Lothaire Bluteau & More Join Cast of History's VIKINGS Season 3

HISTORY announced today new casting for season three of its hit scripted series VIKINGS, including Lothaire Bluteau (The Tudors) as Emperor Charles of France, a powerful man who views battling the Vikings as spiritual and earthly; Kevin Durand (The Strain) as The Wanderer, a mysterious man who is not what he seems; and Morgane Polanski (The Ghost) as Princess Gisla, the elegant, self-possessed daughter of Emperor Charles and his most trusted advisor. They join previously announced Ben Robson (Dracula: The Dark Prince) who will play Kalf, Lagertha's trusted second in command.

Travis Fimmel (Warcraft) leads the stellar cast as Ragnar, along with Katheryn Winnick as Lagertha, an Earl and fierce shield maiden; Clive Standen as Rollo, Ragnar's impulsive brother; Alexander Ludwig as Bjorn, the intelligent and bold warrior son of Ragnar; George Blagden as Athelstan, a young and not-so-innocent monk; Jessalyn Gilsig as Siggy, beautiful wife of the late Earl Haraldson; Linus Roache as Ecbert, King of Wessex, a man of strength, knowledge and undisguised ambition; Gustaf Skarsgard as Floki, a ship builder who designs the new generation of Vikings ships and Alyssa Sutherland as Princess Aslaug, Ragnar's new wife.

VIKINGS centers on Ragnar Lothbrok, a Restless warrior and family man who longs to find and conquer new lands across the seas and claim the spoils as his own. The series portrays life in the Dark Ages, a world ruled by raiders and explorers, through the eyes of Viking society.

VIKINGS is created and written by Michael Hirst, one of the premier historical story-tellers in the industry (Academy-Award winning film Elizabeth; and the Emmy® and Golden Globe® nominated series The Tudors). Michael serves as Executive Producer along with Morgan O'Sullivan of World 2000 (The Count of Monte Cristo, The Tudors), Sheila Hockin (The Tudors, The Borgias), John Weber of Take 5 Productions (The Tudors, The Borgias), Sherry Marsh, Alan Gasmer and James Flynn (The Tudors, The Borgias). Dirk Hoogstra and Julian P. Hobbs are the Executives in Charge of Production for HISTORY.

VIKINGS is an international Irish/Canadian co-production being co-produced by World 2000 and Take 5 Productions. MGM Television brought the series to the network and brings Vikings to global audiences, serving as the worldwide distributor outside of Ireland and Canada. HISTORY broadcasts domestically in the U.S. Vikings is produced in association with Shaw Media, and the series also airs on HISTORY in Canada.

About HISTORY®
HISTORY®, now reaching more than 98 million homes, is the leading destination for award-winning original series and specials that connect viewers with history in an informative, immersive and entertaining manner across all platforms. The network's all-original programming slate, including scripted event programming, features a roster of hit series including American Pickers®, American Restoration™, Ax Men™, Counting Cars™, Pawn Stars®, Swamp People® and The Legend of Shelby the Swamp Man as well as HISTORY®'s first scripted series Vikings, and epic miniseries and special programming such as The Bible and the Emmy® Award-winning Hatfields & McCoys, Men Who Built America, Gettysburg, Vietnam in HD, America The Story of Us® and 102 Minutes That Changed America. The HISTORY® website is the leading online resource for all things history, and in 2011, the United States Library of Congress selected HISTORY®'s Civil War 150 site for inclusion in the historic collection of Internet materials related to the American Civil War sesquicentennial. www.history.com.

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