NOTE: Spoilers for the first season of The Royals
For those who may not yet have seen the show, what can you tell us about The Royals?
The show is a fun, sexy, wild take on a fictional Royal Family. It's sort of like everybody's imagination of what we want Royal life to be. Obviously it's very far-fetched, it's very fantastical, but it's a fun version of Royal life.
What drew you to the series and your character Prince Liam?
What drew me was the fact, I liked the fact that Liam was a young, rebel prince. I like the sort of rebellious side of him, the way he didn't care about what everybody thought of him, and I wanted to do something that was different to what I'd done with the Narnia films. So, I just wanted to do something a little different.
Liam's very loyal to his twin sister in the series, will that be a relationship we see tested at all?
Yeah, absolutely. At the beginning of the second season they aren't really close anymore. They're kind of two separate people living separate lives you know? Twins are very close, people often say they know what's going on in the other one's mind, so there'll always be that emotional connection and unrequited love but, they definitely deal in two different ways.
When the King dies at the end of the first season, Liam sets out to avenge his father whereas Eleanor goes on a path to self destruction.
What are some of Prince Liam's vices, would you say?
I think like most young men - women, drinking and probably the occasional drug. All of the above, really.
How was the chemistry on-set between the cast on the series?
It's been really good. It's been pretty easy, it's a fun set. We have a really good time, we're all really close, we obviously take it seriously but we don't let it get in the way of having a good time.
Was there ever a pressure going into this show, not only with it being about a British Royal Family, but it being E!'s first scripted series?
There was a lot of pressure. To be honest with you, I kind of thought it was the perfect thing for E! They couldn't have really chosen something better. Obviously their brand is celebrity and social media, heightened people, so obviously choosing the monarchy was a wise decision and it's proven to be really successful.
I guess people in England were very sceptical about the show. Some hated it and some loved it, The Guardian loved it, The Independent hated it, but that's to be expected with a show like this. When you tackle the Royal Family, when you tackle something that's very close to people's hearts you're bound to get criticism. But I think, you know what they say all press is good press, so I was totally fine with people not loving the show.
As a whole how have you found the response to the show's first season?
I found it to be, critically I think we've done fine. I think we've obviously had some bad reviews here and there and that's completely normal, I totally expect that people especially in the UK wouldn't love the show and I know it's a very Americanised version of Royal life, and people probably think, 'oh well, it's just a load of crap' - that's completely fine. If that's their opinion, that's their opinion.
But there's also been people that absolutely love the show, really connect to it and really find the heart in it and see the fun in it and know it's self-depricating, we're not trying to be the British Royal Family, it's also like a pantomime, you know?
How did it feel when The Royals was recommissioned for a second season?
I was so happy, they actually told us before the first episode even aired of the first season, that we were gonna get a second season. I think it's proved to be a success for them, it's I think the number five highest rated show on cable, which is great, really really good.
I would love it to be on a terrestrial channel here in the UK so more people can see it! But that's OK!
Looking ahead to the second season, are you allowed to share any teasers?
I don't think Liam's gonna be the same person he was last season, I'll say that. He's really kind of, he's changing, which is fantastic for me.
Where would you personally like to see your character go next?
I just wanna see him go off the rails a little bit! (laughs) I just feel like he's very reserved and he's a good person and he tries to do the right thing, I kinda wanna see him lose it a little bit, but we'll see. We'll see what they choose for me!
Finally, what have you got coming up next?
I just shot a TV movie in Vancouver for Lifetime, so that will be coming out in the fall. I have another movie, a horror movie called Friend Request which is coming out in a couple of months, which is a Warner Bros film, which is great. That's it really!
THE ROYALS - SEASON 1 comes to DVD on July 6, 2015 courtesy of Lionsgate Home Entertainment.