Harry Gilby Talks The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die

A Future King

The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die is a one-off film coming this Friday to Netflix and here’s Harry Gilby, who plays Aethelstan, talking about it. Warning: a few spoilers ahead…

Tell us about Aethelstan’s journey in the special?

At the end of season five, Uhtred and Aethelstan are on great terms. Uhtred’s teaching Aethelstan how to fight and be a great warrior and Aethelstan’s almost becoming a better fighter than Uhtred, and everything’s great. And then at the beginning of this film, several years later, Aethelstan’s now away from that father figure in his life, he’s more of a man, and it’s leading up to those days before he’s a king and his brother Aelfweard is challenging him to the kingdom.

Can you tell us about Aethelstan’s relationship with Ingilmundr?

At the beginning we can see Aethelstan and Ingilmundr have this connection. Ingilmundr is Aethelstan’s advisor and almost the only person other than Uhtred he trusts and will listen to. Aethelstan’s trying to get away from being a boy as he was with Uhtred, and Ingilmundr sees him more as a man. So, he’s stuck between these two important people in his life and there’s a lot of conflict.

How is it being part of the film?

When I was cast I didn’t really expect that this film was going to happen. I expected to do one season and have a good part, but I didn’t think it would develop into this and being really able to show more of a character. It’s a thrill to play and there’s so much going on with Aethelstan in this film that you might not expect from season five. It’s very exciting. The fans are going to love it.