It seems that the Starz 'behind the scenes preview' for Da Vinci's Demons is being broadcast on the Blockbuster Channel in the US, not the main Starz channel. Thanks to Cubbie for watching and spotting it!
A new interview with Tom about Da Vinci's Demons has been shared on NY Daily News website.
“Da Vinci’s Demons” imagines what might have been on some of those missing pages. It also imagines what da Vinci’s day-to-day life was like. As played by Riley, he’s a flirtatious fellow with distinct dietary preferences, a small circle of loyal friends and a keen awareness of the world around him.
Far from being an ivory-tower sort, this da Vinci plunges straight into the most dangerous political battle of his day, the struggle of regional religious officials to maintain some control in the face of relentless takeover pressure from the Vatican. “He was interested in the ideology of his day,” says Riley. “He was interested in everything.”
An interview with David S. Goyer on NY Post mistakenly informs us that Tom is Irish. He isn't, he's English. I doubt even David Goyer mentioned Irish in any other context apart from Tom's Celtic complexion.
Q. Renaissance portraits of the artist don’t look anything like your leading man, actor Tom Riley. Can you explain?
A. No, and Tom is also Irish. But he’s also the best actor that came across the threshold. Tom was the guy who encapsulated that kind of feverish imagination, that sense of danger and irrationality and humor and genius. So I said, I’d rather go with a guy who is all of those things as opposed to a guy who has a Mediterranean complexion. One of the things I told the cast and crew at the very beginning was: This is historical fantasy and history is a lie. It’s interpretive, and constantly being over-written or rewritten by the victors. One of the potential lies is that Da Vinci was a homosexual, because he tended to draw more men than women, because his companions were young men, and because he never married. He drew more men, I would argue, because the male form at the time tended to be what people drew. My own personal belief is that he was probably bisexual. But nobody knows for sure. Some people believe one of his mistresses was the Duchess of Milan. Other people think he had illegitimate children. Florence at the time was a very permissive society. In Renaissance Italy, being a bisexual or even a homosexual didn’t have the same kind of stigma that it has now. Yes, Da Vinci was put on trial twice for sodomy. But a lot of historians believe that [the charge] was political. We’re dealing with that in the first season, and not shying away from it.
Q. You’re presenting DaVinci as bisexual?
A. Yes.
