The holy father of twelve

Jeremy Irons tells Helen Barlow about his portrayal of a philandering pontiff in raunchy TV series The Borgias.

AS THE Borgias TV series was about to be unleashed on US viewers in April, the headlines screamed: “Sex. Power. Murder. Amen.”

Who better to embody all four elements as Rodrigo Borgia, aka Pope Alexander VI, than Jeremy Irons, an actor adept at making us love bad guys? He has a natural authority because of his height, stature and that distinctive melodious, raspy voice.