Seven Kings Must Die star Alexander Dreymon calls return “bittersweet”

The Last Kingdom actor is bidding farewell to Uhtred of Bebbanburg.

By David Craig

Published: Wednesday, 12 April 2023 at 12:00 am

Alexander Dreymon has detailed the “bittersweet” experience of reprising his The Last Kingdom role one last time for Seven Kings Must Die, ahead of the film’s release on Netflix later this week.

The feature-length special brings the story of noble warrior Uhtred of Bebbanburg (Dreymon) to an end, as the young King Aethelstan (Harry Gilby) finds himself on the brink of forming what we know today as England.

Dreymon has played this character for almost a decade, appearing in five seasons of The Last Kingdom, which started out on BBC Two in 2015 before being snapped up by Netflix from its third entry.

But while Uhtred has been a life-changing role, Dreymon told RadioTimes.com that Seven Kings Must Die has made it easier to bid farewell to the character.

“Having the two-hour special at the end of it was such a blessing because it let me off easy,” he said. “I knew I had that bit of time left. And to be honest, I’ve spent so much time with the character [that] letting the character go was the easier part of it all.

“The hard part is just knowing that you won’t work again with all of these people in that same configuration. I am friends with a lot of people from the crew and all of the cast so I am seeing the people again.

“But it’s such a special thing to just be in this world together and see each other every day,” he added, “and spend that time together in the mud. As crazy as that sounds, I’m going to miss that the most.”