In Season 2 of Sanditon, which airs on Masterpiece on PBS, Charlotte Heywood (Rose Williams) returns to the coastal resort with her effervescent sister (Rosie Graham) at the same time a company of Army officers takes up temporary residence in town. Even though Charlotte feels disillusioned with love, new romantic opportunities present themselves, and she embarks on a journey of discovery that will not only teach her about herself but open her up to the possibility of sharing her life with someone else.
During this 1-on-1 interview with Collider, Tom Weston-Jones (who plays war hero Colonel Lennox, one of Charlotte’s possible suitors) talked about how he got involved with the show, initially auditioning for the role of Alexander Colbourne, working on such an immersive project, how he felt putting on the uniform, the duality of the character, and the relationship between Lennox and Charlotte. He also talked about returning for Season 3 of Warrior and how excited he is that the series has found a new life on HBO Max.
Collider: How did you get involved with the show? How did this role come your way?
TOM WESTON-JONES: It was quite simple, really. It was the normal avenue of auditioning. I got the script, and it was quite a quick turnaround. I was in mind for Colbourne first and auditioned for that part, a couple of months before filming started. Lennox was a bit of a curveball. As soon as I got the character notes and where they envisaged him going, and what he reveals and who he is, and the fact that there’s a public-facing persona and something quite different in private, I immediately jumped at it because I just thought it sounded really interesting. So, it was quite a quick turnaround, as soon as I found out who the man was and what he was about.
When that happens, and they come to you and say that you should do a different role, instead of the one you were originally auditioning for, what do you think? How did you feel about that?
WESTON-JONES: I worked on Dickensian years ago, and the characters shared a similarity, in that they are not necessarily who they present on the surface. So, I think they knew I was capable of that and that I’m capable of playing someone who might be utilizing social skills and playing people off of each other. I hope it’s not an indication of me, personally and that it’s more an indication of me, as an actor.
With this project, there are definitely a few factors that must add to the nerves or the pressure and responsibility of doing a job like this. First of all, it’s a Jane Austen story. On top of that, you’re playing a love interest in a Jane Austen story. And then, you’re stepping into play this character in a story where fans were a little bit upset that they didn’t get their happily ever after in the first season. What was it like to take all of that on? Do you ever get nervous about anything like that, or is it just an exciting challenge?
WESTON-JONES: In simple terms, I think I would get nervous, if I really paid attention to it. I tend to focus on the granular level, when it comes to projects and characters. I try not to think about the big picture too much and what that character represents to people or what I represent to people. Of course, those thoughts do crop up. I’d be lying, if I said they didn’t, but I tried not to focus on it. It didn’t really get to me too much. The responsibility in paying respect to the text is unusual with this project because my character isn’t involved in the original text. A lot of it is invented, which I found quite liberating because I was able to dive into the source material and other Austen things, but at my own leisure. I was able to focus more on the period itself and finding touchstones for people around at the time. The source material is really firsthand diaries. That’s what I dove into, and then used the extra Jane Austen material as background reading whilst I was shooting, as something to wash over me. I didn’t really wanna focus too much on the responsibility or the pressure that was there.
You’ve done a few projects where you’re in a different time period, and it creates its own world. What is it like to walk onto set the first day, on a project like this, and like those projects? Does it affect what you need to do, as an actor? Does it inform the character, once you’re there, and you’re in the wardrobe, and you’re speaking in that style of language and everybody is all dressed up on the sets?
WESTON-JONES: It’s quite amazing and, I suppose, overwhelming when I first started out, being dropped into a world that someone has built for you. I try not to think too much about the period and that overtaking my perception of the people and the relationships. Some actors, and of course I don’t wanna name names, put an arm's length between them and the characters, if they think that they’re stepping into a time that is separate. The great thing is, if the project is immersive enough, you don’t really have to do too much work on the day to really picture yourself there. That’s quite an obvious thing to say, but it is amazing, the difference it can make just as soon as you put the shoes on. It’s finding that balance for me, between knowing that these people did move differently and they had different sensibilities, but also making sure that you aren’t alienating yourself or the audience from them. That’s something that I always try to strike when doing a period thing.
What was it like to put on the uniform? Does that change your posture and the way you hold yourself?
WESTON-JONES: Drastically, yeah. As soon as I put that on, I just felt like I wanted to walk on stage and sing Queen or something. I wanted to sing Freddy Mercury’s back catalog. It was just so flamboyant and powerful and striking and arrogant. It changes everything, really. The boots were the hardest thing to find. I try to get on site with the costume department as early as possible and borrow the shoes, so I can wear them in a bit, feel comfortable in them, and get used to them. Luckily, the boots they managed to source were amazing. They were quite painful, for the first few weeks, but that’s the way it goes with breaking in leather shoes for horse riding. That’s just the way it happens.
