For beloved U.S. born, Canada-based actor Colm Feore, flying out to Budapest to don the holy robes of real-life religious figure Cardinal della Rovere in the second season of Neil Jordan’s hit cable series The Borgias is just business as usual, though it’s a glorious business indeed.
Feore — one of our most respected and admired performers — is used to essaying melodramatic roles that require layers of costuming, from his turns in Shakespeare on the Stratford stage, to his roles as heavily made-up heavies in blockbusters like Chronicles of Riddick and Thor. But with The Borgias, there’s an extra dimension to the dark drama and intrigue: sex.
“I think Neil got all the exposition and setup out of the way in the first season,” admits the actor. “Now we can focus on the juicy stuff, the killing … and, of course, the screwing.”
The?Borgias charts the steeped-in-fact saga of the controversial, near mythical Renaissance Italian family, led by Rodrigo Borgia (Jeremy Irons) who, after he becomes Pope Alexandre VI, leads his brood into all manner of power mad, political and yes, lethal and lurid, misadventures.
For those not caught up to speed on the series (which airs on both Bravo! And CTV in Canada), the complete, uncut season one hits DVD on Aug. 30, the perfect primer for the even more visceral second go around which is scheduled to air later this year.
“The family keep trying to kill me in this season,” Feore says of his character, the chief adversary of Pope Alexandre/ Rodrigo Borgia.
“So I’m trying to stay out of trouble but also trying to get rid of Borgia. I’ve tried to bring in the French army and other forces but he’s bought ‘em all off, he owns the place, so I have to resort to more extreme measures. I’m the bin Laden of the piece, if you will, and it’s all great fun.”
