The highly anticipated series “The Pendragon Cycle: Rise of the Merlin” promises to deliver a version of Merlin unlike any seen before. Actor Tom Sharp, who takes on the iconic role in the adaptation of Stephen R. Lawhead’s bestselling series, says the character will surprise even longtime fans.

“Well, you know, it’s Merlin. So he’s an iconic character that’s probably known in most cultures around the world,” Sharp told The Daily Wire. 

Calling it his “biggest role to date and biggest production to date,” he emphasized that this Merlin is more than the mysterious, on the fringes secondary character that most Arthurian legend retellings make him out to be. 

“This is set before King Arthur, but instead of just a magical advisor … he’s also seen as a young warrior, which would be different for people to see. And it’s a grittier, more grounded tone … He’s hands on. He’s at the forefront,” Sharp explains.

The production draws heavily from Lawhead’s original story, which is a combination of Celtic mythology, Christian themes, and historical drama. The novels center on the rise of Britain from a land of chaos into a civilization awakened by faith. As previously reported, this series aims to preserve those themes, honoring Lawhead’s vision while building an immersive, cinematic world.

Sharp confirmed that staying true to the original was a priority behind the scenes. “We stuck as closely as possible to the books and as faithfully to the source material as possible when making this show,” he assured longtime fans. 

One pivotal moment from the source material is considered a turning point in Merlin’s life and received special focus during production. Sharp described it as a “tentpole scene” that carries significant emotional weight. “If this scene falls down, the whole show falls down,” he said, noting that “fans of the books … they’ll know what I’m talking about.” He couldn’t reveal much else except to say that the scene appears in episode six.

Authenticity was also a major theme while filming “Pendragon,” the lead actor revealed. Rather than relying on CGI, the series was filmed in stunning locations across Hungary and Italy. Sharp explained how this made things easier for him and the rest of the cast. 

“Shooting on location beats CGI and green screen every day of the week,” he said. “It’s more immersive for the audience … For actors, it’s less acting required. You’re reacting off real things.”

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He continued, “If you see me running with a wolf or someone’s on fire or I’m charging into battle on a horse, swinging a sword, it’s all real.” Even the bulls in episode one, Sharp noted, were living, breathing animals.

While Merlin is often portrayed as a wise yet inaccessible mystical being, Sharp said he approached the character through the lens of humanity. “One of the challenges of playing him was how do I make him relatable because he’s so mysterious,” he said. “As an actor, I focused purely on his humanity and how the audience can connect to him.” 

Sharp also emphasized Merlin’s moral restraint. “He could easily rule in a tyrannical position, but he chooses not to… Someone with all that power, not wanting to be the ruler, is a great quality.”

The actor also mentioned the character’s other distinctly human qualities. “He’s also heavily, deeply flawed as well with a lot of tragedy and pain in his life from the beginning and throughout. And obviously, when you’re immortal, you’re quite a lonely person… [there is] a distance between him and other characters,” he said.

Sharp shared one lighthearted behind-the-scenes moment involving his first scene with actress Brett Cooper, who plays Ganieda. The pair met in full costume, with her clad in the gown of a regal princess and him presenting as a mud-covered Merlin as they both encountered a giant wild boar.

“This is not your traditional romantic setting,” he joked.

Ultimately, Sharp is excited for fans to see the series and called it a “dream come true” to play the character of Merlin. When asked about his favorite scene, he referenced the first season’s last episode. “The very final scene of the show in episode seven is my favorite personally,” Sharp said, noting that “the fans and any newcomers to the story will understand why.”

“That scene gave me a very surreal out of body experience. It was amazing and very euphoric on set. I kept talking about it for days afterwards … that memory will stay with me for life.”

“The Pendragon Cycle: Rise of the Merlin,” premieres January 22, 2026, with early episodes releasing Christmas Day for DailyWire+ All Access members.

The ambitious fantasy series “The Pendragon Cycle” doesn’t just reimagine ancient Britain. It also reimagines its heroes. At the center of that transformation is Rose Reid, who plays Charis and also serves as a credited writer on the series. 

It’s a rare pairing in the genre, and Reid says stepping into the role required an entirely different kind of heroine than audiences are used to seeing.

“I think the thing that initially drew me to her was because she has such an interesting arc,” Reid said. “We meet Charis at a time that we don’t typically meet a lot of heroines in fantasy.”

Instead of introducing Charis before she completes an epic mission, like saving a kingdom or embarking on a journey, the series begins after the defining moment of her life. 

“We meet her after she’s already saved her people, and she’s essentially reconciling what happened and who she was then with who she was now,” she said. Charis is a character living with the consequences of past choices, and the show doesn’t shy away from letting viewers wonder about those decisions. Reid adds, “There are definitely several moments where you want the audience to ask the question, was that the right call?”

“I’ve always been a huge fantasy fan, so this was a dream project for so many reasons,” she said of scoring the role.

Reid’s position as both writer and actress gave her a unique perspective on the character, though she emphasized that she wasn’t cast in the role until later on. 

“I actually didn’t know that I was going to play her until very, very late into the writer’s room,” she explained. “I’m really grateful that that wasn’t even a conversation… I wasn’t writing her thinking I was going to play her.” 

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That separation ultimately spurred more creativity. “We could have a little bit more freedom to write her the way she needed to be written and that she deserved to be written rather than writing her with a specific person or a specific actress in mind.”

Once filming began, Charis evolved even further. “Characters change as you work through things,” Reid said. She credits showrunner Jeremy Boreing for having “such a specific vision” for who Charis was in every scene. Acting opposite co-stars like Daniel Fathers also reshaped the character. 

“How they respond to your character does kind of change … the same thing that I prepped in my head might not work anymore, because Daniel Fathers took a different approach.” One scene during an episode with Fathers, who plays Charis’ father, King Avallach, quickly became her favorite. “It ended up being my favorite scene on screen that I was in anyway. So I’m really, really excited for fans to see that.”

Reid also shared one of the production’s most surprising challenges: the now-infamous bull sequence, which was “terrifying” yet “exciting” because it used living, breathing bulls. 

“That sequence took us two weeks to film,” she said. “We spent the entire time we were writing, the entire time we were shooting the rest of the season preparing for that scene, because it was going to be such a big ordeal.” 

She admits it left her “kind of an adrenaline junkie.”

Filming in Cinecittà Studios added another layer to the experience. “That set is incredible. It’s huge. You really felt like you were there … it was impossible to step onto that set without thinking that you really had stepped into Atlantis and stepped into another world.” 

But more than any single moment, what stayed with her was the cast bond. “This cast is so close,” she said. “We all kind of locked arms and we’ve all been really good friends since then.” Her on-screen sister, Morgan, played by Emree Franklin, became one of her closest real-life friends. “We just became more family than friends, which I think is really special considering that that doesn’t happen very often.”

Reid closed with appreciation for the entire crew that brought “The Pendragon Cycle” to life. 

“Audiences don’t fully appreciate how much this is a team effort from everyone from [costume designers Tóth András Dániel Godena-Juhász Attila] to our incredible special effects team to the grips and everybody,” she said. “If audiences like the show, it’s probably not because of something any one group of people did, it’s because of the collective. And that’s part of the reason film is the only career I could ever see myself in.”

“The Pendragon Cycle: Rise of the Merlin,” premieres January 22, 2026, with early episodes releasing on Christmas Day for DailyWire+ All Access members.