Beowulf star Kieran Bew: 'He’s the classic hero, quite enigmatic with a lot of secrets' (VIDEO)

There’s a new fantasy epic coming your way with a charismatic new hero. Da Vinci’s Demons star Kieran Bew plays Medieval action man Beowulf in ITV’s 12-part adaptation of the Anglo Saxon poem (premieres Sunday, January 3).

If that sounds a little too literary for your tastes, think again. There’s lots of action to look forward to with CGI monsters, horse-riding and sword fights galore.

Kieran, 34, said: "He’s the classic hero, quite enigmatic with a lot of secrets, but he believes in honour and sticking to your word, which means he has to make hard decisions. He was banished from his town as a young boy and there’s unfinished business there. It’s a dream part to play."

Luckily Kieran is well-prepared for the fighting.

"I started fencing at the age of nine, and by the time I was 14 I was in the British squad. Later I got a job at The Globe theatre in London. I choreographed the fights for Mark Rylance when he played Hamlet and he would let me sit in on rehearsals."

But Kieran’s fighting prowess hasn’t spared him from injury. "I broke three ribs filming a fist fight with one of our very large stuntmen, it was my error, but he felt very bad, bless him! We had to tailor some of the action scenes after that…"

The series, which also stars William Hurt, Joanne Whalley, Corrie's Ian Puleston-Davies, Ed Speleers and David Harewood, was shot on a purpose-built set in the Pennines in the North East of England. It’s one of ITV’s most expensive dramas to date and five full series have already been mapped out.

Watch the interview with Beowulf star Kieran Bew, above."]

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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.