13 thoughts on “Episode 34: Meet the Actor: Colin Morgan”

1. I listened to this episode and wanted to comment that a lot of Colin’s stuff is available on Amazon Prime at least the US side, they have Parked, Humans, the Living and the Dead, Testament of Youth, and Merlin which is also on Britbox. I found Island on Google Play

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2. Great podcast. So glad to hear from rocknvaughn. She knows soooo much. 😀

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3. Wow I cannot believe you didn’t include the role which sparked a brief but beautiful furry section of the Merthur fandom (waaaaaay before Arthur’s donkey ears) ?

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4. Colin is known for not being a fan of celebrity culture and he’s really meticulous about not becoming a part of it. Which I think is really amazing because a lot of people are all talk but then do the same thing that they criticize.

   I love the little snippets of Colin’s personality shining through during behind the scenes, bloopers, interviews, and photoshoots. We know about his dark sense of humour from others, but he’s also delightfully cheeky and can do very spontaneous stuff when you least expect it. But all of that happens only when he’s feeling really comfortable and safe which, again, is just so relatable for me.

   Being introvert myself, I admire any introverted person who chooses such a traditionally extroverted profession. But I also understand why Colin went with it. He’s obviously loved acting ever since he was a tiny irish muffin, and I’m sure that his family’s support played a big role in him actually following his dream.

   But while he’s introverted, he’s definitely not shy. I’d say that he’s mainly very careful and guarded in situations that are not completely comfortable for him, but otherwise… I always remember that amazingly descriptive tumblr post where someone who wasn’t even a fan of his describes meeting 2012 buff Colin at Comic Con and nearly swooning, and Colin winking at her. (https://elirwen.tumblr.com/post/182014882231/guessimaclotpole-goddammitstacey-feettootie)

   As for the vegetarian/vegan thing, there was the interview from 2012 where Colin himself said that’s he’s vegetarian (and that he loves to cook). It might have changed since then, but it’s also possible that others perceive him as vegan. Maybe he chooses vegan options when out and about just because it’s easier that way, but at home he might be ok with free range eggs and honey and stuff like that. We won’t know for sure unless he talks about it somewhere again of course. 🙂
   The interview is here: https://ethical-hedonist.com/2012/03/09/colin-morgan-interview/

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5. Nothing to Confess is definitely scary. I get goosebumps every time I watch it. That cold look in his eyes!

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   The Catherine Tate Show sketch is pure gold. I love it so much. I’m still hoping we might get to see him in a bigger comedy project one day (and I’m glad to hear that Benjamin is comedic so I might get my wish fulfilled sooner than I thought).

   Also, it gave us this brilliant post: http://tocamelotandhogwarts.tumblr.com/post/182250524086/colandbradhappilymarried-merthurisbrolintoo

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   Midnight is my most favourite episode of season 4 of DW and maybe even most favourite episode of renewed DW. And it’s not even because of Colin. Colin is just a very nice bonus. I love the atmosphere and the moral of the story.

   Midnight was where I’ve seen Colin for the first time and it was one of the reasons why I started watching Merlin later in the year. I remember that it came out in June 2008 and then when the trailer for Merlin aired I was like “I know that guy! He was in that DW episode!” DW fandom was my main fandom back then (because Tennant is my Doctor), so even just that tiny role was motivation enough to start watching. (And I love fantasy and magic of course, so that was the main motivation.)

   I totally love Colin’s video diaries for that episode. He’s just being all sort of cute with his emo look and looking all soft and sleepy while complaining about catching cold. <3
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_XedkV2w9Y

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   I did finally watch Parked (this podcast actually provided the much needed push to finally watch the less pleasant part of Colin's filmography, so thank you for that) and it was a really beautiful movie (but I definitely can't handle watching Colin die onscreen and I'll never look at fireworks the same).

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   Island is another one of those movies that I watched recently and oh boy, I hate that movie. It's not bad in quality sense, but it's definitely really icky. Colin handled his character really well though.

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   The only thing apart from the pictures that I have from 24 hour musical is this behind the scenes video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9EYfatGQwY&t=5s
   There's also Anthony there. 🙂

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6. You skipped Tempest but I won’t. 🙂 While I still don’t entirely understand what was happening there because Shakespearean English is a challenge and I was too lazy to read the whole play in czech translation, I really enjoyed watching Colin parkour around the stage and being ethereal and deliciously buff in that tight costume.

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   I’m still so sad about not getting to see Mojo. It had Colin and Ben Whishaw together in the same play! I’ll be crying about it forever.

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   I didn’t know about the bit that Gillian Anderson might have asked him to be her boy toy, but I love that. 😀

   Fall is very difficult to watch. I would not watch it again. It’ll be just rewatching Colin’s scenes for me. I love Jamie Dornan but he did absolutely perfect job here because I hated his guts.

