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Interview with The Borgias' Colm Feore

By perezrichie on | From perezrichie.com

Interview with The Borgias' Colm Feore

Every generation has a handful of actors who aren't just good actors -- they are great at their craft. FromSteven King'sStorm of the Centuryand24toThe Chronicles of RiddickandThor,Colm Feorehas given audiences one brilliant and memorable performance after another over the years.

Colm's latest role in Showtime'sThe Borgiasfinds Feore playing historical figurehead Giuliano Della Rovere, the 15th century Cardinal who has made it his mission to oust Rodrigo Borgia from the papacy... by any means necessary. History tells us that Della Rovere becomes Pope Julius II in 1503.

I had the honor of speaking with this amazing and incredibly sweet actor about his role on the hit series, which TV shows he watches on a regular basis and the best advice he was given as he came up through the ranks.

Q: Tell us aboutThe Borgias...

Colm:"This is Rome, 1492 and a man named Rodrigo Borgia wants the papacy really, really bad and tries to take over the world. He becomes like the Godfather; he takes care of his own and wants to conquer the world through Catholicism and power-brokering with all of the neighboring countries. I am his arch rival and nemesis, I wanted to become Pope too, but he beats me to it because he is a criminal. He lies, cheats dissembles, cheats, screws, poisons, stabs, eviscerates -- and the big thing is, he thinks it's god's will!"

Q: And your character...

Colm:"Cardinal Giuliano Della Rovere was a rival with Rodrigo for the papacy. Years before when they were trying to elect another pope, they split the vote and they couldn't agree on who would take over. Interestingly enough, my character historically becomes Pope Julius II, although they do try to kill me a lot, they don't quite succeed. He's the pope who commissioned the Sistine Chapel from Michelangelo, the Rafael rooms in the Vatican; he obviously had an enormous amount of taste. He was a real Renaissance pope and that's one of the fascinating things about the series, you're looking at the birth of the Renaissance."

Q: Do you feel the show accurately portrays the history of this family, as well as the events that took place?

Colm:"Oh yes as far as we can. Neil Jordan is a brilliant film maker, a wonderful writer who is obviously interested in something being historically accurate as a foundation. There are so many conflicting elements in the research. Obviously, the winners write history, so if you've got people who don't like the Borgias, they're going to write a very desolatory history and it's not going to be very helpful. On the other hand, you balance that out and look at six or seven different histories. Neil has taken some imaginative leaps, but mostly he's constrained by history."

Q: Did you have to do much research about Della Rovere?

Colm:"Yes, absolutely. I've done masses of it."

Q: Your character will ultimately become the Pope, do you think the series will go that far into time?

Colm:"I have no authority to say this, but I would imagine when Jeremy Irons takes his last breath as Rodrigo, we may be done. It is their story after all. I don't know if they're into papal spinoffs, but I think Julius II has a nice ring to it."

Q: Which season one episode stands out the most to you?

Colm:"The last one I saw was episode 7, where my character gets the French king on board and ride down through Italy on his way to Rome to depose the Borgia pope. I've asked for an army to come in and the Italians aren't used to an army really at each other's throats and blowing stuff up - they were very civilized. They were used to a few people getting killed, but not the whole-scale slaughter that happens at Lucca. The Siege of Lucca is a horrible, horrible shock to him because for the first time, he realizes what he has set in motion. It's a watershed moment for my character."

Q: What was your favorite role?

Colm:"They're like your children, you love them all. I tend to gravitate more towards the ones that have been enormously important in my life. I did a very interesting little film calledThirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gouldand that small Canadian film is what got meStorm of the Century. For television, the role of Linoge inStorm of the Centuryhas to be one of my favorites."

Q:Storm of the Centuryhas always been one of my favorite movies...

Colm:"I'm so glad you think so, it was such a wonderful thing to work on. Stephen King and Craig (Baxley), who directed it, are just the nicest people in the world. Don't think I haven't dined out regularly and still do with "give me what I want and I'll go away." At the end of filming, they gave me one of the silver-headed canes. On Halloween, I can occasionally be seen answering the front door with a chain in hand and a yellow glove and some people just flip out. I just generally dress like that since I live in Canada most of the time -- it's cold here so I usually have a big blue Peabody jacket and a skullcap and people get weirded out."

Q: What was the best advice you've been given about acting?

Colm:"Don't go to the party until you're invited. The other piece of advice I was given was to keep showing up, just keep going, keep doing it. I've never failed to learn something from every show I've been on. I've always net delightful, interesting people who have had a different perspective or technical achievement."

Q: Do you follow any TV shows on a regular basis?

Colm:"I watch what my kids tell me to watch. Right now, we're pretty fond ofGlee. It's a big hit in our house.Law & Order: SVUis always reliable."

Q: What would you like to say to the fans?

Colm:"Oh goodness, thank you and keep watching! I'll keep working and you keep watching and hopefully we'll both go on for a long, long time."

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