In the first part of our exclusive interview with Merlin star Alexander Vlahos, we discuss Merlin fan conventions, Dorian Gray, his Kickstarter projects… and his own obsession, Doctor Who.

They say that the fame game corrupts, that the spotlight lures you in and raises you up, and turns you into something you’re not.

But speaking to Alexander Vlahos proves that this doesn’t have to be the case at all.

24-year-old Vlahos was born and raised in Wales, where he attended the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. With projects like the acclaimed radio production The Confessions of Dorian Gray and the TV series The Indian Doctor, he was already well on his way to success when he in 2012 landed the role of Mordred on BBC’s Merlin – and then his career properly took off.

And while Merlin might have ended, the series has left Vlahos with a very devoted and supportive fan base who it seems will follow him on any venture – whether it be a self-produced play about a gardening shed or a tongue-in-cheek campaign to become Doctor Who’s next Doctor.

A self-confessed Doctor Who “fanboy,” Vlahos seems to know just how to connect with his own fans, to whom he attributes most of his success.

He doesn’t shy away from the fame his Merlin gig has brought him and actively seeks to “give back” to the people who support him, and maybe that is the key to remaining as down to earth as anyone as he chats to us about his career while walking down a busy London street.

In this interview, Hypable speaks to Vlahos about his post-Merlin projects, the lingering popularity of the show, and what his future plans are (hint: #Vlafor12!).

‘There’s more ‘Dorian Gray’ to come’

One of Vlahos’ most cherished projects is David Llewellyn’s The Confessions of Dorian Gray, a Big Finish radio production inspired by Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Recently it was announced that not only will there be a sequel series, but Llewellyn has also adapted the original novel as a standalone production.

(Note: Vlahos is very open about what happens in the story, so beware of spoilers.)

Hypable.com: Could you explain to the readers what the two new ‘Dorian Gray’ projects you’ve been working on are?

Alexander Vlahos: Yes! We’ve recorded [The Picture of Dorian Gray], which is amazing… it’s a hobby of mine, it’s a joy. Although it’s weird to do Dorian as a standalone rather than as part of the canon series.

People are messaging me all the time saying, “Oh, are you gonna change the ending of the book so that he lives?” And, well, no, we’re gonna serve the book. So Dorian does die at the end. We’re going to treat the Oscar Wilde book as its own entity, so it’s not particularly a canon thing… and then obviously we then did another five-episode series, and we also did an hour-long Halloween special.

I love how people are hoping for a happy ending. It’s like ‘Merlin’ all over again.

Yeah, exactly [laughs]. But I think people are thinking, well, then it would make sense going into the Confessions with that in mind. And if they’re gonna use me, who plays him in the Confessions series, maybe they’ll just alter it so then we all go “Oh, well that makes perfect sense.” But no, we’re gonna serve the book as it is, cause it should be so. I think we’ve bastardized Oscar Wilde’s version of Dorian Gray enough as it is [laughs]. Let’s not bastardize the book again.

Do you enjoy doing the voice work for ‘Dorian Gray’? It’s sort of a change of pace from your other work…

Yeah, it’s a joy to do the role. It’s weird, that first series was a massive risk on Big Finish’s part… their leads are usually past Doctors, actually. You’ve got Peter Davidson, Colin Baker and Tom Baker, all doing a series because they have the weight of the Doctor Who fandom behind them.

To risk banking a whole series on me was a risk, it was a massive risk and a massive challenge. But then since the feedback and the reviews from the fist series have been so positive, you just run with it because you know that you’ve got confidence behind you, you know? And you can have a scoop here: there’s more to come, as well.

Embracing fan funding: Kickstarter projects

Tell me about the different Kickstarter projects you’re doing – I’m trying to get around to everything you have going on…

Oh god, I know, I sort of overdid myself! I didn’t expect them both to be launched so soon after each other, it was like one launch and then the other one launched the next day. And I was like uh-oh, this might be a bit of an overkill, we might get no money.

Well that was not a concern you needed to have!

[Laughs] Right, yeah! So the first one is Gardening: For the Unfulfilled and Alienated, that’s for my own theatre company Undeb Theatre… I’m always tentative about going up to [the Edinburgh Fringe Festival] because I think you generally lose money, it’s a risk without a payoff at Edinburgh sometimes. But then as the company progressed and we had a good play, this one man show, so the Kickstarter thing became an obvious thing.

And then along with that came with my idea of wanting to do a music video for “Button Eyes,” my friend [Chris Hyson]’s music (check it out on Soundcloud and buy the album on Bandcamp), which is beautiful. And like I said, they both sort of launched within a day of each other, and they both did really well.

