Dead Shot isn't Morgan's first project in recent years to be set against the backdrop of the Troubles. In 2021, he had a key role in Sir Kenneth Branagh's Oscar-winning coming-of-age film Belfast, and the actor has clearly found it an immensely rewarding experience to see audiences drawn in by these stories.

"Particularly with Belfast, there's something kind of amazing about seeing something that's such a part of you reach the world and resonate with people in a universal way," he says. "When you see your story, or you hear your accent, there's just something about you that connects with that.

"And then when you hear other people the world over do that as well, you can't help but feel a sense of pride that your identity is being recognised."

In addition to the knowledge of the conflict he had accumulated while growing up in Northern Ireland, Morgan did plenty of research into the Troubles to prepare for his role in Belfast. He says this came in handy once again for the new film, but stresses that Dead Shot itself is not necessarily "concerned about trying to educate people about the times in Northern Ireland".

"Not every film that deals with the Northern Irish issue has to go into all those details," he says. "That's what I thought was refreshing about this. But it's important as an actor just to be familiar with those things, whatever period that – it's always worth doing, and I always do it."

One of the most intriguing aspects of the film is the complexity regarding Michael's adversary Tempest, played by Aml Ameen. Although by no means portrayed in a straight-forwardly sympathetic light, the character is not presented as an out-and-out villain either – but rather a vulnerable person who has been thrown into a horrible circumstance by odious bosses. Meanwhile, the fact that Tempest is a Black man living in a time when racism was commonplace undoubtedly adds to this complexity.

"One of the things I said to the directors right from the start was that there was a lot more that bound these two guys than divided them," Morgan says of the relationship between Michael and Tempest. "They're both in London, which was a place at the time that had [signs saying], 'No dogs, no Blacks, no Irish'.

"So these are actually both very outsider characters who were treated differently – when an Irish man went to London in those times there was complete shunning of them as well. So they're guys who know what it is to be shunned, rejected, and treated as the other. And the fact that they find themselves caught in this tragedy against each other, it's a shame in a way.

"The sad thing about that particular time in Northern Ireland was that so much division between religions and nationality prevented so much integration," he adds. "And it's still unfortunately very present in Northern Ireland to this day – it's getting less so, but it's hard to think it'll ever go away.

"It's terrible to think that people connecting on a human level is prevented by something like a label or identity or nationality, whatever it is. Your best friend could have been the one that was serving in the army except you were just on the other end of the lines."

Although the film is set primarily in London, the shoot itself actually took place in Glasgow – with a number of London buses and other identifying features brought in to help transform the Scottish city into something resembling the UK capital. This was an interesting experience for Morgan, especially considering he has his own history with the city.

"I actually went to drama school in Glasgow, I went to the Royal Scottish [Conservatoire]," he says. "And the odd thing was that I hadn't really been there since I graduated and I found myself staying in an apartment that was right opposite the apartment I stayed in in my second year at drama school.

"It was this weird kind of full circle moment of suddenly there I was, like 15/20 years later. I could practically still see through the window of that apartment and see the 20-year-old me wondering, 'Oh, I wonder if this whole acting thing will ever work?'"

Of course, it wasn't long after graduating before Morgan's acting career very much did work. Following a number of early roles on stage and screen, including the Doctor Who episode Midnight, his big breakthrough came in 2008 when he was cast as the title character of BBC One's fantasy series Merlin – a show that went on to run for five highly successful seasons.

The series has retained a cult following since it ended in 2012, and some fans have long clamoured for some sort of reunion or reboot. But although Morgan thinks back fondly on his time on the show, returning to the role doesn't appear to be something he's considering any time soon.

"I think most actors are more about progression and moving forward and don't often look back," he explains. "Even on stage, sometimes plays I've done have wanted to remount and come back again, and I often found I don't take up those opportunities because I've wrung the towel dry and I've rinsed what I could out of it.

"That's certainly what I've tried to do with every project, it's like I invest every 110% into it so hopefully by the end of it, I feel like I've done all I could. And certainly on projects like Merlin, I felt like yeah, we definitely did that together as a team and it's certainly [something I] look back on and feel very proud of the work that I and everyone did."

