Sex and the City’s Cynthia Nixon has taken on a whole new world in the upcoming ReelzChannel’s mini-series that has been adapted from the works of author Ken Follett. Entitled World Without End, Nixon has traded in her glamorous life with Carrie Bradshaw and the girls for a more devilish role. In the $46 million dollar production Nixon plays Petranilla, a killer and master manipulator living in the 14th century in the midst of the Hundred Years’ War with Black Death looming in the air.
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter about her challenging role, Nixon explains that the dramatically different character is what drew her in. “It’s such a wonderfully juicy part and also such a departure. I’ve never played anything quite like this. I might have played a couple slightly villainous people in my time, but I’ve never playing anyone this evil yet seemingly sweet and helpless on top of it. I haven’t murdered a lot of people in my roles.”
The British accent was also a challenge for Nixon. “I have had to do that before, but I’ve never had to do it surrounded by other people with real English accents. That was a challenge. We had a vocal coach who I worked with transatlantically before I arrived [for the shoot]. Before filming, [I worked on it] quite intensively. She was there every day watching filming, and if something was wrong to ear after a particular take, she’d jump right up and attack it.”
The 46-year old actress shared that there were other demands she has to meet while tackling the role of Petranilla. “I would say the most challenging thing was making sure to plot carefully what was happening to Petranilla episode by episode and chart that out in my own mind. I had to make sure it would build, so all of the character of Petranilla would really evolve and change. I didn’t want to be completely a dastardly person at the beginning.”
World Without End airs Wednesdays at 8pm.
