Sam Corlett is a young Australian actor set for big things, as he takes on a leading role in the upcoming Netflix series Vikings: Valhalla, portraying the famous Scandinavian explorer Leif Eriksson. In a recent interview with The Digital Fix, the Valhalla star described the role as “an absolute honour”, and discussed the experience of going from being a fan of the original Vikings series, to playing a part in the show’s legacy now.
The original Vikings TV series first aired back in 2013, and Corlett actually used to watch the show with his father when he was younger. So, to go from seeing this bloody and brutal action on a television screen, to being right in the middle of the action on set, must have been quite the journey for the actor.
Speaking ahead of the release of Vikings: Valhalla, which arrives on streaming service Netflix on February 25, 2022, the actor was full of praise for the production and described how that original series inspired him as a young actor.
“It’s an absolute honour to continue the legacy of that show,” Corlett explains when asked about that transition from being a fan, to leading the new spin-off show. “What that cast did, and what Michael Hirst did as a showrunner, was so inspiring to me as a youngster,” he continued.
Vikings: Valhalla is set over 100 years after the events of the Vikings TV series, recounting tales of real-life monarchs, warriors, and explorers in the Anglo-Saxon period. Corlett, who has previously worked with Netflix on Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, plays a key role as Leif Eriksson, son of the renowned Viking warrior, Erik the Red.
Corlett’s positive experience on the Vikings: Valhalla production echoes the sentiments of his co-star, Jóhannes Jóhannesson, who compared the show to Game of Thrones and described working on both productions as being part of a “well-oiled machine.”