On the subject of moving forward, Morgan has a number of other imminent projects in the pipeline. He has a key role alongside Jessica Lange, Ed Harris and Ben Foster in a new film adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's classic play Long Day’s Journey Into Night; he will star opposite Emma Appleton in the upcoming Paramount Plus legal thriller The Killing Kind; and he is currently filming a project which he can't yet disclose. The keys to the roles he's been looking for in recent times, he says, are variety and collaboration.

"I look for things I haven't done before, I look for challenges, I look for versatility, I look for passionate people," he explains. "I think more so than anything, what seems to be top of my list now is collaborators – people who have this kind of notion of bringing you into the fold and wanting to work with you not just to deliver the acting goods, but to know what you feel about the scripts and the story and have your input.

"And that's my background. My first jobs were all new writing in theatre and working with writers and developing and progressing and shaping things together. And that's what I thrive on more than anything in the world.

"That seems to be what people are wanting these days, I think the landscape has changed. People are really wanting multidisciplinary actors, and that's worth knowing for anybody wanting to come into the business: don't just be thinking about the acting, think about 360 degrees of everything."

#colin morgan #dead shot #belfast #news #bbc merlin #merlin cast #interview #article interview

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bigmommycommie · 1 month

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HI so i was rewatching bbc merlin as one does and noticed this one moment when colin's irish accent comes out in le morte d'arthur

#bbc merlin #merlin #colin morgan #le morte d'arthur

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23and05 · 1 day

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If I was to write a Merlin season 6/spin off, it'd look like this:

Firstly it's set now. Merlin has been moving around different places when he grows out of them (i.e. needs to move on because he's immortal) he's currently working in a library and that's where he meets 'Arthur'. Oh he'd also have an Irish accent because one of the worst things BBC Merlin did was not allow Colin to keep his accent.

I picture him having a different name so when 'Arthur' catches him staring and Merlin introduces himself using his real name 'Arthur' is confused because that's not the name on his badge. Merlin says he feels like he knows 'Arthur' and it turns out to be a reincarnation type thing. Does that make sense ??? So it is Arthur, but he doesn't know it, cue Merlin having to draw the memories out of him.

I feel like a cute detail could be Arthur had a child who's flown the nest so there's loads of pictures of them together in his flat.

Other details, Merlin freaks out waking up for the first time in Arthur's bed.

They go skinning dipping in the lake of Avalon, because Merlin says its where he comes when he's overwhelmed, it's like his little spot. Arthur maybe remembers here ? Or at least feels something. Like a pull, something like that ??

The series would end with a pull back shot of some piece of art in a museum/gallery of merlin and Arthur (idk if one exists, there is surely some of king Arthur, but you get the gist) where we see merlin ans arthur holding hands stood in front of it.

There are so many song potentials, but I feel like ii hands ii heaven by Beyoncé playing in the background when they first remeet would be so perfect. Just catching the end of the song where 'I've been waiting my whole life, for you and I' is sung in stunning harmonies.

#loooove talking to the wall lol #but this has been bouncing round my head for daysssssss #needed to put it somewhere #idk how i feel about magic. would merlin still have it or not idk #ill let you decide #sorry if someone has created something with this exact idea !!#oh. another detail. when getting to know each other. merlin says how hes moved about quite a bit but was orginally born in wales. and arthur #is like damn ! me too !! what a weird coincidence. wink wink #i guess this is maybe a headcannon ?#ive never ventured this far in creating my own things with a fandom. so idk how to tag any of it loool #bbc merlin #merlin #arthur pendragon #merlin season 6 #headcanon ?#molly mumbles

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erizia · 7 months

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a quick psa on accents in nnt

we were robbed of the seven deadly sins having british/irish accents in the english dub. bloody series is set in BRITANNIA and some dude must have been like “how many of the same american accent can we possibly use”???? ok so here are my accent hcs bc this feels unfair

meliodas: i feel like the abridged series nails what he should have sounded like… irish meliodas all the way. zeldris is irish as well. is the holy war a bad metaphor for brexit????? who knows. some of the demons are definitely french though, like derieri and monspeet? they are french change my mind. is the demon race the eu? are the seven deadly sins the uk? do i have that gay urge to make a 4 hour youtube video about this??? is meliodas breaking away from the demons a really bad metaphor for the troubles???? is nakaba really thinking that hard about this? who knows. bloody hell this is giving me a headache.

