Versailles: Love, Passion, Intrigue, and Excess

When you think of French history, chances are there are certain things that immediately jump to mind. The florid excess of French paintings, curvaceous gilded furniture, elaborate wigs, the excessively embellished costumes of the era, the Louvre's many iterations and the elaborate architecture including the many lush palaces and ch�teaus constructed during the reigns of Louis XIII (1610-43) and Louis XIV (1643-1715).

Even if you aren't well-versed on the period, one thing sure to stand out as a beacon of wealth and power in the French Court and emblem of the era's beautiful excesses, it would be the Palace of Versailles. The Ch�teau de Versailles, became the royal seat of power in 1682 when Louis XIV made the bold decision to move the French court there from Paris. In doing so, he centralized his control and greatly expanded his power base. An expansion symbolized by his obsession with Versailles and the continuous construction there during his reign. Representing his singular determination to create a beacon for absolute French power and the Ancien R�gime of his monarchy.
Not exactly the setting one might look to, for a love story between two
men, now is it?

"Versailles," the namesake new series on Ovation, will change the way you see French history and those who lived within, from an entirely new perspective. Elegant and excessive stories beautifully characterized and gorgeously rendered featuring court life, as well as the many intrigues and maneuverings of those close to Louis XIV, his brother and close confidant, Philippe I, Duke of Orl�ans, known to him simply as "Monsieur." Richly told, in some of the most glorious settings imaginable, the passionate loves, carnal lusts and indulgent excesses of the two brothers are brought to life in a way that is both over-the-top and at the same time all together human. Central to the series as well, is the life long relationship between Philippe [Monsieur] and Chevalier de Lorraine, offered unapologetically, as any of the other love stories within the series.

Beautifully represented by two actors, Evan Williams [Chevalier] and Alexander Vlahos [Philippe/Monsieur], viewers get to know the two lovers as they promenade through the tale of Louis XIV's court and revel in the glory that is Versailles. Here is the story of Alex and Evan and Monsieur and Chevalier.

Alex [Monsieur] grew up in South Wales in a place called Llantrisant, where he started acting in school. "I got into acting through, liking attention I guess, sort of as every young boy does. (Laughs) In my drama school, there were a lot of girls taking drama and I was the only boy, so that was sort of my first little jump into it. I'm a keen sports player and a massive ice hockey fan and played for ten years. When I came to 18, I had sort of a crossroads junction in my career, to go off and continue to play ice hockey or go on to drama school and be an actor; I decided to go down the thespian route."

Evan [Chevalier] began acting in school as well, though his start was in Western Canada. "I started in musical theatre and in choir, doing that stuff. I moved to Toronto to get a degree in acting and stayed there for about seven years. Then I moved down here [L.A.] about five years ago."

When asked to explain the crux of the series, Alex took the reins first, "The brother relationship is the heart, the skeleton of the show. It's where everything comes from and what everything sort of feeds off of. If Philippe [Monsieur] and Louis are at loggerheads and are not getting on, things follow suit, It's like the ripple effect." An authenticity that comes through powerfully and is also represented in many of the other relationships that play out on
screen. He continues, "I think too, that the show has a very modern, very relevant style through the writing and directing, all of the scenes have a currency and they're not dated. Very quickly you are thrown into the sibling rivalry and as a sister or brother you can say, 'I get that.'We're a young cast and pull our own experiences of modern day 21st Century life and then apply it to 17th Century France. The love, treachery, political intrigue and sexual politics are all things in our world right now, too."

That interplay is also apparent in the relationship between Alex [Monsieur/Philippe] and Evan [Evan Williams who plays Chevalier de Lorraine, Philippe's lover]. Alex explained their commitment to the story line this way, "I've said it a couple times before and don't mind saying it again, because I believe it to be true. Louis has five different relationships with five different women all for different reasons: Political, power, for religious reasons or for lust. The one true relationship throughout the whole series is between Philippe and Chevalier. When Evan and I first met, we both said listen, 'We need to commit to this.' We saw in the first script that the relationship was a true, brilliant, three-dimensional one and we wanted to make sure to do it justice."

