As the first series of BBC1's The Musketeers comes to an end on Sunday night, ruthless spy Milady de Winter puts one final plan into action: to kill Athos and his men!
Here, actress Maimie McCoy talks about playing the show's femme fatale...
We've seen you kill a lot of people as Milady in The Musketeers...
"I know! We drew up a list recently of how many people Milady has killed or tried to kill. There was the priest Milady strangled - that was one of my favourites!"
Is Milady all bad?
"She's very complex. Misunderstood is what I like to call her because everyone thinks she's just vile and evil. And of course she's that too!"
In this week's final episode, Milady is tasked by Cardinal Richelieu (Peter Capaldi) to kill the Musketeers...
"Milady's goal has always been to serve the Cardinal and shares his vision of wanting Paris to be a superpower. Their methods and means of making that happen are dubious, but Milady's very skilful at using her feminine wiles to get results, making her extremely valuable to the Cardinal."
Milady wants her own revenge on Athos for sentencing her to be hung and leaving her for dead. How has this shaped the person she's become?
"Milady felt loved and protected when she married Athos and allowed herself to be vulnerable. Milady was heartbroken when everything went wrong... and then she became evil."
Does Milady try to get newly promoted soldier d'Artagnan to turn against the Musketeers?
"Milady bumping into d'Artagnan at the start of the series was a bit of an accident, but she definitely sees him as somebody she can use. She's always got someone in her back pocket and is very good at keeping them there for when she might need them."
What's it been like playing a woman who trades on her sexuality and power?
"It's been quite hard, actually. The costume and the make-up are like putting on a suit of armour and allow me to be incredibly bold. Otherwise, I'd be like a little mouse!"
So, have you really enjoyed playing Milady?
"It's been a dream to play someone so devilish. Parts of Milady's character have slipped into my own life now, though obviously not the killing bits!"
