With many many thanks again to forum member Andre for translating, 2 new interviews and reports from Comic Con Portugal have been shared online. The first report, from here, also has great photos from the press conference.
At Exponor, Sunday’s audience wasn’t as big as Saturday’s, but that didn’t mean any less enthusiasm. Tom Riley, Blake Ritson and Elliot Cowan took over Auditorium A and came willing to do anything, or almost anything, to please the Portuguese fans. They received drawings, handed out hugs and selfies and Riley even accepted a marriage proposal from a most courageous admirer.
This was the most enthusiastic panel of the convention, certainly due to the overwhelming interaction between the actors and the audience. Ritson might not be able to speak Portuguese but he put to use his Italian speaking skills, while Tom Riley enthusiastically ran between the stages and the halls.
Regarding the future of the show, the protagonist assures that “no one is safe” and, without a doubt, that the next season of Da Vinci’s Demons will make Leonardo face the consequences of his previous decisions. The complicity between the three actors didn’t go unnoticed and all of them were showered with praise by the Portuguese audience.
The second from here has 2 new photos of Tom, Elliot and Blake - 1 sadly only tiny.
Da Vinci reveals his demons At Comic Con Portugal
Tom Riley spoke to us about what we could expect from the 3rd season of Da Vinci’s Demons. With the 3rd season shoots ending, part of the cast of Da Vinci’s Demons were able to attend Comic Con Portugal, held at Exponor, Matosinhos, this past weekend. Destak chatted with Tom Riley, the lead actor who plays Leonardo Da Vinci in the show, to know what we can expect from the 3rd season, where “no one is safe”. “In this season, Leonardo will struggle with things he won’t be able to overcome. He’s going to discover that many of his ideas were stolen and will be used against him. Therefore, throughout the plot, he will have to be able to overcome himself.
Furthermore, none of the characters that we learned to love will be safe”, said Tom Riley to Destak. “The Leonardo Da Vinci portrayed in the show isn’t the character that people are used to. I did an extensive amount of research about his life and a lot of information reveals many things about his life that people had no idea of. That he was arrogant, a troublemaker and would make people’s lives difficult. Thus, portraying him like this, I’m expecting to be a target for criticism. Moreover, it’s a very physically tiring role, but, in this season it demanded a lot from me as an actor, in an emotional level as well.”
Besides being the lead actor in the show, Tom Riley also assumes the role of producer. “The learning experience has been huge and it’s a privilege to give your opinion about the scripts. It’s a very heavy weight on one’s shoulders, but you have to realise you can’t invest too much of yourself in this job. Because if you do, your fate will be at the mercy of the audience. Playing Leonardo Da Vinci is, without a doubt, the biggest challenge of Tom Riley’s career.
“You have to play someone who’s a well-known historical figure, not to mention you have to understand the pressure you’re in due to the show being this huge and famous, being broadcasted in 130 countries. I’ve never done anything like this, it’s been a very rewarding experience and I’ve learned a lot. I’ve grown as an actor after doing a job like this for so long.
Despite this experience, Riley doesn’t assume the success of the show thanks to it being hip. “The success of a show doesn’t have to do with a formula. We have the example of “Game of Thrones”, where everyone thought: “Let’s make more medieval shows”. However, what I think that attracts people to a show are the characters and the relationships between them, which lead people to identifying themselves with them. Yes, it’s Da Vinci, the whole world knows the character, it’s an adventure show and it’s enthralling, but I ultimately think it’s the characters that make the show”, which season 3 starts in Spring 2015.
Tom Riley affirms that the actor he most admires is Elliot Cowan (Lorenzo de Médici) and the actor the surprised him the most was Eros Vlahos (Nicco). “He [Elliot] tells the scene’s story, he doesn’t play the scene thinking only of himself.” “But the actor surprised me the most was Eros. He started at 16 and now he’s almost 20, changing a lot physically. But we can see that he literally grew as an actor.” After so much time on the set, Riley reveals that what he likes to do during his free time is sleep and hang out with friends that aren’t cast related. About future challenges, he’d love to be a film or TV show director.