This is a character who comes with a certain level of respect because he is a Colonel and he’s in charge of all these soldiers, but we don’t know enough about him in the beginning to know whether he’s deserving of that respect. Did he feel like someone that was challenging to get to know and figure out, or do you feel like you had a pretty good sense of who he really is, even with that duality from the beginning?
WESTON-JONES: That’s a really good question. You’re introduced to him through Tom Parker, in some respects, talking about him as a war hero, how decorated he is, and how celebrated he is. What I enjoyed and what I got peak into, from the first episode script, was that there was obviously something else going on. There’s a facade, and there’s also a side that he really discovers with Charlotte. It’s something that is emergent from their first meeting. It’s not instant. Reading a lot of the journals from that period of time, there was an amazing journal with drawings and anecdotes and poems from a soldier in the Peninsula War. A lot of it is fantastical because, like so many people, they wanted people to find their diaries and for them to be imbued with more grandeur than they actually experienced. They wanted to come across as heroes, and there is an element of that with Lennox. Looking at conflicts now, we can see everything and we know everything. So much of it is word of mouth and legacy, and that’s what he carries. When you mention the public face and the private face, those things really intrigued me. I wasn’t too concerned about them. That was just fertile ground that made me believe him more because of that.
You came onto this show with an entire group of soldiers, when you all set up in this camp together. What was it like to have all of those other guys to join the show with? What did you enjoy about working with them?
WESTON-JONES: Oh, they were fantastic. Frank [Blake], Maxim [Ays] and I had quite a separate experience from everybody else, in some respects. On drizzly rainy days, we did feel quite removed. Like any filming experience, everyone bonds through adversity, so we actually ended up having a great time. There were certain details that we wanted to work in and not just be general soldiers. We wanted there to be relationships, hierarchies, tensions, and all that stuff. There was plenty for us to talk about and plan, in between takes while we were waiting for rain to go away.
What did you most enjoy about the relationship dynamic between Lennox and Charlotte, and working with Rose Williams?
WESTON-JONES: I knew instantly that she was very comfortable, and not as a performer, but in the character. It felt like being in a safe pair of hands, really. I could talk to her about any new ideas that I had, and she was very, very open to share with me what her backstory was, and what worked and what didn’t. It was very much an open conversation. I really enjoyed working with Rose. She was really approachable, from the very beginning. To be honest with you, that goes for everybody. It was my first time, joining a show that had already been established. There was a big gap between the first and the second season, and some people would argue that this is a rebooting, but it’s not really. Everyone had relationships and there was a lot of detail that I hadn’t experienced, but everybody welcomed me in and was more than happy to share information. They were all fantastically welcoming.
There are so many layers going on, with the duality of Lennox and with him clearly having some ulterior motives when it comes to the relationship with Charlotte. How do you think he became the guy that he is, by the time he gets to Sanditon? How did you view him?
WESTON-JONES: He’s obviously a beast in the military. He’s obviously someone who really owns that and has really spent a lot of time in a particular corner of society, which has its own rules and hierarchies. But actually, the thing I think he is, above all else, is an opportunist. I think that’s probably true of quite a few of the up-and-comers in the Army, or the Red Coats, at that time. Especially after Waterloo, they were essentially untouchable. The glow had started to fade off of them somewhat, at the point where Sanditon Season 2 starts, and that really is explored more, in the latter part of the season, when people are questioning what their intentions are and whether or not they’re actually there to help the town at all. I really do see him as an opportunist. He isn’t necessarily manipulative. He would never describe himself as that, but he is very, very good at being able to find the truth in the lies. He’s able to lie to people by telling the truth, and he’s a very able reader of people. What I really enjoy about the scenes with Rose, specifically, is that when he’s laying it all out there, he’s telling the truth. He really does feel that way. But at the drop of a hat, he could feel another way and he can change on a dime. I loved that aspect of Lennox. I really enjoyed that duality.
I also tremendously love Warrior and am so glad that show is going to be doing a third season.
WESTON-JONES: I’m gonna be going out and doing Season 3 in a couple of months' time. Much like Sanditon, it’s been resurrected, and I can’t wait to go and do that. They’re building the sets right now. They’ve started rebuilding them. So, I’m excited to step into that again, for sure. At the time the show went off, I had just left social media, for no other reason than personal ones. And then, I heard from various other actors in it, who were still tending the fire, “We need to come back.” I was so cynical. I was like, “Guys, it’s done. Wipe your hands. Come on, move on.” But I’m so glad that they kept pushing because people have really taken to it at HBO Max, so more power to them.
Sanditon airs on Sunday nights on Masterpiece on PBS.