For his first major television role in Queen Charlotte: The Bridgerton StoryNetflix’s hit spinoff drama that served as a prequel about Queen Charlotte’s early life and romance, Corey Mylchreest says he “put so much pressure” on himself to play King George III. “The most challenging parts were the emotional scenes.”
Now Mylchreest, 26, is adjusting to all the attention from his newfound fan base: “It’s a very surreal experience and really nice, but I’m just very British and clumsy!”
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Simon Emmett
What was the best thing about playing King George III? There are so many things to be thankful for, but the best part was being with the gang, I even lived with Freddie who played my manservant, we got on really well. It was all our first big job and it took six months to shoot, we spent 14 to 16 hours a day with each other. It was a great character to play. I’ve done so many things since then, I feel like I can thank the whole world for that show and that guy, George.
Were you prepared for how the show would bring you into the public eye? No, nothing can really prepare you for that. Although I tried to mentally prepare myself, but it turns out it’s called anxiety! It was scary but exciting, but I don’t think I had any tangible idea of what it would be like in real life or in my career after that. … It was a big old jump. I was so green and really didn’t know what I was doing, but I had enough confidence to not be sick every day.
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Simon Emmett
What was the most challenging part of the role? I think the most challenging were the emotional scenes, the scenes where he goes into psychosis. I would have tackled them with a much more relaxed mindset, but looking back, I was so new. … I put myself under so much pressure. Any of those dramatic scenes were difficult for me, but I look back and think we did a good job.
Since I’ve been working, I’ve shot three things for Netflix Queen Charlotte and in two of them I did scenes in rooms that have a massive portrait of King George III because many of them have stately homes in them. It was so strange to step onto that set, ready to be a new person and then see it! Now it’s on my shoulder.”
If you were a member of the royal family, which perk do you think you would enjoy the most? I would spend a four-day week. I would buy myself a season ticket to Anfield and watch Liverpool play every other week. I’m a big Liverpool fan and nobody could say no to the king, right? And maybe a meet and greet with the whole team or I could just be a Liverpool player. In fact, I would do that, I would just play for Liverpool and nobody could say no.
How did the fans react to you before and after the show? There were no fans beforeQueen Charlotte and I must say that for the most part it was really nice. It’s still weird for me and I’m not sure I’ll ever get to the point where I’m completely confident and comfortable with these people that I don’t know and yet they know me, it’s a very surreal experience to meet fans and show on the street. It’s really nice and it’s just a spontaneous expression of respect for something that I’ve been a part of and I’m very proud to be a part of.
Half the art is to be good and touching, to mean something and to be true; half of it is that it must be witnessed and understood. It can’t be just for the artist. It is confirmation from the world that half the job is well done and that people have responded to it.
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Kent & Curwen shirt and trousers. Hanes tank. Axel Arigato sneakers. Meuri jewelry.
Simon Emmett
Is there a memorable or funny encounter that sticks in your memory? I met a fan in Paris and she made me laugh a lot. She said something like… she apologized and said, “I’m so sorry to tell you that,” and I got worried for a second, and she said, “I just can’t see, you’re not sexy,” and I said, “Oh okay, you don’t have to find me sexy, no one does.”
Then she said, “You should really change your hair.” She really looked at me and really the gist was, “It’s not working right now, maybe it could work, but I don’t have much hope.” I really liked it because in this industry so many people tend to blow smoke up your ass and it was a real antidote to that. I really didn’t hope so.
Where have you been? I was at Paris Fashion Week and I was with Kit Connor [Heartstopper] at that time. I found it very funny and we just looked at each other, both thinking we’ll laugh later, we’ll laugh later. How ironic, doing this shoot today, this is for [her]!
Shall we send her a copy? Yes, I think so. She might not like my hair though.
If you weren’t an actor, what would you be doing? I would like to do something that has to do with history. If I hadn’t gone to drama school, I would have studied history. I mean Indiana Jones, out in the field, a little action, a little shooting, and keeping the great chronicles of the world real, alone with a cowboy hat and a whip.
There’s still time, right? I don’t see any obstacle to that! I would [also] he loved being a football coach. Maybe when I have kids, I could train them. Born in the same hospital as David Beckham, same part of London, that’s as close as I got.
What does a perfect match involve? If I’m not looking Friendsi think i might go for a drink around holborn and then go to a comedy club, going to see new comics would be perfect for a date. Either it will be awful and you can laugh or it will be great and you will laugh. Maybe have something to eat in Camden at one of the stalls and go for a walk along the river, maybe drink some mulled wine if it’s winter.
When did you first realize you were famous? I don’t think I’m famous, I think some people know me from that show. We did media the day it came out in May and I got a flight two days later and someone at the airport, one of the security guys, recognized me even though I was wearing a Covid mask, a hat and sunglasses. I remember being very nervous, my heart was pounding and I saw in the selfie we took how red my face was. Then there was a flight I went on maybe a week later and the flight attendant asked me to come to the back of the plane to take a picture, and then suddenly there was a carousel of four or five flight attendants lined up. I’m really uncomfortable with it, I’m just very British and uncomfortable. Unless I’m on stage as a character, I’m just not completely comfortable with it, but I’m getting better.
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Simon Emmett
What kept you grounded? That fan in Paris helped! I have the best most amazing people in my life and I love them all. They are really reasonable but brilliant and witty people, and you are your habits, and many of your habits come from the people you spend time with. No idea about size. I think the fact that I struggled a bit with it, my nervousness about it all, I guess helped me a bit because I took a different path and felt more self-aware, definitely not like the king of the world!
What’s on your bucket list? I want to scuba dive, I want to get a driver’s license, I want to bungee jump and skydive. I remember saying this when I was 12: “I never want to be famous, but I want to be famous enough to be invited to play a charity game at Anfield at some point in my life” because I had a crush on Steven Gerrard. That would be the end of my life. I would also like to travel and hopefully feel established enough in the industry that I can take some time off and travel properly.
What makes you happy? Games. Any kind of games. I love playing games, board games, word games, I love the idea of making up games, really silly things, but I’ve been told they’re really boring. I love karting and I really want to go paintballing again. Basically what makes me happy is spending time with people where everyone is relaxed, I just switch off with the people I love, that’s what really fills the satisfaction bar, more than anything. I also play soccer, but I can’t now because I pushed the disc itself. I went to an acupuncturist and he works wonders!
Describe what you hope your life will look like in 10 years? Ask God. I have no idea I would like to be a dad and I am lucky enough to have a partner [whom he has not named] who can [see] I have life with me. If I’m lucky enough to still be here, I’d like to have a better work-life balance and control my time a bit better, I’d like to be a better actor in every other sense, be gentler on myself and therefore have more time and space to be a better person towards everyone around me and to be in a position to help those around me.
By 36 I’d like to have a child by then, while I can still be athletically built … but of course they’d already have immortality invented by the time I have a child so I’d probably be fine. I will be immortal.
What is sexy? Humility is sexy. When someone is really amazing at what they do and almost ashamed of it. You are so good at this thing that it seems like a gift sent from above, yet you are not egotistical, you are generous with other people, that is really sexy as well as attractive, that is a quality that would attract me and my friends, that is a real s- –.
Merits
Photographer Simon Emmett
Groomer Josh Knight/ A-Frame Agency
Produced by Caudalie/ Hair Sam McKnight
Stylist Holly White / The Wall Group
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education