Q&A: Devon Terrell Talks 'Cursed' And Representation In The World Of Fantasy

The new Netflix series "Cursed" is a re-imagining of the familiar King Arthur story, as seen through the eyes of Nimue, the young girl who will become the pivotal Lady of the Lake. When she meets Arthur, he is a young liar and thief who dreams of someday becoming a knight. But at this point in his life, he's not even an especially good person. Devon Terrell plays Arthur, a young man struggling to become a better person amidst the chaos of war and violence.

I recently spoke with Terrell via a Zoom call and we discussed how he saw the character of Arthur and his role in increasing the representation of POC in the world of fantasy.

Q: Why do you think the Authurian legends still inspire us?

Devon Terrell: I think it's timeless. "Game of Thrones," "Lord of the Rings," "Harry Potter"....you can see the influence of the Arthurian legend in all of that. And I think as children we've all read those stories and taken to a character. And it's got everything - it's got dragons, it's got magic, it's got a Lady in the Lake, it's got a magical sword. Literally any story you want to create, you can create it from that material. It talks a lot about religion. And every country has adopted the Authurian legend in their own way, to fit their culture.

Q: When we've seen Arthur in past depictions, he doesn't always seem fully formed. What was it like for you to fully explore all the possibilities of Arthur while he grows into hopefully a better, more honorable person?

Devon Terrell: I always wanted to step away from the idea of King Arthur. Because to me, that's just a label and I wanted to explore the vulnerabilities of who he is as an everyday person. And every conversation I had with Tom - or anyone involved with the production - it was always "who is this person and how can I bring him to life? And how can I find him through Nimue taking him on this wild journey.?

I guess it was more about vulnerability and wanting to play him with honesty. And in every battle, in every scene, creating that myth. So that the audience sees that and thinks "Oh, that's Arthur, He's going to be King. I see these elements that are going to make him a great leader."

Q: There's been a lot talk about how in many ways this is a very contemporary story. And to me, one of the most interesting things about Arthur is that he struggles with some of the same things someone would struggle with if they lived in Atlanta or Kansas or Montana. At that age, you don't see where you're meant to be, what the end game is for your life. Personally, was this something that resonated with you?

Devon Terrell: I think for a lot of people...unless you're asked to do more, you like to stay in your lane. To live an easy life. And I think the great thing about this story is that through Nimue, he discovers there is more to himself, to what he's meant to be. I resonated a lot with Arthur. Part of doing this role was learning what I needed to bring to the character. And on the other hand, what did I have to push inside myself to do this character justice? 

I think that's the great thing about this role. A lot of people are going to resonate with him and his journey and forget that he's going to be King Arthur. They're going to be drawn to him as a person first.

Q: You talked about what you brought to the character, that you looked inside yourself to discover things you could use to flesh out Arthur. Can you talk a bit more about the specifics of that? Are there some moments or scenes you can point to and say "yeah, I helped make this moment happen?"

Devon Terrell: Partly, it's what I touched on before - the vulnerability. A lot of times he was written as charming and I said "I don't want to play this in a way that we've seen before with this character." It's not like I have an ego, like "I refuse to play it like other people." But it's more of "I want to show layers to this person." I'm the kind of actor where I feel as if I can always get deeper into the core of someone. As a person and as a character. To the point where the audience feels like they know this person. 

That's what I wanted to do with Arthur, to bring him to life. It's always an experiment as an actor. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. For me, it was talking to Tom and saying "I think this is the moment when he breaks down. I think this is the moment when he cracks completely and it's up to Nimue to help him find himself again." Especially in the moments with his family. I really wanted to tap into that. Because that's the moment where the everyday person sitting on the couch will understand. Sometimes you don't understand the person with horns. But you understand the dynamic of why they're breaking down in front of each other. 

Q: This may be the most diverse Arthurian cast ever. So what pressure - if any - did you feel taking on the character of Arthur as a black actor?

Devon Terrell: As a young black man playing any role you have to think about what the role means in your community and what it means in the world sense. But this role was special. I love Harry Potter, I love "Lord Of The Rings." I love fantasy. But in those stories, the roles played by people of color weren't generally going to change in the story. They weren't integral to the story.

So I was very excited by this opportunity, to be part of this. To be somewhere where you're surrounded by people of color. By different people of color. Different genders and races. That's what the world looks like. And fantasy hasn't always been inclusive to everyone. So to bring in a new audience to this world, it was exciting. Because the more people we can bring in, the more we can share the things that are wonderful about this world. Because I love comic books. I love everything fantasy. And I believe the more inclusive we are, the better the industry will be.

