‘The Bastard Executioner’: Kurt Sutter on why he decided on this project
Anytime after you finish a show as successful as “Sons of Anarchy” was, we imagine that in many ways the world is your oyster and you have an opportunity to do a variety of different projects. or even take some time off.
However, Kurt Sutter didn’t do that; while “Southpaw” is in theaters right now, he is sticking with TV thanks to “The Bastard Executioner,” which is coming to FX a little later this year. This is a show being filmed in Wales, and there is a very different sort of style and speed to it than anything that he’s done before. This is something that he points out in a new interview with Vulture, though he did express that there is a certain connection with this and some other work that he has done:
“I’m really drawn to sort of broken and conflicted heroes, and Wilkin Brattle, who’s the lead in The Bastard Executioner, is deeply conflicted but about different things, you know? And I knew after seven seasons of The Shield and seven seasons of Sons that I didn’t want to get into yet another contemporary-crime-ish kind of project. And not necessarily looking for something, period, but just looking for something in a different wheelhouse. Something that scared me a little bit. The process of this coming together happened with Brian Grazer, and it’s definitely terrified me.”
Expectations for this show are exceptionally high for it to become one of the next big cable series, and after watching some of the first teasers we feel confident that this will be a hit. There is enough here thematically that should attract “Sons of Anarchy” fans, but we think from a historical perspective there is also something interesting about the setting and the time that will bring in a whole other demographic. In so many other works the Middle Ages tend to be overly romanticized, and we do not get the sense this is happening here. Sutter isn’t afraid to give a real world look at hard topics and fans appreciate that.
We will have some further news on “The Bastard Executioner” as we near the upcoming premiere, so stay tuned! Also, you can sign up here to acquire some more TV updates on all we cover via our official CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: FX.)