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Mary & George gets sex-filled red band trailer: ‘I just wanted, like my mother, to f*** you’

"It wasn’t just a show-and-tell kind of thing. It was really story-oriented," Julianne Moore has told Attitude of the show's sex scenes

By Alastair James

Mary & George

The new series, Mary & George, has got a new red-band trailer that is considerably more acy than anything released so far.

The Sky series stars Julianne Moore and Nicholas Galitzine as Mary and George Villiers, mother and son, as they plot to reach the very top of Jacobean England society. Their method of doing this: King James I of England VI of Scotland (Tony Curran)

In the trailer, released on Thursday (7 March) some of the series’ more intimate scenes are displayed more prominently. The same can be said for the series’ unapologetic use of profane language. Viewers be warned!

We see Mary engaging in a same-sex dalliance and Galitzine’s “sodomite son with the gallows eyes,” whose habits are “to hunt and to fuck.” Mary’s advice to her son is the most apt: “Don’t waste another second’s thought on that hateful c***.” This is in reference to Lady Hatton (Nicola Walker) who narrates the opening of the trailer.

From there the trailer follows the others as we see Mary and George target the King, Mary urging her son to give the King “whatever he wants.” Here we see George fucking the king and then the two in another intimate embrace. We also see George entertaining other men and women. George also tells the Earl of Somerset (Laurie Davidson) that “I just wanted, like my mother, to fuck you.”

“It’s all about honesty”

Speaking to Attitude about the series’ sex scenes Julianne Moore said Mary & George is a show “where people use their sexuality as currency.” She added: “The scenes were also moving the plot. And I think Oliver [Hermanus, the director] was very careful about that with us. It wasn’t just a show-and-tell kind of thing. It was really story-oriented.”

Nicholas told Attitude: “I really feel actually watching so many of those scenes, they’re so beautiful. I agree with you saying they don’t feel salacious in anyway.” He also said: “It’s all about honesty. We’re interested in an honest portrayal of this era, Jacobean England. Certainly, from my perspective, the relationship between George and King James as the sort of the pure love that grew between them albeit it was transactional at first it grew into something really, really beautiful. And I think that’s really reflected in the scenes, which is lovely.”

Tony Curran echoed Nicholas, telling Attitude: “It was about human desire, yes, but there was a tenderness between two people that transcends whether you’re a man or a woman. It’s more about two souls connecting. That’s what we tried to do. It just happens to be these men are together in love. The story is bigger than that, it’s more human; we felt anyway.”

Mary & George is available on Sky Atlantic and NOW.