MY PROUDEST ACT TO DATE

Actor James Norton may not have taken an arrow to the eye playing Harold Godwinson in his epic new historical drama King and Conqueror, but as the actor reveals, his eight-year labour of love did cause him undeniable pain...

- By Alison James

IF EVER he needed to prove he was tough enough to play 007, here’s the evidence for it... While making his new BBC drama series King and Conqueror, actor James Norton took more than a bruising.

“During filming I fell off a horse and broke my collarbone,” he reveals to the Daily Express. “It really hurt, but thankfully, the recovery process wasn’t too long and we managed to work around it.”

In typical James Bond style, James reckons his equestrian misadventure may have even improved his performance in the eight-part historical epic in which he plays King Harold, who was famously felled by an arrow to the eye at the Battle of Hastings.

“Let’s just say when you see me grimacing with pain in certain scenes, it’s for real,” he says. “I had a great stunt double but I wanted to do as many of the stunts as I could.”

If I wasn’t already having a hot flush during my tête-à-tête with James at British Film Institute on London’s Southbank where a press screening for King and Conqueror is being held then I certainly am now.

The star of Grantchester and Happy Valley is arguably the best-looking - and certainly one of the most talented - actors in Britain.

A director’s dream, he has a granite jaw, sculptured cheekbones, laughing green blue eyes and a wide smile that women find irresistible; having split from actress fiancée Imogen Poots in 2023, the 40-year-old was recently spotted out with singer Lily Allen.

BUT back to King and Conqueror, which tells the story of Harold Godwinson and William, Duke of Normandy. The two foes famously came to blows after Edward the Confessor, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England, died on January 5, 1066. His death sparked a bloody battle between rival claimants who each sought to take the throne, culminating in the Battle of Hastings on October 14 of the same year.

The production has been made by James's company Rabbit Trap and he’s been working on the project for eight years.