diane: i don’t know where in the uk the giants would live. i could imagine her having some form of a midlands accent, like birmingham maybe?

ban: i think he has a northern accent. i’m not sure where ravens is meant to be but like… somewhere in yorkshire? i can imagine him with a yorkshire accent

king: the fairy kings forest is definitely somewhere in scotland. yeah he’s giving scottish, like stereotypical scottish accent. so is elaine.

gowther: oh for sure he has the specific accent that the monarchy has and for sure the others do impersonations of him

merlin: i’ll say it again. SHES WELSH. her original name in nakabas sketches was myrddin!! AND i love the implication that no one can pronounce her real name because it’s in welsh, not because of the “no human can possibly pronounce it” bullshit because most people in the series have a fuck all grasp how to pronounce anything in welsh.

escanor: he’s also from the north like ban, but probably has a less strong accent though

elizabeth: for all the people from liones, they are pretty much canonically scottish considering liones is in scotland, i’m not sure about the specifics of her/ the royal family’s accents though

if you want me to i’ll do the 10 commandments + the goddess clan + other characters eventually

well this was a fucking ride yall any suggestions would be great. i wrote this at 3am :)

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bitsandbobsofwriting · 2 years

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OHMYGOD!!!! Okay, hi, accent!Merlin anon here. That was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! And even better than I could've imagined! I mentioned the accent thing to my best friend (who got me hooked on Merlin) the other day and she was like "yo wtf?? Why wouldn't they do that??" So to know that other ppl think about it too is sooooo validating! I hope this gets enough traction bc I love your fics and would LOVE to see more of this!

(Referencing This Post)

WAHEY!! I'm glad you liked it anon! I've actually had that EXACT rough fic idea in my head for AGES!! It actually goes on a little further as well (Sis/friend shows up at training, asks if she can borrow Merlin, Arthur reluctantly says yes, the two of them do hand to hand, then dagger, sparring in front of everyone and though the sis/friend wins, Merlin is... scarily good. Also there would be bits about sis/friend using magic to remove all the bad joojoo from Morgana's head, because she's been brainwashed obviously, and the others coming to the conclusion that... huh... perhaps magic isn't so bad, if Merlin is completely ok with it (little do they know...).)

ANYWAY

Yeah. I love you anon, you read my mind.

#bbc merlin #merlin #colin morgana #irish merlin #arthur pendragon #merlin with an accent #merlin with an irish accent #colin morgans accent #irish accent #irish hunith #irish gaius #gaels #gael #gaelic #send requests #send asks #asks #requests

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itsmakingyoucry · 9 months

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bradley james makes me bark and so does merlin w an irish accent

#arthur pendragon #bbc merlin #merlin bbc #merthur #merlin #merlin fandom #bradley james #colin morgan #merlin emrys

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cloudninetonine · 2 months

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Hiya! Do you have any voice headcanons for the chain? In my head Sky always sounds like Vilhelm Blomgren cuz I hop onto that headcannon that Sky has a swedish accent :>

That is such a beautiful headcanon and I will now be stealing it PIUFGPI I've always been a lover of Swedish or Welsh Sky supremecy so this is perfect

It took me a while to pin point what I think they'd all sound like and here is the list, I've put them down to characters so it;s a little easier to find their voices!

Time - The Hound from Game of Thrones (Deep and brooding Scottish accent)

Wars - Arthur from BBC’s Merlin (Medieval city boy /lh He's speaks with a well pronounced accent and I feel he lowkey just fits Arthur)

Twilight - Gwaine from BBC’s Merlin (Y'all can stab me all you want but I will ride the Irish Twi wagon till the day I DIE)

Sky - Pelle Midsommar (Vilhelm Blomgren, as you said!)

