Gabriel Byrne embraces Viking culture for role

NEW YORK — Irish actor Gabriel Byrne is going into battle as an eighth-century Viking chieftain in History Channel’s new nine-part scripted series Vikings, which begins on Sunday.

Byrne plays Earl Haraldson, an elder statesman locked in a power struggle with the adventurous young Ragnar Lothbrook (Travis Fimmel) in the Irish/Canadian historical production that explores the world of the mighty Norse warriors.

Byrne, who played therapist Paul Weston in the HBO series In Treatment, spoke about the importance of storytelling and why we’re more similar to the Viking culture than we might realize.

Q: What do you think will draw viewers to Vikings?

A: It is a tremendously exciting story, and, because it’s the History Channel, there will be many facts, rituals, battles and costumes that people will be intrigued to learn about. And you recognize that maybe technology has changed, and maybe the way we live our lives has changed, but essentially human beings are not that different. We still make love and we make war, and we still have the need to conquer. We just do it with more effective weapons now.

Q: Women seem to have prominent roles in the series. What about their roles in the Viking culture?

A: Generally speaking, I don’t think people know a great deal about the Viking culture. .?.?. They had their own laws, many of which protected women. Viking women were able to rule kingdoms, divorce husbands, own land, and Vikings were very progressive in terms of the rights of women.

Q: Why is storytelling important?

A: Going back to ancient cultures again, there was always a man in every village, they’re usually called shamans. And these men, sometimes women, took on the hopes, ambitions, fears and the dreams of the tribe so that the tribe could look at where they have come from and where they were going.

Q: Your 1997 autobiography, Pictures in My Head, received rave reviews. Any plans for another book?

A: Yes. When I finish my current project, I intend to go back to writing. I’ve been working on bits and pieces here and there, and now I am going to seriously sit down and write this book. I really admire anybody who writes for a living. It requires such discipline.

Q: So what do you want to be when you grow up?

A: I used to be a teacher, so maybe I would go back to teaching. If not, I would love to be a film critic or an investigative journalist. There was a long time when I didn’t enjoy acting so much. When I look back at my early days, when I was just entering the theater, I was happy, carefree. And then I reached a stage when I got sort of tired, and I lost my enthusiasm for doing it, and I think that happens to quite a few people. But for some reason that I can’t quite even explain, I feel like I’ve gotten my appetite back for it now.