A royal affair indeed!

Rainbow Crew is an ongoing interview series that celebrates the best LGBTQ+ representation on screen. Each instalment showcases talent working on both sides of the camera, including queer creatives and allies to the community.

Next up, we’re speaking to My Lady Jane star Jordan Peters.

My Lady Jane, a new fantasy based on YA novels of the same name, imagines a world where the real-life queen Lady Jane Grey lasted more than just nine days on the throne. In this alternate reality, created by authors Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand and Jodi Meadows, there are also people who can change into animals known as Ethians.

Just your standard period drama.

But what’s especially interesting about this is how society others the Ethians, pushing them out to the periphery because regular folk deem them to be abnormal. As metaphors for marginalised groups go, it’s a very potent and flexible one that can fit a whole range of different experiences.

Enter the current king, Edward, who’s fighting to keep his throne while also navigating his queerness at a time when you’re more likely to see a man turn into a horse than see society accept gay people.

Digital Spy caught up with actor Jordan Peters to discuss playing the closeted monarch and all the twists and turns that came with it.

Did you know King Edward was queer coming into the project or did the character evolve that way later in the process?

When I auditioned for the role, I sat down with Jamie Babbit, the director. She was telling me about the character and how they wanted him to be gay.

That moment in episode one in Edward’s bedchamber where he he sees this naked woman and the narrator says: “King Edward had always assumed that women look like men underneath their clothes.” It’s a nice introduction to see who King Edward is and his sexuality.

Another surprise comes at the end of episode three when it appears that Edward has suddenly died. We don’t see you in the show for a while after that. Did you know Edward would turn out to be okay? Or were you worried reading that in the script?

They told me he’d be alive [Laughs]. But after that, I didn’t know what was going to happen because the rest of the scripts weren’t done yet. So I like how did he get out? Is he alive? Is he dead?

I read the books as well. They mentioned that he turned into a kestrel and flew away and then ended up in some barn. But in our version, that’s not what happened.

Did you use the books a lot as a source of inspiration or were you more focused on the tangible scenes you had to work with in the script?

I thought going into the books straightaway was going to be the most beneficial. I went on Google to look at King Edward, but I was like this is not really benefiting me that much. There were so some bits I could use which was great, but I just needed to get a full picture of who King Edward is in this Lady Jane world.

“The relationship between King Edward and Fitz is just so cute.”

Reading the books, I took down some notes just to get the sense of King Edward and Lady Jane’s relationship, and also his personality. How witty he is and also the things that he likes. He likes eating blueberries because he thinks they’re a way for him to feel better, because he’s sick for the whole time.

There’s just really cool stuff that maybe didn’t end up being in the show but it’s just nice to have something in the back in case we do an improv or something.

Jonathan Prime

Was it challenging to play a character who’s sick all the time?

When you’re coughing so much it feels like you need to get rid of something so I did develop a cough, which was annoying. I had never played a character that sick before so it was nice to take on that challenge. It was a bit concerning for my mum because I was just walking around coughing, so I had to reassure her it’s not real.

The Ethian concept can be used to represent so many different marginalised experiences, but watching it and thinking of Edward, we did think a lot about this being a queer metaphor in particular. For example, when we hear about the cook’s son being sent away to try and cure him of this Ethian “affliction”. What do you think of the way this show approaches these kinds of metaphors?

The director Jamie Babbit was really keen on showing that otherness through the Ethian lens and how it relates to what’s happening now and in the past as well. To include that and represent that in terms of the LGBTQ+ community, with racism, with disabilities, to show that otherness.

I feel like they just did a great job of showing that, to include all the people who experience that. They want to be who they are, and they want to show it to the world, but because of this society in Lady Jane’s world, they’re not allowed to do that. And if they do, they get punished for it.

“Just because they change into an animal doesn’t mean they aren’t who they were before.”

Within the kingdom, you see these great, fantastic, beautiful characters and you just don’t know if they’re Ethian or not. We just see them for who they are and then you see that they are an Ethian. Just because they change into an animal doesn’t mean they aren’t who they were before.

It felt specific at points, but it was also quite universal, so it’s nice that so many people can take something different from that metaphor. You mentioned that the Ethians are suffering a lot in this world, but around two-thirds in, there’s a nice scene where Edward ends up in an Ethian pub that feels like a kind of safe space.

You always hear about this pack and how evil the pack is and how they want to take over the kingdom, but that’s not the case. They just want to live a normal life. They just want to have fun and experience love and joy. It’s so nice, especially for King Edward to go into this tavern for the first time and just see that as an Ethian pub where people can be who they are and be joyful.

King Edward has been so closed in his life. He hasn’t experienced anything, just growing up just thinking that Ethians are evil and bad. To actually be in there for the first time and realise these people are great and that he actually prefers spending time with these people was great.

Speaking of love and positivity, Edward goes on to meet an Ethian called Fitz and sparks start to fly. Tell us more about that dynamic.

It was great. And Joe [Klocek], bless him. He’s such a handsome guy, so that just made things so much easier [Laughs]. It was so much fun to play off each other. The relationship between King Edward and Fitz is just so cute. Those two are so cute together. The journey is them figuring out if they like each other, [and] if not, what’s going on between them.

What is also heartbreaking, that moment when we do go our separate ways. I think this is the first time King Edward really does really fancy someone and it just breaks his heart when it doesn’t go the way that he thought it was gonna go.

A part of me wishes there was a bit more tension between them, a bit more of that sexual tension. Just to play around a bit more. Hopefully, if we get to have a season two, we can play around with it a lot more. But I do love the journey that they went on.

At least we have that moment when Edward and Fitz share a kiss at the end. Can you talk us through filming the physical side of that?

It was great. The intimacy coordinator, Ita O’Brien, I know her from drama school. She was my teacher, so that was a nice reunion there. We had a lot of time to rehearse and to explore these characters, how intimate they want to be at this time, especially with everything happening. So yeah, it was fun.

Aside from more tension between Edward and Fitz, what else would you like to see in a potential second season?

I would love to see more fighting. I mentioned something about reaching out to Scotland or France to take over the throne or something like that. So maybe in season two, we can see these countries and rally an army and take over the throne.

“He’s such a handsome guy, so that just made things so much easier [Laughs]”

I’d also love to see more animals. I’d love to see a lion, or something. Someone the other day suggested an armadillo.

What have you enjoyed most about being involved with the show so far?

I love being a king. It was so much fun. It’s so much fun sitting on the throne, having that power and people respecting you. In episode one, you see that even though I have power, people are trying to take it from me even though I’m the one that’s meant to be in control. So just the first few episodes of being a king was really fun.

And then leaving the palace to experience him being a normal person where no one knows who he is. That was really fun. It just felt like Mr Bean or Elf when he goes into society and everyone’s like, “Who’s this guy? He’s so weird.”

Being a King, you get to wear fancy royal clothing. What was the costuming like for you?

It was so good and so collaborative because we wanted King Edward, Princess Mary and Princess Bess, to represent the colours of King Henry and just to show that they are related. So there was a lot of conversations about the colour scheme. My favourite one’s that gown I wear in the bedroom. Aaaaaah. It was so nice to wear but also so heavy, so it just felt so regal.

What do you hope people take away from watching My Lady Jane?

Just get a lot of joy and entertainment from watching. Hopefully, they’ll be at the edge of their seat, to want more and to continue going on these journeys with these great characters.

My Lady Jane is now available to watch on Prime Video.