Evan agreed and explained more, "It used to be that if there was a gay relationship, it was often demonized because it was gay, either that or it was a 'gay show,' 'Queer As Folk' or 'The L Word,' shows like that. I think we've moved on from there to a love story that is legitimate and can just exist as a love story. The world of Louis XIV had a problem with it, but the gaze of the camera does not. I think that distinction is one of the things that makes the show truly modern and is what has caught the imagination from so many of the fans. Housewives and school kids are into it, there all sorts of people from different walks of life... There is just something about it."

Evan continues, "By not making a big deal of it, we've given people permission to identify with them. If there is one viewer, who might have said they were not interested in seeing a same-sex relationship, who ends up getting invested and can see a little bit of themselves in it, then I feel like the entire show is worthwhile."

"I couldn't ask for a better scene partner in Alex," Evan opined. "Partly because he's a fabulous guy and a brilliant actor. Beyond that, there is a certain chemical component-he moves me and he irks me-and I know that I do the same thing to him. If we didn't have so much respect and love for each other, it could be a negative. We made an agreement to shoot from the hip and to be honest with each other and we sort of see through each
other's bullshit. As characters and as actors, that's a brilliant recipe because we can shoot for the jugular and meet each other where we live."

Alex echoed the sentiment in regard to the relationship between the two actors and their characters, on screen and off. "I feel very blessed to have Evan as a costar, because we both jumped in with two feet and gave
it our best shot. If there is one thing I am proud of in the show, it's the way Philippe [Monsieur] and Chevalier are presented. That specific time in history, being a homosexual was frowned upon massively because of the Catholic background. The show represents that relationship in really sort of a truthful, very lovely way."

History books are often written with a revisionist's pen, portraying good and bad with the colors of those who dominate. When asked about how they found their characters' voices in light of that limitation, Evan explained it this way. "It presented both a challenge and an opportunity. What I did find, was pretty one-sided and that's mostly because King Louis so heavily doctored history. He was the king of propaganda and was not very fond of Chevalier, because he was such a huge thorn in his side through almost his entire life. Chevalier had Louis a bit hamstrung, he couldn't really get rid of him because then he would basically be at war with his brother. He couldn't really embrace him either, because at the time it was still a very Catholic state and homosexuality was still a death sentence."

Evan continued, "The things we hear about Chevalier tend toward the dark side: He was greedy, without scruples, cunning, ruthless and whatever descriptor you want to use. The opportunity was to find the heart of the character and to merge the brain to it. If you look at any villain, they are never one dimensional, they are human beings and each one thinks they
are doing what they have to do."

Alex took up the conversation from there, "To be honest with you, I didn't do a lot of research at all. I guess I come from that school of acting where the script is the bible that informs you and research is not really helpful. Some people love to read about their character and it helps them massively to get a handle on them. But for me, I just sort of trusted in David Wolstencroft and Simon Mirren's writing and their vision."

The entirety of the show conveys life's challenges, reflective of any period in time, because it and the characters continuously evolve. The writing is excellent, the costuming and locations are exquisite and the relationships are truthful, strong and deeply intimate. Alex explained the magic of it all, "It's a lot down to hard work, to vision, to hoping for the best and that all of the compartments come in to place. We were so lucky to be able to film in Versailles and all of the beautiful castles, which was some of the hard work done for us. The costuming was incredible, as well and that is a very quick way to paint a character." He added, "The scripts are tight and taught, brutal in some respects and very romantic in some others. You look for a good cast and good directors and then just hope for the best. We were very fortunate."

Evan summed it up this way: "It takes a great risk, in exploring what Versailles actually could have been like versus what we hear about in the history books and from the propaganda from Louis XIV. What we are told is very one-dimensional and it takes a leap to jump into the true humanity of what it must have been like. Not only having the balls to do that, but also having the budget to do it, is kind of a once-in-a-lifetime thing. All of the actors are very young and this is really the biggest thing we've done so far, so we are all very excited to be in it together. We're all pushing for the same thing and we all believe in it. I think that makes it on to the screen, too. There is a certain energy with such a young, vibrant cast, I am thrilled to be a part of it."

"Versailles" is a part of the Ovation network and is currently available.
For more information on where to view it, go to ovationtv.com/Versailles.

For much more of our interview with Evan Williams and Alex Vlahos, go to ragemontly.com