MW: It’s refreshing, too, that the series didn’t sidestep the subject of mental illness. We’re talking about King George III, of course. Corey Mylchreest was amazing in that capacity and brought a young King George to life.
Kasim: I think empathy is always a good thing when it comes to mental illness. Especially when it comes to someone suffering. It’s always good to understand, empathize, and try and get into their shoes or into their mind and understand their suffering. Because it’s easy to look from the outside and judge. You know, in 2023, we’re doing that more now than ever. There’s a long way to go. And we can definitely always exercise that muscle more as a society.
MW: The series really captures that part of King George’s history.
Kasim: I suppose he’s always been called mad — the Mad King George. And he has, for all intents and purposes, been looked at as a bit of a joke, and mocked and ridiculed. As you said, Corey fantastically does so well. And the writing is good. This production explores the reality of that, and what’s the day-to-day of that. How did that affect this man, and his relationships with his nearest and dearest? And it has a profound effect.
MW: It’s an ambitious way to tackle the subject.
Kasim: Correct. There’s a version out there where you brush over it, right? And maybe don’t really go down there especially in, I suppose, something like Bridgerton, which is very romance-orientated. You could just create a whitewashed version of it that looks a lot prettier. Something a lot more digestible, but I think in this case, actually, there’s some hard stuff to watch. And I love the show for that. I appreciate it all the more. And in many ways, Queen Charlotte is, I wouldn’t say excessively dressier than Bridgerton, but I suppose it feels like a real deep dive into some stuff in Britain and unapologetically so. That’s what makes Queen Charlotte slightly different in many ways.
MW: It’s hard to imagine that this is all we’ll get of Queen Charlotte. Would you come back for more in, say, another six-episode miniseries?
Kasim: Sure. If there’s an idea for it and, of course, there’s still a [time] gap there [between Bridgerton events]. There’s still a gap there in history where more stories can be told. I haven’t heard nor could confirm or deny if there’s more. If the stories are good, I’m in. I definitely had nothing but a glorious time working on this production.
MW: What do you think viewers will be most surprised about with Queen Charlotte?
Kasim: That it’s also taking a good look at very hard topics, not only George’s mental illness, but I think there’s a larger conversation about Charlotte. I referenced, Harry and Meghan earlier. So, there’s a conversation definitely within this about Charlotte’s being a different skin color to the establishment that is the British Royal Family. There are some very uncomfortable moments around that. I don’t know if it would be definitely surprising for viewers, or if it would be a pleasant surprise that this production is definitely willing to look at all those things — not necessarily shy away from them. But I love the series.
