What Gave ‘Shogun’s Cosmo Jarvis a Deeper Understanding of John Blackthorne?
How did you make sense of it for yourself, with all the layers to everything thats going on?
COSMO JARVIS: Thats a good question.
I started familiarizing myself with the geopolitics of 1600.
That should be familiar if school history was better, or if I was listening.
Toranaga seeks a new ally in his half-brother, which leads to unforeseen consequences.
When a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby fishing village, Lord Yoshii Toranaga discovers secrets that could tip the scales of power and devastate his enemies.
Is that a very bizarre moment to have?
JARVIS: Yeah, because until I saw it, I had no idea what was going on.
It was a very cold day.
It was Jonathan van Tulleken that directed that episode.
They would say, Arrow.
Was there one of those stunt sequences that was your favorite to do?
JARVIS: I enjoy being a part of all of it.
That was one of the reasons I was fundamentally interested in it.
It was great to be the component within that moment.
Image via FX
Everything is coming at Blackthorne and falling on him, all at the same time.
What was that like to go through?
Was it very physically demanding?
More than anything, it was mentally demanding because youre sustaining a character like that for that long.
In every department, everybody was working so hard.
Time to brush up on your knowledge, history buffs.
Do you see Blackthorne as a hero?
Does he see himself as a hero?
JARVIS: No, I dont think hes a hero.
I dont think this story has many heroes.
Thats why its interesting.
Hes a man who thinks he knows what he wants.
What do you see as the biggest villain of his story?
Whats working to take a stab at steer him away from the path he wants to be on?
JARVIS: Thats a good question, but thats a tricky question.
His ways are not conducive to anything sustainable, and he does realize that eventually.
Even the very well-intentioned things can be a huge impediment to his wishes, in the beginning.
It does present the flaws, as well as the peaks and troughs.
With Blackthorne and Mariko, the circumstance just breeds interesting room for dramatic program.
JARVIS: We had a lot of fun with those.
Justin had a long list of potential insults, and we would research period-appropriate insults and try different versions.
That was actually quite an enjoyable aspect of it.
Im glad you enjoyed that.
Shogunairs on FX and is available to stream on Hulu.
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