Pekka Strang Talks The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die

Political  Machinations

The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die is a one-off film coming this Friday to Netflix and here’s Pekka Strang, who joins the cast playing Anlaf, talking about it. Warning: a few spoilers ahead…

How would you describe your character?

He’s a modern politician in an ancient time. Like every politician he’s looking for power, and how to get power is by getting land. How you get land is by playing people against each other and I think that’s what he’s trying to do. He sees himself as quite the mastermind.

How would you describe the scale of this production?

I have not worked on anything of this magnitude before. I remember coming out to the set and thinking ‘Okay, this is a big production.’ And then when we did the big battlefield days and there are around 200 supporting artists and 30‐40 horses it really feels like a big production. And I guess it’s going to look even better when finished because that’s the whole magic of it.

How would you describe the make‐up that gets you into character?

I spent about three hours in make‐up. Hildegard who did my make‐up is so great. She’s so calm and did it with such perfection. My job was to sit down and just let her do her stuff ‐ she’s amazing.

What was it like joining an established cast?

The people are really nice and I felt very welcome. We’ve got quite a few new cast members on this film so that also might have made it a bit easier to blend in. But, of course, as always with these kind of productions ‐ ones that have been going on for years ‐ when you come in you’re a bit like the new guy in the classroom and then you have to choose your spot. But I felt really welcomed by all the crew and cast so, in that sense, I have been taken care of.