IF ANYONE can pull off long locks in the name of art, it's Alexander Dreymon.
This is no wannabe-hipster guise; the sparkly-eyed actor's lengthy tresses are in aid of reprising his hero role of Uhtred, in the second series of BBC2's swords-and-Saxons drama The Last Kingdom.
'This season we're playing around with different lengths. But last season I was working with extensions,' says the 34-year-old, brushing stray hairs from his face.
'It takes so much time and it's really heavy; it's like an alien body constantly sitting on your shoulders, it got quite claustrophobic.
'This year it's more manageable.'
While some might scoff at the German-American's discomfort, it's hard not to sympathise when meeting him clad in heavy armour, while filming on a blisteringly hot Budapest set.
The new instalment of the lavish series sees Dreymon return alongside familiar faces David Dawson, Emily Cox, Ian Hart and Tobias Santelmann, as well as newbies Thure Lindhardt, Millie Brady and Peter McDonald.
Promising to be bigger and better than the first, the second run – again based on Bernard Cornwell's novels – will return to the 9th century, as the fearless and instinctive warrior Uhtred continues his fight for his native land of Northumbria.
Having given his sword to King Alfred, despite his upbringing by the invading pagan Danes, he embarks on his voyage north to reclaim his fate; to avenge Earl Ragnar's death and recapture his ancestral lands of Bebbanburg.
'He's just living the Viking life,' says Dreymon. 'We finished the first series on a very clear objective, but that trajectory, he doesn't quite know how to go about it. There are missing elements for him to be able to pursue that journey.
'Though Uhtred has his own personal objectives, it very quickly becomes about a much bigger picture.'
The Last Kingdom returns to BBC2 tonight at 9pm.
