The PBS costume drama deepens the story of Marie Antoinette in Season 2
When we rejoin Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette at the court of Versailles in season two of Marie Antoinette, the general atmosphere is one of impending doom. Ten years from this moment, the two will meet a violent end, as will the French monarchy. But in 1783, life just outside of Paris is still one of opulence and celebration. “At the beginning of the season, they’re at the height of their reign,” says Louis Cunningham, who portrays the last king of France. “Louis just had the huge success of his wars against Great Britain and the American War of Independence, and he’s celebrated for that. People really underestimated his abilities as king, and he showed himself able to step up. And Marie Antoinette (Emilia Schüle) is quite favourable at that time. They really were quite loved. But we see very, very quickly that there are cracks in all of that.”
On a national scale, there is the issue of France being bankrupt — a secret Louis is keeping from his spouse and the rest of the nation. “It’s a huge part of the season because it plays in as a kind of divisive tool between Marie Antoinette and Louis, between Louis and the people, between Louis and his brother,” says Cunningham. “Ultimately, later on in the season, we see Louis starting to lose his confidence and cool. He spirals into a depressive episode because of the burden that’s on his shoulders. The financial situation is a huge part of this season and a huge part of the fall of the monarchy.”
This is not the only burden on Louis’s shoulders. The health of his son, Louis Joseph, is declining, which is another secret he is keeping from his wife, who remains concerned but unaware of the severity of the situation. “For me it was this deep-rooted desire from Louis to protect Marie Antoinette,” says Cunningham. “He was just hoping that his kid could get better, and by the time he realizes that’s not going to happen, he’s just a flawed individual that can’t quite bring himself to say those words to her. He can’t probably accept it himself.”
For the couple, these crucial life events are about to come to a head, further taxing a relationship that is supposed to be built on trust and friendship. “They have this platonic love, where they are not necessarily soulmates or sexual lovers in any sense,” says Cunningham. “In one way, that’s beautiful, and I think it’s so important to show those types of relationships and love, but in another, it means that they’re not going to share everything, and so we slowly see them veering apart.”
As their surroundings start to gradually turn against them, the strength of relationship becomes all the more important. For Cunningham, the affinity these two have for each other was a direct continuation of what they built in the first season. “They start from kids who were forced to be together, thrust into a very public marriage where the pressure producing an heir was the most important thing,” he explains. “If you think about a 15-year-old and a 14-year-old being pressured into having sex, which is political in its stakes, that’s terrifying. They managed to navigate their way through that and understand that, actually, they can help each other and support each other.”
Over the course of the series, both Schüle and Cunningham have developed empathy for their characters, even as less flattering sides of them come to the fore. “Emilia and I both love these two innocent, sweet people who genuinely do have love and respect for each other, just not the normal one you see in two romantic leads,” he says. “But there are moments of Louis that come out where he’s not a good person at all, and I remember really struggling with that until I was like, ‘Wait, no, people can be bad as well.’ It’s nice that we’ve gotten to show that as well.”
For these two, the end is nigh, and while a third season will bring the curtain to a close, how we get there is no less intriguing. “When we started the first season, Debra Davis, who’s the overarching showrunner, told us to only read up to a certain point because she didn’t want us, as characters, to know their fate,” says Cunningham. “Obviously that’s impossible. And going into this season I was really aware that we have elements outside of Versailles and the nuclear family that show the pressure mounting and the effects of this small family has on the whole country.” The multi-season show has also managed to make the couple feel more human than any pop culture depiction in the past. “In terms of Marie Antoinette, herself, I think we see the frivolity and luxury, but we also see what’s underneath,” he says. “You see the inner workings any person would have when they’re on such a large stage, a little bit more of that internal monologue, and hopefully people can feel more connected to her.”
Marie Antoinette airs Sunday, April 13 on WTVS and KCTS