Legend - Lewis from H20 (Me and my gf have a headcanon of the Downfall Hyrule being like Australia and so this is where I stand. She suggested Lewis and I was like "He's perfect." - Also mermaids)

Hyrule - Hozier (Hyrule was originally gonna be Aussie too but I couldn't find a good voice and I was also like "He's not even Hylian so..." and he definitely shares forest cryptid vibes with Hozier)

Wild - Richter Belmont Castlevania (They have a similar tone of confidence and sass I just can't unhear it)

Four - Jojen Game of Thrones (Or mostly Thomas Brodie, they both of a similar youthness and nerdiness to them, I'm not sorry)

Wind - Buddy from Belfast (squeaky but joyful and strong, it probably wouldn't be as squeaky 'cause he's older now but you know PIYGDP)

Special addition -

First - Tristan from Stardust (Speaks well but not a posh man, just a fella who knows how to be polite (I haven't watched this movie in a long while if I'm remembering wrong my bad honestly PIFUGP))

And we already have canon voices for Kori and Courage!

#cloud answers #anon asks #linked universe headcanons

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blitheringmcgonagall · 11 months

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P.S. I Still Wait for You

Chapter 3/4

Read Part 1 here

Read part 2 here

Uncanny Valley, that was what muggles called it. Like being in France except everything felt different, and he couldn’t quite catch what everyone was saying – different phrasing, idioms, completely different accent. Québécois felt so similar and yet so foreign. He loved it. Of course, one couldn’t just apparate to Canada, so coming here had been far too time-consuming for his liking. But once in Montreal, finding her hadn’t taken him long at all. She had always said if she continued living as a muggle, she would never have had the money to go to university, but she would have liked to study nursing. Student nurses got paid, badly. Evans was impressive. What was the best hospital in Montreal, he asked? Jewish General Hospital, he was told. A taxi ride, sweet-talking the right people, and Bob’s your uncle*.

“Afternoon, Evans,” he says, walking up the steps.

She’s fiddling with the key in the lock, auburn waves blowing into her face, shopping bag clutched under her other arm. She nearly drops it when she hears him, whirls round to face him – leaning on the porch, black leather jacket, tight jeans, all cool, calm and collected. Distinctly cool, perhaps cold, it is worth noting.

“Sirius,” she says.

It annoys him that she still remembers not to call him Black.

“I need a word.”

She stares at him, as though weighing up whether she could get rid of him some way. But she knows she can’t, not with his wand pointed at her and the stubborn look on his face. She’s not stupid.

She steps aside and motions for him to enter, emerald eyes guarded and wary. He stands in the kitchen as she busies herself putting the food in the fridge, the cupboards, avoids looking at him or talking to him. Patience was never his forte.

“Evans,” he says.

She looks up, frazzled.

“I just started working on the general medical ward. I’ve been nursing someone in the isolation room with meningitis. If you want to speak to me, you’ll have to wait. I need to have a shower first.”

He can’t figure out if she’s telling the truth or avoiding him for a bit longer. He wants to ask her why she went shopping or put everything away, if she’s so concerned about contamination, but she’s already gone.

“Merlin, fuck,” he says to himself.

He finds a bottle of Irish whiskey, pours himself a generous tumbler, and sits himself down on the couch, takes in his surroundings. He’s surprised to see a photo of her friends – Lily with Dorcas, Marlene, Mary, Alice. He gets up and wanders around the tiny sitting room, picks up another photo from Hogwarts, this time Lily with the marauders. James has his arm around her in this one, has eyes only for her. He pulls her in closer, plants a sweet kiss on her temple. She looks up at him, enthralled.

Funny. Weird as fuck.

To hell with it. He opens the cabinets in the sitting room, pulls out a few old records, her Gryffindor scarf, her old potions books. A blanket he recalls her mother made her. Her graduation scrolls. An old cardboard box. Letters.

Interesting.

He’s not usually like this, but all’s fair in love and war (and this situation might tick both those boxes from his pov). He skims over them, speed reads them. The letters are sweet – loving nostalgic ones from Mr. & Mrs. Evans; snooty, irritating ones from Petunia (she cared about Lily though, you can read it in the way she rudely checks to see is the war still ongoing, pretending not to be bothered), a couple of adorable ones from Remus that make him feel all mushy, like the embarrassingly lovestruck fool that he is. Hilarious ones from Mary. He finds a pile from James, tied up in string. He has the decency not to read them. Why she keeps them is a mystery. At the bottom he finds a torn, crumpled letter. He removes the ridiculously basic disillusionment charm on it (it would work on muggles and clearly that’s all she’s worried about here).

