Interview with Travis Fimmel (Ragnar)
We sat down with Vikings star Travis Fimmel (who plays main character Ragnar) to discuss Series 3, his experience with the franchise and what’s next.
Broadcast around the world and garnering tens of millions of viewers, Fimmel attributes Vikings success to “it’s such a universal story – people always love entering a different world.”
And with series 3 viewers should expect to see a more mature yet grumpier Ragnar, who now has “the pressure of being in charge and regrets it.”
Now as a powerful Viking chieftain, Ragnar has the increased responsibility of rallying and leading thousands of men, many of who – if not most – will die in battle.
“In the fight scenes, all the young people are now running around. Ragnar just wants to sit on a horse and tell people what to do. Sometimes he wishes he had just stayed on the farm,” Fimmel explains.
With great power comes isolation and Ragnar has “lost trust in a lot of people.” However, he still puts his sons first, and he “still has ambition and he wants to set up his sons of the future. He’s just looking to find a nice beach somewhere where he can retire!”
Drawing inspiration from people around he knows to help form Ragnar’s character he says, “I feel like he is a real human being. The beard also really helps. It takes a lot of time in the make-up chair, but that pays off!”
When it comes to Ragnar’s fate, Fimmel notes that historically he apparently died from being thrown into a pit of snakes, but that to “go out at an orgy with 16 women” would be a much better demise!
One of the best things about being a part of Vikings for Fimmel are the filming locations. “The locations in Ireland are just beautiful. It’s a pleasure to be here. I love Ireland – we couldn’t shoot it anywhere else.”
So what’s next? Fimmel says he doesn’t plan on doing the “Hollywood Thing” but this might be unavoidable as he stars in the 2016 fantasy film blockbuster Warcraft.
As for his personal life, Fimmel hopes to buy a farm in his homeland Australia, “But Australia is getting expensive. I need to get paid more!”
