‘The Dark Tower’: Katheryn Winnick Briefly Discusses the Film

The Dark Tower Movie Tom Taylor
A scene from Columbia Pictures’ ‘The Dark Tower’ (Photo Credit: Ilze Kitshoff © 2016 CTMG)

History’s critically acclaimed Vikings will return for the second half of season four on November 30, 2016, and in support of the upcoming premiere Katheryn Winnick participated in a conference call to discuss what’s in store for her character, Lagertha. 99% of the conference call focused on Vikings, however Winnick was also asked a question about a project she managed to star in during her limited downtime from Vikings. Winnick has the much-anticipated The Dark Tower heading to theaters in 2017, and Sony just confirmed it’s now moved off of a February release date to July 28, 2017.

The cast is led by Idris Elba as Roland Deschain and includes Matthew McConaughey as Randall Flagg (aka The Man in Black), Tom Taylor as Jake Chambers, Abbey Lee as Tirana, and Fran Kranz as Pimli. Winnick’s character hasn’t been revealed, however during the conference call she came close to accidentally letting it slip.

“I play a character that’s in the novels as well,” offered Winnick. “I assume I’m not allowed to talk about who I play. (Laughing) I was this/close about giving it away! That was almost a massive slip-up. But I will say this, I have some great scenes with Matthew McConaughey who I love working with. I worked with him years and years ago on Failure to Launch – one of my very first movies. So, it was nice to reunite with him. He plays a very interesting character.”

There was just barely time to fit in the role after Vikings wrapped up, but Winnick managed to pull it off. The film was shot in Cape Town during her hiatus. “It was an amazing experience,” said Winnick. “I only had less than two months of a break in between so it just luckily worked out, in terms of scheduling. I went straight from the end of season four straight to Toronto to visit my family and two days later I was on a plane to Cape Town. So, it was really quick. I know that they’ve been trying to get this movie made for over eight years. Ron Howard’s producing it. Idris Elba is starring in it, and Matthew McConaughey also. We’ve got an incredible young cast as well.”


Winnick added, “We’ve got an incredible director (Nikolaj Arcel) who’s really hands on with the actors and really has his own vision, his voice behind the camera and how he wants the film to be really authentic and real even though it has more mystical elements. But I think fans are going to absolutely love it.”

Winnick is aware of discussions taking place about the future of The Dark Tower franchise, but she hasn’t heard anything definite. “I know that there are talks of doing a TV show now and possibly more movies. I know that I had an incredible experience working on it, and it’s just going to be amazing when it comes out. I believe the date now is in July. I’m excited to see it in theaters and I’m sure you guys will too.”

Before returning to all things Vikings, Winnick added one final The Dark Tower statement: “I play a character that’s extremely different than Lagertha – I will say that!”