After a lengthy wait, “Reign” seems to finally be opening the door toward some lasting happiness for Leith and Greer.
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“We are the happy couple,” Jonathan Keltz told Access Hollywood, speaking of his character Leith, and his married (to someone else) lady, Greer (Celina Sinden). “Things are definitely precarious as they always are, but we are the happy couple and I think it’s basically just, we are happily in this relationship, but we are in it with different goals and different motivations.”
As the show begins its march toward its Season 2 finale, those goals and motivations are beginning to become more clear. Greer is turning her situation of being the wife of a treasonous Protestant (the jailed Lord Castleroy) around as she finds power through being a Madame. As for Leith, he sees her situation with her husband as an opportunity he may be able to use to get her the annulment that could lead to their wedded bliss.
“As Leith, I’m very much excited and fighting for the dream that we’ve always had for what we could never [have] because of our limitations at court. Finally, it feels possible to get married, to have a family, to live a life at court where I’m respected by the King, and moving through my career, and we’re happily together and having all of the things that were never possible,” Jonathan said. “But, unfortunately, through all of the trials and tribulations that Greer has been through, the only constant and the only thing that she’s been able to find real strength and support in is herself, and in her own independence. And coming to rely on who she is, and what she is able to do for herself has provided a lot of strength and independence and I think that that’s something that she’s not willing to relinquish, nor necessarily should she. So it’s about where will we make the compromises to be together and where will we realize that we can’t just assert what we want for the relationship on the relationship. It has to be a partnership.”
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Greer now has power, but it is as a Madame, while Leith, who came from humble beginnings as a kitchen boy, is continuing to rise at court.
While we wait to see what happens with their relationship in the episodes ahead, Jonathan’s character has a new challenge to face immediately. Leith is the man Queen Catherine has decided she trusts enough to guard Princess Claude. And if he does the job right, Leith could make an ally of Megan Follows’ powerful character.
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“I think that what’s abundantly clear is no one’s ever really truly safe at court, but I certainly am somebody whose garnered respect and acknowledgement for who I am — as a soldier, as an honorable man, and as a dependable man at court,” Jonathan explained of how Leith landed his new job. “I’m somebody who is clearly depended on by the royals and by the nobility at court, as an adviser, as a soldier, as a trusted participant. So I think that this relationship definitely can provide some comfort and some strength and it also provides me with the joy of getting to work with Megan Follows.”
Queen Catherine’s daughter, Claude, clearly was very pleased when she saw her new guard in the most recent episode, and there will be adventures for Leith and the Princess on Thursday night’s “Reign.”
“She and I couldn’t come from more opposite backgrounds or have more opposite core value systems, so there will definitely be some funny, witty banter in our future,” he explained. “It’s a lot of fun. We’re bouncing around town in this upcoming episode and it certainly provides some good fodder for laughter.”
Less funny was the weather on the day those scenes were shot in Toronto.
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“The coldest day I had to shoot on was — with wind chill — 35 below Celsius [Editor’s note: approx. -31 degrees in Farenheit], so that was a bit nuts. That was actually this upcoming episode that’s about to air,” he said.
“I just remember me and Rose [Williams, who plays Claude] were sort of bouncing around the town. We were just dying, but it’s good. It was fun and badass,” Jonathan added.
While it can be hard work on those cold shoots, one of the cozier parts of being on “Reign” is Tweeting the show, which Jonathan is known to do from his @JonnyKanyon Twitter account.
“I’m very lucky that I’ve received really only positive energy and vibes through the medium, but I think that that’s what we have to encourage and connect with versus engaging with anybody that’s trolling or trying to pick fights or just try and get under someone’s skin. I receive a lot of really nice affection and love and funny stuff and cool stuff and I get to follow people that I respect and admire and sort of see a window into what they’re thinking or a joke that they’re making,” Jonathan said when Access asked him about social media. “I’d say that probably my favorite person to follow is The Rock. … I mean, he’s the king of social media in my books. But it’s something that I hope to use, not just for fun, but also for good and for change as I move forward in my career as well.”
“Reign” continues Thursday at 9/8c on The CW.
— Jolie Lash
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