‘Mary & George’: Nicholas Galitzine Reveals the Significance of That Pearl Earring (VIDEO)
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George Villiers is more than just a pretty face. Mary & George needed to cast someone with an “undeniably beautiful” mug, but also the skill to carry the show’s “biggest emotional change,” as creator D.C. Moore says George goes “to quite dark places by the end” of the ridiculously sexy eight-episode Starz drama. Nicholas Galitzine fit that bill.
“I think you will say that Nick is undeniably beautiful,” Moore tells TV Insider of the star, 29. In Mary & George, Galitzine plays the real-life historical figure, who became one of the most influential men in British history alongside his mother, Mary Villiers, played here by the great Julianne Moore. Based on Benjamin Woolley’s non-fiction novel The King’s Assassin, Mary & George depicts the Villiers family’s rise from unfavorable beginnings to the peak of English power.
Galitzine “brilliantly” depicts George’s transformation from the “younger, more inexperienced George,” according to Moore and fellow executive producer Liza Marshall in the video interview above. “The way Nick tracks that across the show is one of the things I’m proudest of what we’ve done in this drama,” Moore adds.
Julianne’s performance in Mary & George is unlike anything viewers have seen her do before. A real Lady MacBeth type, Mary Villiers is the brains (and sometimes brawn) behind George’s success. She’d do the social climbing on her own if she could, but alas, even the most conniving of women can’t undo the patriarchal culture of 17th century England. “If I were a man, and I looked like you, I’d rule the f***ing planet,” Mary tells her second son in the series, who’s moaning and groaning about being sent to France to get some carnal knowledge in the first episodes. “I don’t want to rule the f***ing planet!” Galitzine’s George cries.
That certainly changes as the series goes on. Watch closely and you’ll see that George’s pearl earring seen throughout the limited series gets bigger as George’s influence grows. (History, and the Mary & George trailers, tell us that George does, indeed, win King James I’s favor — played here by Tony Curran in one of his best performances). Galitzine tells TV Insider that this earring “is a sign of wealth and power.”
“[Costume designer] Annie Symons was very smart in allowing the size of this earring to grow as George grew with his power,” Galitzine says of the pearl. Of all the stunning wardrobes of this series, this accessory stands out as a symbol of George’s rise. As for what James thinks of it, Curran says, “King James, he loved a trinket or two,” with a mischievous grin.
The clothes in Mary & George reflect everyone’s status — or at least, the wealth they’re trying to project. “If you look at the clothes that Annie procured for us and we wore, he appeared to be quite affluent, King James. But I think in reality, he was becoming quite broke,” Curran notes.
Mary and George will try to chart their rise on James’ expensive coattails, and their mission will come at more than one hefty price. Learn more about how the cast of 2024’s hottest new show came together in the full video interview above.
Mary & George, Series Premiere, Friday, April 5, 9/8c, Starz, Available at midnight on the Starz app
