Criminal Minds star Daniel Henney has revealed that he felt "scared" by the enormity of his role in new Amazon fantasy series The Wheel of Time.
The drama, which is based on Robert Jordan's novel series of the same name, stars Gone Girl actress Rosamund Pike as Moiraine, a member of a powerful organisation of women called the Aes Sedai who are able to use magic, or 'The One Power'.
Henney plays al'Lan Mandragoran, Moiraine's male guardian who is emotionally linked to the woman he serves, and the actor has exclusively told Digital Spy that he had been searching for a role like Lan for some time.
Related: What The Wheel of Time gets right that Game of Thrones got wrong
"It was sort of something I'd been coveting for a while, a role like this," he said. "Lan is an incredibly inspirational, powerful character. It's very different than– actually, the characters I've played in the past, I've loved very much.
"But he was definitely a step outside of the box for me. And the job itself had so many challenges that surrounded it. We were just speaking to the idea of fear. I think as you get older in life, things that scare you can mean good things."
He added that he had felt the fear in taking on a prominent role in a story that already has such a wide fanbase, but that he was also incredibly excited about bringing the character to life.
"It was something that scared me quite a bit, in a good way, the challenges of the physicality of the character, and moving across the world; the fanbase that existed, and how much responsibility was in that; all of those challenges, I think, really excited me," he explained.
"That proved to be very much why I chose to do it."
Related: Wheel of Time boss reveals secrets behind episode 2's most revolting scene
The actor also spoke about how reminiscing about childhood memories helped him to tap into the rich and imaginative world of The Wheel of Time, saying that "going back to go forwards helps sometimes".
"When I was young, and I was, you know, an only child in Michigan, there was no question about how I was playing, and building swords with sticks, and sort of saving a kingdom, and riding a horse that was a black Labrador," he said.
"There was no question in my mind that this was real. Anyone who watched me would have thought I was a little crazy, but they wouldn't have doubted that I was passionate and real about it. And I think that there's a part of us in there, still, as we get older. If you can access that sort of childlike mentality, that's helpful, too."
The Wheel of Time follows Moiraine as she takes a group of four young people on a worldwide journey, believing that one of them could be the reincarnation of the Dragon, a person so powerful that they are prophesied to either save the world or destroy it.
The Wheel of Time episodes 1-3 are available to watch on Prime Video, with new episodes released weekly on Fridays.
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Reporter & Sub-Editor, Digital Spy Susannah is a freelance writer and sub-editor, specialising in the entertainment industry. She graduated in 2014, with a BA in English and American Literature and Creative Writing, and an MA in Creative Producing. She’s been writing for Digital Spy ever since, after first getting involved through work experience, and has written hundreds of stories for the site on a range of topics, from The Sims to Doctor Who. Susannah has also written for Reveal Magazine. Her special interests are soaps (her Mastermind subject would be 2000s Coronation Street), Marvel and Star Wars. She can also quote far too many lines from Friends and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
Freelance film & TV writer, Digital Spy
Critic and writer Jo Berry has been writing about TV and movies since she began her career at Time Out aged 18. A regular on BBC Radio, Jo has written for titles including Empire, Maxim, Radio Times, OK!, The Guardian and Grazia, is the author of books including Chick Flicks and The Parents’ Guide to Kids’ Movies.
She is also the editor of website Movies4Kids. In her career, Jo has interviewed well-known names including Beyonce, Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Kiefer Sutherland, Tom Cruise and all the Avengers, spent many an hour crushed in the press areas of award show red carpets. Jo is also a self-proclaimed expert on Outlander and Brassic, and completely agrees that Die Hard is a Christmas movie.