Q: Along those lines, as I was sitting here listening to you, it struck me that whether it's action movies or even more specifically in fantasy stories, there aren't a lot of non-white actors that have starred in this genre. There don't seem to be a lot of opportunities and many of the ones there are end up being characters that aren't fleshed out or real people an audience can gravitate to. When you took the role of Arthur, was this something you thought about going into the production?

Devon Terrell: Yeah, even seeing some of the reviews of KiKi Layne's performance in "The Old Guard." She's a phenomenal actress and seeing the new generation of people like her and John Boyega having an impact. When he got that role in "Star Wars" and there was this backlash, I was like "he's great." This is what we need.

It's one of those things that - when given the right opportunity to succeed  - with something like "Cursed," you have Netflix behind it, it has so many incredible elements to it. So I was put into a position to hopefully succeed. 

I don't look at this and think "Oh, I need to play this character as a black man." Some people think I got this role because they were just trying to pick a diverse person. They're trying to take it in that direction. But I know for a fact that I earned the role in the audition room. And that every color and every race went for this role and I ended up getting it. And know that, I felt empowered to know I'm the best person for this role. I'm not doing anyone any favors. 

If I bring my authenticity to the role, it goes beyond color and all of that. But at the same time, to know that young black and brown kids of every gender and every race can watch this, to go to Comic-Con and dress up as Arthur - or any character in this story - is so exciting to me. Because I know that I never felt welcomed in that world completely.

Q: I'm assuming that you've seen the entire finished season now. What was your reaction when you saw everyone's work edited together and in a coherent final product?

Devon Terrell: It's so different because you're only a small piece of the puzzle when you're on set. Visual effects is such a major part of it. But also, I didn't work with a lot of the other actors all that much. I knew them as people outside of work, but I never knew them from the show itself. Peter Mullen is one of my idols and I never got to work with him, unfortunately. But we're in the same show.

It's one of those things where you knew people were doing something over there. But you needed to concentrate on keeping your work grounded and trust that your work felt real because you didn't know what other people were doing. It was exciting. But at the same time extremely terrifying because you worried you were overreacting. But everything came together and it all works. And by episode ten, you're "Oh, I'm am totally into this!" I was worried about some of the stuff I shot for episode ten because I couldn't figure out how it all would come together. But it does and it's fantastic.

Q: Some of the other actors have discussed that some of the shooting was very difficult. Was that your experience as well? Are there any challenges in particular that stand out to you?

Devon Terrell: One of the most challenging things is shooting for ten months. And you have to stay at a certain fitness level the entire time to be able to do some of those stunts. There's a battle scene in the final episode of the season and we shot it in Cornwall. And the weather there goes from rain and storming to sunshine in sixty seconds. I actually had gastro and flu on the day we did that. And I was all over the shot and we were doing this huge battle scene that we had been looking forward to for ten months. And it went together beautifully in terms of how it looks. But when I see it, I go through the pain of living through that day personally.

Q: Speaking of the battle scenes, I noticed that your swordsmanship is very distinctive, it's not the style you'd typically see in a show like this. What kind of training did you go through and how would you describe your style of fighting? I did notice a bit of Kung Fu in there.

Devon Terrell: It was one of those things where we talked from the very beginning about fighting styles. And we wanted to stick to what you would have seen at this time in history. At the same time, there are some contemporary elements to things. I talked to my coach and explained that Daniel (the Weeping Monk) was very swift and very precise. Very small movements but they're very effective. And then Katherine had a more flowing style with the sword. And my style was more comparable to Mike Tyson, where he was just a brawler. He said that if there's something to throw at them, you throw it at them. You just survive to live.

But there are elements - especially with the Weeping Monk - that are more contemporary. Hopefully people get that differences and gravitate towards the style they prefer. My whole thing was just t get in there and win.

Q: Speaking of the swordsmanship, you were dealing with some pretty cool weapons on set? Did you manage to grab anything when it was all over?

Devin Terrell: It's funny, I actually got sent the sword I used in the show. I got this huge package and I had no idea what it was. Unfortunately I can't take it outside, because who know what would happen if I was walking around the streets carrying a sword. I'm going to get it framed and it's a super cool piece. 

The entire first season of "Cursed" is now available globally on Netflix.