Alexander Dreymon on the End of ‘The Last Kingdom,’ Fatherhood, and What He Wants to Do Next

Tell me about the accent. The way he talks really defines my experience of the show.

The accent was a long debate. The producers of the show took great care in casting British actors to play all the Saxons and Scandinavian actors to play the Danes. And they wanted Uhtred to speak differently from both factions to kind of highlight the fact that he belongs to neither world. And so I worked with a dialect coach and we came up with an accent that has this British base, but with a Scandinavian twist to it, which gave it that little quality of otherness. It was also really the rhythm of his voice on top of just the pronunciation that we developed and became his trademark. 

I know you were born in Germany and grew up in Switzerland and other countries. Did any of that experience inform Uhtred, who is caught between identities?

For sure. I could really relate to the difficulty that Uhtred has just in getting accepted in whichever culture he was living in, because I moved around a lot, and especially as a kid. If you’ve lived in many different places you don’t really feel an allegiance to one particular country. I feel equally German, French, American—I find it so limiting to have to reduce myself to one. And at the same time, I can also relate to the excitement that comes with not being from any certain place, because you bring something fresh, you bring a new perspective. And that’s what was so interesting and valuable in Uhtred—he’s a Saxon who grew up with Danes so he knows how to fight, how to build a shield wall, and he ultimately becomes the leader of armies. 

When did you know that the show had struck a nerve and built a following?

The viewership really exploded to a certain degree once Netflix took it over with season three. But I’m just a very private person, so I didn’t experience much of the effects of that.

People don’t stop you on the street and say, “Destiny is all”?

Like, when I’m in Los Angeles—not really. But then when I’m in places like the U.K. or certainly Latin America or, you know, Germany or France,  it does happen. But I have the great advantage of looking very different in real life. Like, once my beard is shaved off I fly under the radar, which is by far my preference.