Adam “Edge” Copeland talks “Vikings”, WWE roots, SmackDown 1000, and more

In this exclusive interview, WWE Hall of Famer Edge discusses Season 5 of “Vikings“, his character Kjetill, “The Edge and Christian Show”, and much more.

Since retiring from the ring in April 2011, Adam “Edge” Copeland has kept himself fairly busy with a variety of projects, from starting up his own podcast with Christian to starring in WWE Studios films and having a recurring role on SyFy’s hit show Haven. But nothing he has accomplished outside of the squared circle so far has compared to his time on Vikings on the History channel.

As Kjetill, Copeland has had quite the story arc up to this point in Season 5, which is set to resume starting on November 28 on History. It coincides nicely with Season 2 of The Edge and Christian Show premiering on the WWE Network later this month, so if you need your fix of The Rated R-Superstar, it’s your lucky month.

Ahead of the return of Vikings in two short weeks, Copeland has plenty to say about coming into his own as an actor, Kjetill’s evolution, his recent appearance on SmackDown 1000, and much more in this exclusive interview.

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Daily DDT: What intrigued you most about Vikings and your character Kjetill specifically when you signed on for it?

Adam Copeland: I’ve always been a fan of the show. I had watched it from the first season on, so I was already in. I already knew all the characters, I already knew the writing, I already understood how epic the show is. Any time there’s a show like that, I tell my team outright, “We’re going to have to keep this one on the radar, and if anything ever pops up, we have to go after it.” Sure enough, a role came through, and to me, it was a no-brainer. My head is clearly built for this type of role. (Laughs) Basically, I have a viking helmet stuck for a skull. It just felt right.

When I got over there and really started finding out what this character is and who he is and how he goes about things, it quickly felt comfortable. More than any other role I’ve done, this was the quickest transition to kind of put his skin on. That was a great surprise because you never know. There’s so many factors that go into that process from the writing to the editing and the whole crew, let alone where you’re filming. All of those things go into how quickly, if ever, you find these characters. Thankfully, really quickly I felt really good about this character. That was exciting.

DDT: Was there anything you did to help prepare you for this role, and do you feel your time spent in the ring gave you an advantage given the physical nature of the show?

Copeland: What’s exciting about my character, at least initially, that there’s not a lot of physicality to it, which was really surprising to me because I thought, “Okay, that’s one of the reasons I was hired, is that this a very physical role and they have battle scenes and all of these physical elements.” What was really refreshing was the fact that, at least initially, my guy doesn’t do any of that. He’s trying to build a community. It becomes much more of a layered character thing and that was really fun to have that challenge.

I assumed at some point the physicality would come into play and that’s my wheelhouse so I’m okay with that. This was really great to explore the layers of a character, and also to tackle the challenge of a period piece, a historical drama with accents. All of those things were really, really fun to tackle. Always in whatever I do, I try to make sure it’s going to be challenging because I find fun in the challenge and this checked all of those boxes.

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DDT: Are there any specific story arcs viewers can look forward to featuring Kjetill on this season of Vikings? And did you enjoy the evolution of your character over the course of the season?

Copeland: Yeah, it really grew nicely and that’s kind of a learning curve for everyone. It’s a learning curve for me as a performer coming into a new production and getting comfortable with how this show does things. I think from the writing standpoint, not knowing fully what you have until you start throwing some scenes here and there and go, “Oh okay, wow, we have something here. We can build on this character.” That ended up being the case with Kjetill. Little by little, there’s more to come and that was super exciting.

This Season 5B that airs coming up, it gets really, really interesting with my guy and some of his decisions and kind of where his moral compass is at and the internal struggle that he seems to be battling all the time, which will lend itself going forward, too. What’s crazy about this is that we filmed this a year and a half ago, so there’s been so much content since then and so much that has evolved within the character that it will actually be fun for me to see it back and be reminded of stuff.

DDT: Kjetill has been regarded as a solid family man who remains level-headed in the face of challenges. Do you feel you personally relate more to Kjetill or your Edge persona in WWE?

Copeland: Probably more me personally, at least at this juncture. (Laughs) Maybe you could say there’s equal parts in there, but at least where he’s at now trying to be a pillar of a community, trying to be the right-hand for Floki to have his vision come to fruition, to be a dad, try to be a husband. He’s really trying to be all of those things. He really, really sincerely is, but he’s also a warrior. I think that was something I tried to put into the character that you kind of see this internal struggle happening way, way lower. You’re almost waiting for when this is going to explode because it has to, right? He’s a 6’4”, 250 pound viking. At some point, when these bad things continue to happen, it’s got to go, it’s got to give, right? That to me was a really fun aspect to play.

