The Ryan interviews

FaBio here, recently returned from the GRRM signing at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena and the after-gathering hosted by the official ASoIaF fanclub, the Brotherhood Without Banners. I have tales of yore and wonder, of course, and they will be told very soon.

But this could be even cooler: Maureen Ryan, revered television critic for the AOL TVSquad (and @moryan on Twitter), snagged three choice interviews at the recent TVA’s: one with David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, one with George R.R. Martin, and one with Emilia Clarke.

Winter and I met Mo in Pasadena on Thursday, and it came as no surprise that she was literally the coolest television critic ever. And tall. She’s very tall. The Super-Geek persona is not an act; the woman is nerdier than me, and that’s saying something. It helps that she’s addicted to ASoIaF, of course. She got to watch that 15 minute preview of GoT-y goodness along with Winter and I, and came away as geeked as anyone. Her favorite part: seeing the Wall for the first time! Mo knows ‘Thrones!

For the full set of interviews, go HERE.

And here are some choice quotes:

David Benioff:

My feeling is, if George loves the show, and if we do — and we’re as devoted to this as anyone, having spent the last five years of our lives in Westeros — our basic feeling is that if we can make George happy, we’re going to make most of his fans happy.

GRRM:

My one concern is, a lot of fans have no conception of the reality of the [entertainment] business. I think there’s a certain portion [of fans] out there — the minority, mind you, the minority, I don’t know how many — who are going to be looking at this and expecting Peter Jackson’s ‘Lord of the Rings,’ regardless of the fact that the budget for ‘Lord of the Rings’ was infinitely larger than our budget, many times [larger]. They can’t expect that. I hope — and I think we will — have the best-looking fantasy series ever seen on television. But it’s not a $150 million movie. And we can’t compete with that. So the fans have to understand that.

Emilia Clarke:

All of us had a nice kind of crew together, which was lovely, and we kind of overlapped, we hung out. But then the biggest thing was that the people who I personally worked with are just the best people ever. Harry Lloyd is now my best friend. Ian Glen [who plays Daenerys’ advisor, Ser Jorah Mormont] is the best mentor anyone could ever ask for. He’s incredible, just the most brilliant, prestigious British actor, and a wonderful person. And Jason Momoa [who plays Dothraki leader Khal Drogo] is just the coolest kid around.

Fire And Blood: That’s one big kid, that Momoa dude. I really think Clarke’s passion for acting comes through here, and I think her eagerness is great. I hope she never loses it. And I love that Iain Glen was busy calming Emilia while also calming his horse. I wonder which took precedence? Probably the horse, since Emilia wasn’t a risk of throwing him and breaking his neck.

One of the things I have consistently noticed is the respect these actors seem to have for the source material. Whether it’s due to the fact that they’ve actually read the books (many have read AGoT, which was a surprise to me) and love the story, or simply because they already feel the buzz (and don’t want to screw it up) … hey, the reasons don’t matter.

We ask so little: respect the story, honor the character, and give us your Best. Performance. Ever. And then it’s all good.

Thanks, Mo!

UPDATE by HmR: Maureen Ryan promises more info and full interview write-ups closer to the premiere. In the meanwhile, fans are invited to listen to the latest podcast in the Talking TV with Ryan and Ryan series, where Mo sums up her Game of Thrones stories from the TCA tour, and talks about HBO’s connection with the fans as well. About 12 minutes of solid GoT stuff! Oh, have I told you that WiC and this blog get a huge mention? To quote FaBio: Thanks, Mo!

• Published on 01/10/2011 at 6:25 AM CDT
• Last updated on 10/20/2016 at 6:04 PM CDT