WWE Hall of Famer Adam “Edge” Copeland left one world of giants for another one, now playing family man Kjetill Flatnose on History’s “Vikings.” But just how big of a physical presence is the “Rated-R Superstar” on his new set?
No need for a deep dive into Google Images, we just asked him.
“It’s a pretty big cast. I think, obviously, that had to be by design. You have Alexander Ludwig: He’s like 6’3″, 215. You know, he’s a big man. Gustaf [Skarsgård], who’s 6’4″, super-lean, maybe like 190 pounds,” Copeland, who was billed during his wrestling days at 6’5″ and 241 pounds, told TheWrap. “In terms of stats-wise, I’m still the biggest guy.”
Copeland, who plays the close confidant to Skarsgård’s Floki, likes those odds against the more seasoned actors — or at least, he thinks the face-offs look badass on screen.
“It’s nice to share scenes with people and go, ‘Oh, OK’ — especially if you’re playing [scenes] where it’s like two alphas,” he continued. “And here it is, and they’re coming face-to-face. And you can literally do it face-to-face, and feel that, like, ‘OK, this is gonna be charged.’”
Though they don’t stand eye-to-eye, Edge was quick to point out here that while Peter Franzen is not a tall guy — he’s billed at 5’9″ — his “intensity” makes up for that stature. Everyone must bow to the king, we suppose.
Copeland’s big build comes particularly in handy for a recurring character like his on a set like this one.
“It’s a grind. It really is a physically demanding– and not just the battle scenes,” he said of the harsh production environment. “You know, the wardrobe, the things you find yourself doing, they’re all pretty physically demanding. And you’re doing it in mud, and you’re doing it in in wet, in the Irish winters. You’re doing it in wool clothes that don’t like to get wet. It really, really does– you get a new respect for what the Vikings did with the limited resources they had.”
“If you see us crawling around on that dirt with mud caked everywhere — that’s because that’s what it was,” Copeland continued. “And no matter what, I can never shower it all off. So I would be walking around Dublin, going into Starbucks with like dirt and fake blood under my nails and around my eyelids, in my ears.”
Don’t worry, Edge: No barista is going to say a damn word to you about it.
Watch Copeland get down and dirty when “Vikings” returns to History channel on Nov. 28 at 9/8c.