I was sort of encouraged by what Eoin [Macken, fellow Merlin star] did with Cold, he gave me the confidence to think that fan funding could work. And it has, he was right! What he did with Cold was amazing. You’re not selling yourself, but you’re doing that thing of giving something to the fans that they wouldn’t normally get, and also helping your own project. It’s a brilliant idea, and he smashed his record with the IndieGoGo campaign for Cold. And the Kickstarter thing seemed like an obvious thing to do to help my own company.

And we’ve completely smashed the target for the Undeb campaign, which is great, it just shows how much the fans care about you after the show. And it’s been overwhelming and humbling to find out every day if someone’s pledged money. I’m so grateful.

PAGE 2

On the next page, Alex discusses giving back to the ‘Merlin’ fans, who should play the next Doctor on ‘Doctor Who,’ and the future of ‘Privates’.

Giving back to the ‘Merlin’ fans

I wanted to touch on that too, because as far as I’ve seen, you’re doing a really good job of connecting to your fan base. I mean… how do you do it?

[Laughs] Ha, how do I do it?! It’s, you know, that weird thing of being in a show for a year and kind of feeling like you’re cramping in on someone else’s style… I came into an already well-loved show, so the groundwork was already there, and then it was my job just not to mess it up with the new Mordred.

And since then, I’ve always been incredibly overwhelmed by the feedback from the fans on Twitter (follow Alex at @Vlavla) and all that sort of stuff. So it’s only right to sort of give back, because the fans make the show. They do, they make Merlin what it is. It’s gonna stay in people’s hearts and minds for a very long time. So to ignore that, to ignore the fact that they still want to know what you’re up to, would almost be like a sin.

The other day I did a Q&A with fans on Twitter, and that’s just something that doesn’t take long out of my time. It’s only an hour of the day where I’ll happily answer questions from fans, and if they like that then I’ll continue to do it, you know? As much as you can give back to them I think is… it’s what should be done.

It’s really great to hear, because obviously we see all the time that fans get so invested in a franchise or in an actor, and then it’s nice when they do feel that connection.

Well it’s just… because of their loyalty, you need to be loyal back. I always think that. And you know, it could all be gone tomorrow. You have to live in the moment, and that sort of stuff. I think that, anyway. I was very blessed and lucky to be working on a show like Merlin, and it’s given me so much in return as far as my career goes and my personal life, and so then to ignore that would be shameful I think. To embrace it is probably the best way forward, and allowing the fans to have access to you.

Absolutely, that’s really cool. And it’s good to know people aren’t all like, “You killed Arthur, how could you!”

Haha, yeah, absolutely. And I knew it from the start, [series creators] Johnny [Capps] and Julian [Murphy] were quite clear with how Mordred’s journey was going to be – that yes, he’ll be mysterious at the start, he’ll be good for the majority of it, but he will turn evil, we need to have that happen, and then he will kill King Arthur.

So having that in your head prepares you for what people might say. But it’s always at the conventions that people sort of go, “Oh I’d like a signed photo,” and as you sign your photo they go, “I can’t believe you killed King Arthur!” and you sort of look at them and go, “Eh, yeah, sorry,” you know, do you say sorry? Or do you say, “I had to?” It’s weird, but then again, it just shows you how much people care for the show, you know? And it’s always nice to see.

And another thing is, you know, I’ve always been quite open with how I’ve enjoyed Doctor Who. I’ve enjoyed Doctor Who since I was three years old, I’ve watched all the old black and white stuff, Patrick Troughton is my favourite Doctor… and I’m happy to say that I’m a fanboy of the show.

But then suddenly you’re an actor, suddenly you find yourself in that position of, you know, you become friends with the people that you end up watching on telly, you become friends with Matt [Smith] and Karen [Gillan] and Arthur [Darvill] and all that sort of stuff. And you think, okay, I need to stop being a fanboy now because I’m in that world [laughs]. I’m part of a fandom myself now.

‘It’s cool to be a ‘Doctor Who’ fan’

And ‘Doctor Who’ is a great example of that. I mean, who isn’t a ‘Doctor Who’ fan, let’s get real, but…

I know right?! But people forget the dark times of the late ’80s when the show was cut off! If you were a Doctor Who fan back then, people would laugh at you in the street. You were a scorn, you would be a geek, whereas now it’s cool to be a Doctor Who fan. It’s amazing to see the progression of the show.

