On March 15, NBC will launch their new primetime series “Kings,” a modern day retelling of the story of David and Goliath. But even before the drama hits the small screen, AccessHollywood.com’s newest Rising Stars, Christopher Egan and Sebastian Stan are attracting a great deal of attention.
Romanian-born Sebastian, who plays Jack Benjamin, the son of actor Ian McShane’s character, King Silas Benjamin, spent his formative years in New York City. Before landing his royal role on NBC, the actor had a host of parts in movies including “The Covenant” and “Rachel Getting Married,” and a short, but memorable stint in “Gossip Girl” as Carter Baizen, a friend of Nate’s with a checkered past.
Though he’s worked with actors including Anne Hathaway, Taylor Kitsch and Leighton Meester, Sebastian tells Access it’s been thrilling to work with former “Deadwood” star Ian McShane on “Kings.”
“[It’s] fantastic – he’s such a mentor and he has become such a father figure in a lot of ways,” Sebastian said of the Golden Globe-winner. “I’ve been very lucky working with him… He’s so generous and it’s very easy to listen and act opposite of him. He’s completely generous. I’ve been lucky to sort of absorb a lot of things from him throughout this whole experience.”
Sebastian’s co-star is the Sydney, Australia-bred Christopher Egan, who plays David Shepherd, a young military man who saves Jack’s life as the series begins. Christopher was also enthusiastic about learning from Ian.
“One of the great things about this job as an actor (has been) getting to work with such actors [like] Ian,” Christopher, who previously starred in “Eragon” and “Resident Evil: Extinction,” told Access. “It was a real dream come true.”
As David, Christopher has a host of scenes alongside Ian, who plays King Silas. The King promises the young man half his kingdom (if he wants it) for saving his son Jack. And the part is a role the young actor has been glad to dive into.
“It was always a story that I was very inspired by… a historical character that I was always interested in,” Christopher said. “So, I was like, ‘Wow, this sounds interesting.’”
The series is set in an alternate modern reality in a metropolis similar to New York City, which is run by King Silas.
And for Sebastian, this epic story – written and created by “Heroes’” writer and producer Michael Green – has been fascinating to work on due to its thematic parallels to modern life.
“You can make a lot of correlations between [the] state of the country at the moment, the war, the recession, obsession with media, the manipulation of media to gain power, all the conspiracy theories about who’s in control,” Sebastian said of the topics, which the show will cover. “I think the show has very rich, detailed characters that are for a variety of different audiences.”
Christopher was hesitant when he first heard about the show’s skewed reality, but said his fears completely subsided once he read the script.
“I finally got the script and I read it, and said, ‘This is the most interesting piece of TV I’ve ever read,’ and I felt that I had to go at it with everything I had,” he noted.
In addition to “Kings,” Sebastian will return as Carter on “Gossip Girl” this spring to wreck a little havoc on the Upper East Side.
“Something’s gotta be messed around with or destroyed or attacked,” Sebastian revealed about his upcoming stint on the hit CW show. “It’s always got to be some sort of drama… basically, light a match and throw it into the fire and see how it all burns down.”
As for Christopher, he told Access he’s excited to return home to Australia for a little short break and then it’s back to New York to shoot a film and then do another film in Los Angeles.
But first, both Christopher and Sebastian are eager for audiences to finally see the show they have both worked so hard on.
“I’m really happy to be a part of something that’s thought provoking and inspiring,” Sebastian said when asked about the upcoming premiere. “Hopefully people will think about that. We have plenty of things that we should be aware of, that are going on now, especially for my generation. So, I just hope people can tune in that way.”
Watch Christopher and Sebastian on Sunday March 15 at 8 PM, on the two-hour series premiere of “Kings.”
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