Arnas Fedaravičius Recalls The Last Kingdom Scene That Made Him Cry
Ever since making his debut in Season 2, Sihtric (Arnas Fedaravičius) has been a major player on Netflix's "The Last Kingdom," even though the actor who plays him was not originally a fan of the (not always accurate) historical drama series. Before joining the cast, Fedaravičius told The Screen Chronicles that he had heard of the show in passing, but he never actually watched Season 1.
Sihtric is the illegitimate son of Kjartan (Alexandre Willaume). With his father wanting nothing to do with him, Sihtric finds himself in Uhtred's (Alexander Dreymon) services. Although Sihtric must fight hard to prove his loyalty to Uhtred, he rises up through the ranks to become one of Uhtred's most trusted.
Uhtred and Sihtric's dynamic proved fun and no doubt had many fans questioning whether or not Sihtric was authentic in his loyalty. The possibility of him betraying Uhtred always lingered in the air. Ironically, it's Uhtred's character that seemed to resonate the most with Fedaravičius, which may explain why the chemistry between them on screen is so good. One vital Uhtred scene from Season 1 brought Fedaravičius to tears during his preparation for joining the show.
Fedaravičius was moved by Uhtred jumping the shield wall
During his interview with The Screen Chronicles, Arnas Fedaravičius elaborated on how he prepared for his role as Sihtric. After being cast, he sat down for a proper watch of the original season and binged it in two days.
"The last episode, when Alex jumped — sorry, Uhtred — jumped over the shield wall, do you remember that?" Fedaravičius inquired. "Speared the guy and jumped over the shield wall. I remember I cried. I started crying just because it's like 'I'm f***ing part of this thing.' And it's just ... it was so beautiful."
The scene Fedaravičius refers to takes place in Season 1, during the final battle between the Vikings and the Saxons. During the gruesome skirmish, both sides retreat behind their respective shield walls, leaving a bloody gap between them. Skorpa (Jonas Malmsjö) rides through the center on horseback with the head of Queen Iseult (Charlie Murphy). Enraged and disheartened by the sight of his queen's head tossed into the mud, Uhtred pushes through his ranks, launches himself over the enemies' shield wall, and attacks. Uhtred gets revenge by spearing Skorpa in the chest.
Fedaravičius goes on to say that the 1st season built up to that climatic moment where Uhtred makes the jump and at that moment, the collective impact of the entire show smacked him in the face. "When he made that jump I realized how good of a show this is, not because of that jump specifically, but it all played into that one moment for me," he elaborated.
For Fedaravičius, the overwhelming emotion this scene produced was about the reality of being part of such an amazing project. Going from never watching the show to instantly loving it must have taken the actor by surprise. It resonated well with him, though. His performance as Sihtric speaks for itself.