Jamie and 'New Worlds' Cast on the cover of Guardian Guide Magazine - Interview + Scans (March 2014)

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New Worlds to conquer: meet the cast of Channel 4's new historical drama

Four of the most talented young actors in the UK are transported to 1680s America for the follow-up to The Devil's Whore

"It shows the beginning of the American dream," says 19-year-old Alice Englert, one of the four co-stars of the Channel 4 drama New Worlds. "What will be fascinating for UK audiences is looking at the beginning, how that dream was always going to be built on something quite… gross." She struggles, engagingly, for the mot juste. In the opening episode, her character scalps a man. It is indeed gross.

"We don't do much long-form drama in the UK," says co-star Jamie Dornan, 31, "so we have to pack a punch within the few hours we have."

'New Worlds' co-star Joe Dempsie talks about Jamie

Shortlist - We spied Skins’ Freya Mavor, Beautiful Creatures’ Alice Englert and future Christian Grey Jamie Dornan in the show. How was it working together?

Really good. I don’t think I’ve worked on anything that has been so disorganised or manic. Alice Englert dislocated her knee at one point. We were filming in Romania and everything that could’ve gone wrong, did go wrong. To the point where, by the last day, I was the last man standing. Everybody else was either ill or injured.

You were filming New Worlds when it was announced Dornan would be in Fifty Shades Of Grey. How did the news go down?

On the first day of shooting, Jamie and I were chatting between scenes and he was like, “I’ve got to do a bit of reading.” He blushed a little bit. I asked if it was Fifty Shades Of Grey, because I knew they were auditioning. But it’s really exciting to be around when that sort of news breaks. It’s been great for us as well – a lot more people are going to watch New Worlds because Christian Grey is in it.

Is there a fear Jamie will forever be known as Christian Grey?

You’re only typecast if you allow yourself to be. If you complain that you’ve spent the past three years playing the same part, no one’s forcing you to play those roles. Decline offers of reprising the same roles and do something different. The key to longevity is variety. It all comes down to where you derive your satisfaction from, career-wise. For some people that’s a healthy figure in the bank, which is understandable. But I wouldn’t be happy if I did something I didn’t feel was interesting.

'New Worlds' Promo Shoot (2013)