James Norton reveals ‘painful’ injury sustained while filming King and Conqueror stunts

Actor says injury didn’t delay filming of period drama

James Norton revealed that he broke his collarbone while shooting the forthcoming BBC period drama King and Conqueror.

Starring Norton as Harold of Wessex and Game of Thrones star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as William the Conqueror, King and Conqueror recounts the events leading up to the historic Battle of Hastings in 1066.

The series also stars Clémence Poésy as Matilda, Emily Beecham as Edith, Eddie Marsan as King Edward, Juliet Stevenson as Lady Emma, Elliot Cowan as Sweyn, and Clare Holman as Gytha.

While doing stunts for the Battle of Hastings and the Battle of Stamford Bridge scenes, Norton said he fell off his horse and injured himself.

“In some of the battle scenes in the latter half of the shoot, I’m yelping very loudly and the yelps are pretty authentic,” the Happy Valley star told The Times.

“I fell off a horse and I landed on my shoulder. Actually, it was a remarkably quick recovery, and it didn’t affect shooting. Luckily, we dealt with it. The collarbone recovers very quickly. It was just quite painful.”

“I was doing all my own stunts but I had an amazing stunt double who I was in the hospital with. There was like a moment where we said, ‘We’re f***ed. Are you going to call Kitty, or am I?’” he continued, referring to executive producer Kitty Kaletsky.

The crew also discussed his broken collarbone in a separate interview with Radio Times, where Kaletsky said Norton sustained the injury in Iceland shortly before he was due for a break.

James Norton broke his collarbone while shooting for forthcoming BBC drama King and Conqueror (BBC)

“From a practical perspective, shooting in Iceland was such a blessing. But we were doing non-block shooting because in Iceland, we were there from January all the way through to July,” Kaletsky said.

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“That challenge ended up being an incredible blessing because you get the magic hour for many hours on end. The more immediate, painful – and I really mean that word literally – challenge was when Harold Godwinson fell off a horse and broke his collarbone.”

Norton said: “It was painful but, luckily, it goes to show how incredibly collaborative this crew was. We dealt with it. It was during a rehearsal and I fell off a horse and landed on my shoulder. Actually, it was a remarkably quick recovery and it didn’t affect the shooting, it just was quite painful.”

In June, Norton shared that he had a health crisis during the GQ Men of the Year Awards last year when his blood sugar levels dropped drastically.

The actor, who was diagnosed with diabetes at 22, had to wait a long time before eating, which left him seriously ill.

“I was dripping with sweat,” Norton told the Off Menu podcast. “I am on the high table sitting opposite Nicole Kidman and there are cameras everywhere: if I stand up, it's really rude.”

Norton became concerned that he would pass out and alerted a waiter nearby: “I said, ‘I'm diabetic. You need to help me. I need some orange juice really quickly, please’. That caused pandemonium to break loose. I was looking really ill at this point.”

King and Conqueror is set to premiere on 24 August 2025.