James Norton has revealed that he broke his collarbone and bit an extra's nose during filming for the new BBC drama King and Conqueror. The eight-part series, which premiered over the weekend, tells the story of the 1066 conflict between King Harold and William the Conqueror.
The 40-year-old actor, who has been linked to the role of James Bond, recalled how he fell off a horse during rehearsals just days before a scheduled break. 'I fell off a horse and I landed on my shoulder,' Norton told The Times. 'It was a remarkably quick recovery and it didn't affect shooting. Luckily we dealt with it. The collarbone recovers very quickly. It was just quite painful.'
In a separate incident, Norton bit an extra on the nose during a battle scene, breaking the skin. The director, Baltasar Kormakur, had instructed Norton to attack the soldier played by the extra. 'I literally bit his nose. The poor guy. I went through his skin. It was terrible. The following day the guy came into rehearsals with a huge bandage,' Norton said.
Despite the mishap, the scene was kept in the final cut. 'I'm so happy for the extra that we kept it in there,' director Baltasar admitted. Norton described the nose-biting as a 'stroke of genius' befitting of an 11th-century battlefield.
The actor also noted that some of the Battle of Hastings scenes feature authentic yelps of pain due to his collarbone injury. 'In some of the battle scenes in the latter half of the shoot, I'm yelping very loudly and the yelps are pretty authentic,' he said.
King and Conqueror launched on BBC One on Sunday, August 24.