Dearest James, Mo stoirín,

Nothing compares to the misery of leaving you this way, of knowing how devastated you were, of knowing I broke your heart, and not being able to explain myself. Sometimes when I can’t bear it any longer, I cast a muffliato here inside these four walls, and scream the reason out loud, until my voice is hoarse. I have never felt more lonely, more angry, more defeated, more powerless.

Sometimes I swear to myself I will leave this place and get back home, tell you everything. I see your reaction in my mind. Sometimes you forgive me, you understand why I did it. Sometimes you’re angry, can’t understand how you didn’t find a way to work around that magic. Sometimes I dream I tell you and you stop breathing, turn purple and fall breathless at my feet. You die, and I am powerless to help you. I wake up distraught. I promise you, I tried. I spent hours, days, years consumed with trying to think of ways to break it. I am not allowed to tell you, to tell your friends, anyone at all. I have come up with nothing. I hate myself for being so useless.

Some day, I want you to know. I want to die before you. People say that muggleborns and half-bloods don’t live as long as purebloods. I hope that’s true. I have syphoned off a memory. I could not show you now, but when I’m gone, I want you to take it to the old pensieve in Laurelmere, Monty’s family heirloom. I will leave it for you in my will. That, and your letters and our photographs. Then I’ll be able to rest in peace.

I have found some meaning in my life. I love my job. But this is not what I wanted, what I hoped for.

Yours till the very end,

Lily

He stares at this clue, vital. He has no idea what language no stoirin is in, but he could bet his fortune it means my love. Then he folds the letter carefully and places it in his pocket. He finds a fine crystal vial, enwrought with silver vine, filled with a cloudy suspension. He slips it inside his leather jacket. A flick of his wrist and the room is tidy as before.

The door opens.

She stands there, watching him, biting her lip. He notices the tension in her jaw, her shoulders, the gauntness of her cheeks. He walks over to her slowly, takes her hand in his.

“Come to our wedding,” he asks, quietly, squeezing her hand carefully between his own.

“You proposed?” she gasps, the first signs of gladness he has seen.

“He did,” he admits, sheepishly, feeling a warmth across his own cheeks.

She squeezes his hand back.

“Remus says if you aren’t there he will never be able to enjoy it,” he adds.

“How did you find me?”

“Detective work, Evans,” he smiles enigmatically.

She frowns.

“How?”

“Come and I’ll explain,” he says. “You don’t need to speak to Prongs, we’ll understand. Just one evening, for old time’s sake. You owe me this much.”

“You owe me too,” she replies, raised eyebrow.

“You saved me thrice. I saved you four times. Then the war ended and you didn’t get to pay me back. You owe me.”

She sighs. He hugs her then, a firm, warm hug, full of promise.

“Please,” he whispers into her hair. “You were one of my best friends too. And Moony’s. Don’t think we ever stopped thinking of you.”

He can feel her shoulders heave, a quiet, swallowed sob. When she lifts her head up, her eyes are red.

“I’ll be there,” she says.

TBC…

Bob’s your uncle * expression used immediately after a set of simple instructions and roughly means the same as 'and it's as simple as that!' In 1887, British Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil appointed his nephew Arthur James Balfour as Minister for Ireland. The phrase 'Bob's your uncle' was coined when Arthur referred to the Prime Minister as 'Uncle Bob'. Apparently, it's very simple to become a minister when Bob's your uncle! Conservative PMs still at it today, except have moved on to handing more than £1 billion of contracts to companies run by Conservative “friends and donors” since the start of the coronavirus pandemic; and shorting the economy and whatnot… Bob is still very much your sugar daddy…

#Jily #jily fanfiction #Lily Evans #James Potter #jple #lejp but anyway #p.s. I still wait for you #angst #with a happy ending #??#jilychallenge #jilychallenge 2023 #better late than never!#I will post to ao3 #soon

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