‘Mary & George’ Star Nicholas Galitzine Thinks His First Sex Scene With Tony Curran’s King James is “Very Intense and Passionate and Beautiful”

Mary & George Episode 2 “The Hunt” ends with a major moment for young George Villiers (Nicholas Galitzine) and his king, James I (Tony Curran) — and a key turning point for the Starz show.

**Spoilers for Mary & George Episode 2 “The Hunt,” now streaming on Starz**

After pursuing the king for a whole episode, George finally gets his man. You know, after narrowly surviving a murder attempt from the king’s current favorite, Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset (Laurie Davidson). James I not only rescues George, but he also dotes on the young man. George gets alone time with James in his tent late at night.

The seduction of the king starts with a dreamy energy as the two men, clad only in gauzy dress shirts, walk hand in hand through the shadows. King James I is at his most vulnerable with George, telling him, “I’m nothing but your subject.” The energy then completely shifts as George sexually dominates the monarch to his grunting delight.

When Decider spoke with Mary & George star Nicholas Galitzine about the sequence, we wondered if the connection between George and James was suppose to feel at all romantic. Although George appears to be rather mercenary in his pursuit of James, during this moment, there is a hint of a charge of real attraction…or is there?

“I mean, I don’t think that first encounter is [George] necessarily falling [in love],” Galitzine said.” I think there is something very intense and passionate and beautiful about it.”

Galitzine suggested that any romance in the scene probably came down to Tony Curran’s line delivery: “The way Tony delivers the dialogue — that seems so beautiful when he says, you know, ‘I want you to bury me,’ but there is something when we see George sort of turn, which is dominating about it.”

Decider also spoke to Mary & George showrunner D.C. Moore, who said he liked the way the balance of the relationship constantly flip-flopped.

“This begins as a transactional relationship — explicitly transactional — and becomes something deeper,” Moore teased. “Fundamentally, this is a story about love. You know, it’s not necessarily a nice love story, but it is a story about love and its effects, because James was this incredibly loving king.”

“I think Nick and Tony found an incredible balance where that thing was shifting all the time. So even moment to moment, what is the real nature of this relationship? Do either of them know?”

For Galitzine, however, the scene did have a distinct undertone that he wanted to convey to viewers: “Almost the sort of foreboding of what’s to come…”

So what’s to come? Well, you’ll have to keep watching to find out!