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   Testament of Youth is the last movie that I finally made myself watch thanks to this podcast. I cried for an hour at least. It was absolutely heartbreaking. What I really appreciated though were the costumes. Colin looked so incredibly dashing.

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   I really like Humans. The parallels between real life and the worldbuilding of the show are rather depressing, but there’s some hope there in between all the darkness, even if just a tiny bit.

   I liked how Colin handled Leo’s character progress. He goes through many traumatic experiences (and I am a big fan of whump so of course I enjoyed that) and it leaves its scars, both physical and psychological. Leo is just so young and his life has been linked to trying to keep his synth friends safe, he doesn’t even know what it is to live his own life properly. And when he’s suddenly on his own, without any immediate task or mission, he’s just all wide-eyed and fluffy-haired and uncertain.

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7. I watched only Colin’s scenes in Legend and the only thing that I remember clearly is the scene where he leans out of the window wearing a tank top, and I did enjoy that view very much.

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   Cry Babies was a strange audio play, but I kinda liked it.

   I’m sure it’s on youtube somewhere, but it’s also possible to buy a digital copy here: https://store.ladbrokeradio.com/track/cry-babies

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   Good Omens was a great audio play and Colin was so funny in it. I know it’s available on dailymotion, and it’s not surprising that a Colin fan uploaded it there. xD

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   The Living and the Dead is just so amazing. The scenery, the costumes, the plot. Colin’s whole look! I spent half of the first episode making inhuman noises because of his perfection while a friend of mine patted me on the back in sympathy. (It was the first time she admitted that he’s not a tiny baby anymore.) 😀

   The writer for the show talked about what would be in season 2 when it was clear that renewal would not happen, and I’m almost glad that season 2 didn’t get filmed because it would most likely end up being really dark and depressing, with no happy end in sight.

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   He looks so pretty in The Huntsman. And even when he had pretty much just one line of dialogue, he managed to sell it really nicely. Also, you can actually see his character’s death in the trailer. xD

   I loved all the gifs and manips and stuff that this teeny tiny role gave us.

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   I was scared to watch The Laughing King because of the topic, but I really liked it in the end. I love Colin’s fluffy hair in it. And his smile in the behind the scenes video is just so bright and happy. And the hair-fluffing dream job is there.
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oum9YIVno4A

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8. Gloria was my first play that I got to see in London and it definitely did set the bar high. It was really great production. Colin’s performance was obviously stellar, and when he landed on the stage right in front of me (I got a front row ticket for my first viewing), I swear my heart has stopped and then went into full overdrive. I remember I sat there in stunned silence for a few seconds when the curtain fell and then just said “fuck” and someone answered “yeah”. 😀

   I liked theatre before I went, but that one night made me fall in love with it really hard.

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   I’m so looking forward to Waiting for You. The pics from that and the trailer… he’s just so gorgeous.

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   I watched Translations five times and loved it every single time. And I wrote 5 separate posts about it. 😀
   Press Night: https://elirwen.tumblr.com/post/174512726269/colin-morgan-in-translations
   2nd viewing: https://elirwen.tumblr.com/post/175252575594/i-would-just-like-to-say-that-colin-lying-down-in
   3rd viewing: https://elirwen.tumblr.com/post/175283704239/today-id-like-to-concentrate-on-colins-lovely
   4th viewing: https://elirwen.tumblr.com/post/175319578909/colin-morgan-in-translations-4th-viewing
   Final performance: https://elirwen.tumblr.com/post/177058597059/colin-morgan-in-translations-final-performance

   In short, Colin was (surprise!) absolutely amazing. He was so full of energy, so alive, showing so many emotions. I had a front row central seat for the final performance, meaning Colin spent several minutes lying right in front of me, and that experience will stay with me for the rest of my life. Seriously, if you can go see Colin in theatre, go! You won’t regret it.

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9. The Happy Prince was not a very happy film, but it was not supposed to be. I didn’t like Colin’s look when we got to see him in that one instagram post, but it really works in the film itself. A friend of mine said that he looks like Lestat, and she is totally right. That scene in the evening when he’s wearing the while shirt. So dreamy. I won’t watch the whole film again, but I will definitely rewatch Colin’s scenes again.
   And here’s my complete review of Colin’s performance: https://elirwen.tumblr.com/post/171023777014/colin-morgan-in-the-happy-prince

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   I am really looking forward to Benjamin. I’m still hoping that it will get an international release. From the looks of it, it seems like something that could actually be somewhat uplifting if not outright happy movie, and I’m all for that.

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   The Rising is probably never gonna be filmed. That project seems kinda shady.