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DDT: Who would win a fight between Edge and Kjetill, and what would be some of Kjetill’s signature moves?

Copeland: Well, it depends on how fair it is now. (Laughs) If we’re talking hand-to-hand, it’s up in the air. But if Kjetill’s walking in with an axe, it’s not to going to be much of a fair fight against a steel chair, probably won’t hold up to the axe too well. I think Edge would probably find a way to knock Kjetill down, tie his laces together (laughs), and he’d take it to him.

DDT: Any update on when WWE fans can expect Season 2 of The Edge and Christian Show to debut on the WWE Network?

Copeland: Yeah, I think it’s supposed to be November 26th, and Vikings will be November 28th. Like I said, we filmed all of this stuff for Vikings a year and a half ago. We finished The Edge and Christian Show about six months ago, so people are going to assume I’m really busy, but I’ve done all of it. (Laughs) I’m actually just sitting at home and being lazy.

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DDT: In that case, what have you been up to in the meantime?

Copeland: I had a hiatus in between filming seasons for Vikings, so in that time, we filmed E&C Season 2, so it was basically two years straight of just work. Once I wrapped up on the latest Vikings stuff, it was time for a break and time to just be home and be dad and be partner. We’re switching podcast companies and Beth (Phoenix)’s dad passed away, so it was just a time to go, “Okay, I have to pump the breaks on everything and just be home.”

DDT: How was your experience at SmackDown 1000 last month and how different was it than being on the set of Vikings?

Copeland: I think the main difference is the live element and because of that, it’s always much faster paced at SmackDown or Raw or whatever else. You really don’t have a second from the time you get there because there’s something that needs to be done or ironed out because that show is going live and you only have one take. With Vikings, there’s so many moving parts and pieces and you get a lot of opportunities to try different things and they each bring positives because of that. I love the live atmosphere and I love flying by the seat of your pants, you have no net.

What’s really nice about Vikings is that you have a chance to try things and try something different and on the day you might stumble into something you didn’t expect and go, “Oh wow, I didn’t know this scene would take this route.” That happened on this season that will air with Floki. Kjetill and Floki have this conversation and you read the script and you go over it in your mind and when we got there, it took this entirely different direction and it was so exciting and so fun. With SmackDown, you come out and get that live reaction and that’s equally as simulating, but just in different ways.

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DDT: You’ve said before that WWE Superstars such as Roman Reigns and Charlotte Flair are fans of the show. Do you have any other friends or family members that were already fans of the show and were excited to see you join the cast last year?

Copeland: A lot of people within that industry, yeah, were pretty excited because I think it is one of those shows that seems like a no-brainer for someone with the physicality of a wrestling background. I think, because WWE is such a physical thing, it naturally pulls the very physical people into watching it. And then it also has all of these historic and dramatic elements. I’ve been exposed to an entirely new audience now and that’s really, really exciting. I’ve had a lot of people that watch the show come up to me not realizing I was a wrestler, which is a compliment. I think people still assume wrongly and that there’s this misconception that if you’re a wrestler, you couldn’t necessarily pull that off. I think Dwayne [Johnson], I think Dave [Bautista] are all changing that, but there’s still a part of that where people are kind of surprised that that’s what you used to do.

DDT: What will everyone will enjoy most about this upcoming season of Vikings do you think?

Copeland: The show period. I mean, the production values, the amount of insane work put into that show. Some of the elements you’re in, some of the situations you’re in are really, really physically difficult and I think that relays to the screen. I think people truly understand like, “Oh wow, I know it’s Hollywood and all these things, but this looks like a hard show.” And it is. It is a very demanding show. Name the position. Everybody on that crew has that same mentality. You got to be tough and you got to get the work done.

Like I said, people get that sense in watching it, like, “They’re out there. They’re doing that. They’re in that mud. They’re rowing those boats. They’re in it.” It’s because we were. I think you can expect all of those things. When it comes to my character, there’s a lot of stuff that goes on within his soul in this second half of the season. Everything he bases his beliefs on comes into question and that was really fun to play.

Vikings Season 5B premieres on Wednesday, November 28 at 9 p.m. ET on History.