It’s hard being pretty. Nicholas Galitzine‘s George cries over having to use his beauty to lift his family’s social status in a new clip from the series premiere of Mary & George, premiering Friday, April 5 on Starz.
George is healing from a neck wound in the clip above, hinting at violence in Episode 1, titled “The Second Son.” In the premiere, Mary Villiers (a cutthroat Julianne Moore) develops a cunning plan to change her family’s fortunes forever, but first, she must convince her beautiful but disobedient son George to rise to the occasion and claim their destiny.
Mary’s second-eldest child is resting in bed as she tries to convince him that studying in France is a good idea.
“You just want to send me off to France to learn the ways of refinement, and then return to marry some awful, rich wife and milk her fat f***ing dowry,” Galitzine whines. The look on his face is pitiful as his fed-up mother majorly shades her firstborn, John (Tom Victor). “Who will marry him?” she asks. “How can we build a pass on anything unless we use your gifts?”
When George rolls his eyes at the thought of his special “gifts,” Mary shoots back, “If I were a man and I looked like you, I’d rule the f***ing planet.” George whimpers like a child and says, “I don’t want to rule the f***ing planet!”
That feeling will certainly change throughout the seven-episode period drama, but not until Mary can kick George into gear and get him to join her cause for social rise. She reminds George that “second sons offer nothing, inherit nothing. Raise yourself, or you will be nothing!”
Mary is more than equipped to navigate her family’s evolution, but her sex and age prevent her from truly grabbing hold of power. She uses her beautiful son to get in with King James I (Tony Curran) and transform them both into two of the most influential figures in Jacobean England.
With its steamy (and frequent) sex scenes and the intense relationships at King James’ court, Mary & George is shaping up to be one of the sexiest shows of 2024. Check out the juicy, audacious historical drama with a modern flare when it premieres next Friday on Starz.
Mary & George, Series Premiere, Friday, April 5, 9/8c, Starz