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   The Mourne Chronicles is just so beautiful to watch (and listen to). You might end up with huge craving to visit Northern Ireland after watching it. 😀

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   His Loki in Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology is just such a little shit. I laughed really hard. But it’s not all fun and games, it gets quite dark by the end. But not depressingly dark I’d say. Also, because it’s Loki he’s playing, he gets to do his female voice again. 🙂

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   Audio works you skipped:

   Keeping in Touch – a short audio play. Nothing special but nothing bad either. It’s still downloadable somewhere.

   Addict’s Symphony – it’s a documentary that he narrated and it’s on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8E2NWDgc8w

   The Coming of the Martians – an audio adaptation of The War of the Worlds. It’s really amazingly done. The quality of sound and the sound effects are incredible. I love it to pieces and recommend anyone to buy a digital copy from the Sherwood Sound Studios webpage.
   Here’s my review of Colin’s performance: https://elirwen.tumblr.com/post/176524859799/colin-morgan-in-the-coming-of-the-martians

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10. Colin definitely is quite different on stage and in front of a camera. His movie/tv show acting is more civil because that’s what that platform needs. But when he gets on stage… Whoa… He oozes charisma and energy.

    When he’s the centre of attention, he owns the stage. You can’t take your eyes off him. But he’s not an attention hogger. He’s amazing in supporting role too. He’s fully focused no matter whether he’s delivering a monologue or sitting in the background, not just following the motions as he very well could when the attention is on others but giving it his all at any time.

    Also, and this is just my guess, I think our sweet muffin might be quite high on adrenaline and dopamine during his theatre performances and he loves every second of it. He even talked about being very energetic and bouncy when doing theatre, running up and down the hallways just to let off steam.

    It might be one of the reasons why he doesn’t do stage door. The adrenaline and dopamine drop combined with the usual exhaustion from being on stage might mean that he’s just done for the night the moment the curtain drops. I’m drawing from my introvert experience here, but once you get past certain threshold of social exhaustion, further social contact is the most unappealing thing ever, especially a social contact that has you feeling so uncertain and insecure (And he definitely still doesn’t know how to deal with fans, which I don’t blame him for. I wouldn’t know how to deal with clearly starstruck and/or embarrassingly blabbing fans either. 😀 )

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    He does research for his roles and tries to portray the character as well as he can. But what I really like is that he doesn’t carry it home with him, that he doesn’t stay in the role in between takes when interacting with others, that he can immerse himself in the role while not losing the sense of his own self in the process. (I know that some actors live and breathe the character for months, but I’m not a fan of that approach. It seems like an unhealthy behaviour to me.)

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11. I love him in The Living and the Dead the most. It’s just such a journey. He really gave it his best and was absolutely amazing.

    I think the only reason why he wasn’t nominated for that role is because BBC buried the show. They did almost no promotion for the show, then released it straight to iplayer, and then aired it and used the low ratings as an excuse to not give it a second season. And I’m not well-versed in how the awards work so correct me if I’m wrong, but BBC would actually have to come forward and suggest the show and Colin for nominations which of course they did not do because then people would ask why the show didn’t get another season.

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    I love all the scenes you mentioned.

    For my most favourite scene, I’m going to go mainstream. I just love that scene in the crystal cave when he’s trapped and so hopeless and hits the wall and screams. It gives me chills every time I see it. Such a raw emotion.

    Then I’ll go for Translations. The part where he lies at the front of the stage while his father talks to Adetomiwa’s character and he is reacting to what they’re talking about and you can see that he’s hurting. He was actually crying, wiping tears away every few moments.

    And then my hurt/comfort loving self totally loved the scene in Humans after they escape from the lab. And then spoilery thing happens and Leo breaks down and Max finds him there and hugs him and leads him away. Colin is like a ragdoll in his arms, looking so small, so confused, so lost.

    Of course, Colin is absolute whump expert and I love it.

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    I totally love the scene momo chose. That’s some quality fanficy “I want you safe so I have to break your heart” stuff right there.

    My first favourite line delivery would be the “be careful” when he’s about to confront Agravaine. Minimalist, I know, but I just love the way he says it.

    And then I love the moment when he reveals his magic to ghost!Uther.

    And finally I totally love the monologue near the end of “Coming of the Martians” where he’s describing seeing the Martians in London. It’s very melodic and has amazing gradation.

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12. I think you didn’t mention that it will be possible to see “All My Sons” in selected cinemas thanks to the NTL broadcast on 14th May 2019, so that would be my first recommendation.

    Then, apart from what you already said, I would totally recommend listening to “The Coming of the Martians.”

    And I would definitely recommend DW 4×10 Midnight. You don’t even have to know Doctor Who to understand the story. It works very well as a standalone.

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    I keep forgetting to say this because I’m a terrible commenter, but thanks for all the work you put into this podcast. It’s a real joy to listen to. And not just when it’s two hours of talking about Colin. 😀

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13. What is TM please?

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