Even when Christopher Eccleston took over, people were saying you know, Doctor Who was not a cool thing to be a part of. It’s probably been since since [Steven] Moffat (pictured with Vlahos, left) took over and since Matt came in – well, and probably [David] Tennant as well. But the idea of going overseas with Doctor Who, seeing how successful it’s been over in the States, that it’s just become a worldwide success… and now, like you said, who isn’t a fan of Doctor Who?

Do you think it’s kind of like a rite of passage for British actors, that you need to be on ‘Doctor Who’ at some stage or another in your career?

Yeah, well, I dunno. Because it’s becoming more and more sought after, so many people I’ve read recently about considering the role, or whatever rumours are spreading – and I myself have stirred enough rumours about myself being the Doctor, I’m guilty as sin there, but it’s just such a sought-after role.

Even just to be in the show, not as the Doctor but as a baddie or as the companion, it’s so sought after now that… I don’t think it’s become a commodity, but it’s become something lucrative, something that’s like almost like gold. But I dunno, I hope it’s a rite of passage! I hope it becomes that thing. I think I would die a happy man if I got cast in Doctor Who.

Picking the Twelfth Doctor

Aside from yourself obviously, as a fan of the show, do you have a personal pick for Twelve?

Yeah, um, well, not a personal pick, I don’t think I could pluck out a name. But you know that surprise when Matt was named, that sort of thing of… not animosity, but because of how much Tennant was loved, people were going, “But how can- he’s not the Doctor! How can he be the Doctor?! He doesn’t look like a Doctor.” And then “The Eleventh Hour” came on, and he blew us all away. He absolutely smashed it. I want that again.

The names that get brandished about right now are the same names that always get brandished about, ever since Paul McGann took over. Bill Nighy, or Ben Daniels… and, you know, Rupert Grint is always a mention.

[Laughs] Sorry. I love that you brought that up.

Ha, well, that’s fandom. They go, “Right okay, so it’s Doctor Who, maybe someone from Harry Potter could be in it.” Or someone from Merlin, like me… but no one had really heard of Matt. And then suddenly he was a household name.

That’s the joy of that show, that’s what that show can do. It can turn someone who is just walking down the street, who is a jobbing actor, into a superstar. And I think that’s why it’s exciting to me, instead of going, “Oh okay, it’ll be that guy who’s got 40 years worth of credits on his CV, and people will recognize him from that thing.” So that’s my pick. I couldn’t give you a name, but that joy of having someone unknown, I think, is what that show can do. Does that make sense?

Yeah, absolutely. That’s a good choice.

See my very dignified response there? How I brush it away very cleverly…

Yes, well done! And you know, feel free to leave a prolonged silence if you’ve secretly been approached…

[Laughs.] Right, right.

I finally just wanted to ask you if there’s a plan for a second season of ‘Privates’?

You know, I don’t think so. It’s a shame, the way that they left it. I think I’ll quite happily state here that it was very unloved by the BBC – there were no advertisements for it, there were no trailers… if it hadn’t been for someone like me or Jack Fox or Pat Baladi being in, it might have gone under the radar completely. I think the luxury that I had, that Merlin came out before Privates, meant that a lot of the fandom could watch it. And I’m grateful that that could happen.

I still keep in touch with [writer] Damian Wayling and [director] Bryn Higgins… and we’re still under contract, bizarrely, we’re still under contract for two more seasons. So it could happen, I could get the phone call tomorrow or right now as we’re talking, and then having to be ready for that. But at the moment it’s gone very quiet. And I don’t mind saying that, because, well, it’s a shame but it’s the way these things go. Some shows can be incredibly well-loved, but for whatever reason, whether it be technical or financial or producer-led, that it somehow falls by the wayside. So that’s my answer: unfortunately to be determined.

Any other projects coming up?

Not right now. Macbeth is taking up a lot of my time, which is good, so it should be… and then we’re hoping to go back into the studio for Dorian Gray, soon. Don’t know yet what the series is gonna be, it’s just talks at the moment, but looking forward to doing that again. I enjoy going back into the studio to do stuff like that. And then going in for lots of auditions and lots of exciting projects that I can’t yet say, but yeah, see what happens. You’ll be the first to know!

Good luck with all that!

Thank you so much, Selina! And thank you again for doing the Hypable links for the Kickstarters, it helped a lot.

Look for the second part of this interview to appear on Hypable.com soon, in which Vlahos gives us a great in-depth look into the preparation for the upcoming Rob Ashford/Kenneth Branagh production of Macbeth, in which he plays Malcolm.