Alexander Dreymon wasn't the Uhtred anyone expected. If you read Bernard Cornwell’s The Saxon Stories before the show aired, you probably pictured a massive, towering blonde guy with shoulders like a barn door. Dreymon is lean. He’s agile. He doesn't look like he could bench press a horse. But the moment he smirked on screen, the debate basically ended. That’s the magic of the Uhtred the Last Kingdom cast—they didn't always match the ink on the page, but they captured the soul of the Ninth Century better than almost any other historical drama.
Casting a show like this is a nightmare. You need actors who can handle Shakespearean levels of political intrigue while covered in three inches of mud and pig blood. It’s a delicate balance. If the actors feel too "modern," the illusion breaks. If they’re too stiff, it’s just a boring history lecture.
The man who would be king (but wasn't)
Alexander Dreymon carried the show for five seasons and a movie. That’s a massive workload. Uhtred of Bebbanburg is a complex disaster of a human being. He’s a Saxon raised by Danes, a man caught between two worlds who belongs to neither. Dreymon had to nail that specific accent—that weird, rhythmic lilt that sounds like someone trying to speak English through a Viking filter. It wasn't quite British, wasn't quite Scandinavian. It was uniquely Uhtred.
He stayed. He fought. He loved.
Most people don't realize how much of the stunt work Dreymon did himself. When you see Uhtred sprinting through a shield wall, that’s usually him. He didn't just play a warrior; he trained like one. This physicality is what made the Uhtred the Last Kingdom cast feel so visceral. You could see the exhaustion in his eyes by Season 4. He looked like a man who had been fighting for thirty years because, in the show's timeline, he had.
David Dawson as King Alfred
If Dreymon was the heart of the show, David Dawson was the brain. His portrayal of King Alfred the Great is arguably one of the best performances in the history of television. Period. Dawson is slight of build, looking almost frail next to the warriors, but he commanded every room he walked into.
Alfred was a man obsessed with a dream: England.
Dawson played him with a simmering intensity. He was pious, often frustratingly so, yet he was capable of ruthless cruelty if it served the "holy" purpose of a unified kingdom. The chemistry between Dawson and Dreymon was the real engine of the early seasons. They hated each other. They respected each other. They needed each other. Honestly, the show changed significantly after Alfred’s death in Season 3. It had to find a new center of gravity, and while it succeeded, that specific tension between the pagan warrior and the Christian king was never truly replaced.
The supporting players who stole the spotlight
You can't talk about the Uhtred the Last Kingdom cast without mentioning the "pretty boys" and the "beasts" that surrounded him.
Take Finan, played by Mark Rowley. He joined the crew in Season 2 and instantly became a fan favorite. Rowley brought an Irish wit that gave the show some much-needed breathing room. The bond between Uhtred, Finan, and Sihtric (Arnas Fedaravičius) felt real because the actors actually became close friends off-camera. They call themselves the "three musketeers" of the show. That genuine camaraderie translates to the screen. When they’re joking around a campfire, it doesn't feel like a script. It feels like guys who have survived a dozen battles together.
Then there’s Ian Hart as Father Beocca.
Beocca was the moral compass. In a world of betrayal, he was the only one who truly loved Uhtred without an agenda. Hart played him with a scrappy, fierce energy. He wasn't a "soft" priest. He was a man who would swing a crucifix at your head if you insulted his God or his friends. His exit from the show was a gut-punch for the audience because it felt like the last piece of Uhtred’s childhood was gone.
The fierce women of Wessex and Danelaw
The show didn't sideline its female characters. Brida, played by Emily Cox, is the perfect foil to Uhtred. While Uhtred tries to bridge the gap between Saxons and Danes, Brida goes full Viking. She’s fueled by rage and a sense of abandonment. Cox’s performance is polarizing—some fans found Brida annoying toward the end—but that’s the point. She’s a woman who has been hardened by a world that keeps trying to break her.
- Aethelflaed (Millie Brady): The Lady of the Mercians. She had to be a politician and a commander.
- Hild (Eva Birthistle): A nun who is also a warrior. "Too good a woman for God alone."
- Aelswith (Eliza Butterworth): She started as the most hated character and ended as a comedic legend.
Butterworth’s transformation as Aelswith is fascinating. In the early seasons, she was the shrill, judgmental wife of Alfred. By the final season and the film Seven Kings Must Die, she was the sassy grandmother who everyone loved to watch. It takes a serious amount of talent to make a character that annoying into someone the audience actually cheers for.
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Why this cast worked when others failed
Historical dramas often fall into the trap of being too "clean." Look at some of the lower-budget stuff on streaming services; the teeth are too white, the clothes look like they just came off a rack at a costume shop.
The Uhtred the Last Kingdom cast looked filthy.
The makeup department deserved an Emmy just for the dirt. But beyond the grime, the casting directors (Kelly Valentine Hendry and others) looked for actors who could convey internal conflict. Toby Regbo as Aethelred is a great example. He played a villain who was essentially a pathetic, insecure man-child. It would have been easy to make him a mustache-twirling baddie, but Regbo made him human, which made him even more detestable.
The show also leaned heavily into international talent. You had Danish actors playing Danes, which sounds obvious but isn't always the case in Hollywood. Actors like Magnus Bruun (Cnut) and Jeppe Beck Laursen (Haesten) brought an authenticity to the Viking side of the story. Haesten, in particular, was a masterclass in "the lovable cockroach." He betrayed everyone, survived everything, and was played with a greasy charm that made him impossible to hate.
The transition to Seven Kings Must Die
When the series ended and moved into the feature film, the cast had to condense years of character development into a two-hour window. Some faces were missing, which hurt. Not seeing Lady Aelswith or some of the younger generation in the final film felt like a missed opportunity for some.
However, the core remained.
The final moments of the film—and the series—relied entirely on Alexander Dreymon’s ability to sell the weight of history. As he stands between the world of the living and the halls of Valhalla, you see every scar his character earned. It’s a physical performance. It’s a weary performance. It’s exactly what the fans needed to see.
Common Misconceptions about the Cast
One thing people get wrong is the age of the actors versus the characters. In the books, Uhtred is in his 80s by the end. In the show, Dreymon doesn't really age. They gave him a few grey hairs and some more wrinkles, but he still looks like he’s in his 40s. The showrunners decided to prioritize the actor's ability to do the stunts over "realistic" aging makeup, which can often look goofy and distracting.
Another misconception is that the cast was just "Viking fans." Many of these actors had never ridden a horse before being cast. They went through a rigorous "boot camp" in Hungary to learn how to ride, fight with swords, and move in heavy armor. Arnas Fedaravičius (Sihtric) has spoken openly about how terrifying it was to film the early horse-riding scenes.
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What you should do next
If you've finished the series and the movie, don't just stop there. To truly appreciate what the Uhtred the Last Kingdom cast accomplished, you should:
- Watch the "Making Of" documentaries: There are several behind-the-scenes features on YouTube and Netflix that show the training process. Seeing Mark Rowley try to stay on a horse while swinging a broadsword makes his performance ten times more impressive.
- Follow the cast on social media: They are surprisingly active and often share "throwback" photos from the set in Hungary. It’s one of the few casts that seems to genuinely like each other years after the cameras stopped rolling.
- Read the books: Bernard Cornwell’s descriptions give you a different perspective on the characters. You’ll start to see where the actors deviated from the text and where they elevated it.
The show is over, but the performances are permanent. Destiny is all.