Prime Video Casts Jessica Madsen as Female Lead of New Original Series "Bloodaxe"

Madsen will portray 'Gunnhild,' the wife of Erik Bloodaxe, also known as the 'Mother of Kings'

The historical drama is based on the epic true story of the legendary Norse couple on their rise to power

CULVER CITY, California - June 26, 2025 - Today, Prime Video confirmed that Jessica Madsen has been cast as Gunnhild, the lead female role in the upcoming original series, Bloodaxe. The series, which will begin filming in Ireland and Iceland later this summer, is produced by MGM Television, a division of Amazon MGM Studios.

Bloodaxe is an epic historical drama, created, written, and executive produced by Michael and Horatio Hirst, which chronicles the rise of one of history's most famous Norse raiders, Erik Bloodaxe (Xavier Molyneux), and his formidable wife Gunnhild, Mother of Kings. As they fight for the throne of Norway, the land is torn apart by fierce rivals, shifting loyalties, and bloody betrayals. With war looming and chaos consuming the kingdom, drawing in the ruthless Kings of other Scandinavian countries, and even a powerful English ruler, the stage is set for a thundering, cataclysmic, compelling and utterly magical new Norse Saga.

Jessica Madsen has played fan favorite mean girl 'Cressida Cowper' in the megahit series Bridgerton, which is among the Top 10 most watched series in Netflix history, since Season One.

Bloodaxe is executive produced by Michael and Horatio Hirst, who will also showrun and write. Additional executive producers include Morgan O'Sullivan under his O'Sullivan Productions label, Steve Stark under his Toluca Pictures label, Arturo Interian, John Weber, Sheila Hockin, and Fred Toye.

Bloodaxe will premiere exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.

About Prime Video

Prime Video is a first-stop entertainment destination offering customers a vast collection of premium programming in one app available across thousands of devices. On Prime Video, customers can customize their viewing experience and find their favorite movies, series, documentaries, and live sports - including Amazon MGM Studios-produced series and movies Red One, Road House, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Fallout, Reacher, The Boys, Cross, and The Idea of You; licensed fan favorites; Prime member exclusive access to coverage of live sports including Thursday Night Football, WNBA, and NWSL, and acclaimed sports documentaries including Bye Bye Barry and Kelce; and programming from partners such as Apple TV+, Max, Crunchyroll and MGM+ via Prime Video add-on subscriptions, as well as more than 500 free ad-supported (FAST) Channels. Prime members in the U.S. can share a variety of benefits, including Prime Video, by using Amazon Household. Prime Video is one benefit among many that provides savings, convenience, and entertainment as part of the Prime membership. All customers, regardless of whether they have a Prime membership or not, can rent or buy titles via the Prime Video Store, and can enjoy even more content for free with ads. Customers can also go behind the scenes of their favorite movies and series with exclusive X-Ray access. For more info visit www.amazon.com/primevideo.

About MGM Television

MGM Television, a division of Amazon MGM Studios, is a multiple Emmy-winning leading producer of premium content for television and digital platforms. The division produces award winning series, including Fargo (FX), Wednesday (Netflix), The Handmaid's Tale (Hulu), Vikings: Valhalla (Netflix) and the upcoming series The Testaments (Hulu), El Gato (Prime Video), and Bloodaxe (Prime Video).