TITANCON: Interview session

Half-way through the day, at around lunch time, when most TitanCon visitors were enjoying a break, the guests kept on going strong. Though tired, they made themselves available for a 45-minute interview session, and graciously claimed they are doing just fine when we asked them how they fared. We gathered in an upstairs reception room dubbed The Eyrie. Since we didn’t want to trouble the guys too much, we tried to keep everything less formal, a kind of a friendly mingling cocktail-party-without-cocktails-style chat in which we asked some questions and tried to glean some interesting tidbits.

• Now that the first season is pretty much a thing of the past, Maisie was able to tell us that the original plan for her toe-standing scene with Sean Bean was for her to balance on the back of a chair, but the rather complicated shot involving a safety harness was later replaced by her doing the stand at the top a flight of stairs we saw on screen.
• She has helped her colleague Tom Wlaschiha, the German actor playing Jaquen in the second season, with English intonation by giving him his lines the way she would say them. Team work for the win.
• Callum Wharry joined us for the session! He’s a quiet kid, and since we weren’t expecting him until later, we almost didn’t notice he was in the room at first. Sorry, Callum! I had a cool chat with him (FaBio got hold of him first, so he can tell you more), and he told us they won the football league game he played in the morning. He’s a Manchester Utd. supporter, and I told him I cheer for the team in their European cup games. Then I made the fatal mistake of saying that I support English clubs in general, including Liverpool. Oops! I knew it was coming, but it was still fun to see the looks of mock scorn from Callum (and his mum). I still got a high-five from his energetic little brother Darragh after he photo-bombed a picture. Callum had just received the scripts at that point and was to travel to Dubrovnik the Monday after to turn into Prince Tommen again. We wish him some good lines in S2!
• I talked one-on-one with Maisie, intrucing myself as the guy who did the WiC interview with her, and thanked her again. She was happy to have done it (and to meet the guys behind the site), and told me that was actually her first written interview. WiC.net definitely takes pride in that.
• Art Parkinson (Rickon) is a real Stark, and could easily pass for Isaac Hempstead-Wright’s (Bran) little brother, even more than one could imagine from seeing the first season. Mark my words, with some more screen-time, Art is going to attain a fan-favourite status. He surely won everyone over at the ‘con.
• It needs to be noted that everyone’s mums (and whole families, in fact ), who accompanied them to Belfast, are just wonderful to talk to. We had a great time with you guys, thanks for everything!

Check out some of the photos from the interview session.

Fire And Blood: “Ouch.” (That girl just abused me from practically dawn to dusk. All because I’m Team Sansa.)

In all seriousness, this tucked-away little interview portion was both fantastic and terrifying. Fantastic in that we were finally having a sit-down, face-to-face with Kristian, Sophie, Maisie, Art, and Callum (once he joined in the fun)… and terrifying in that I knew I only had less than five minutes of battery time left in my FLIP camera; the day was just one event after the other, with little time to rest in-between (unless you are Rabbit). So knew I wouldn’t get to tape the entire thing; only a small chunk. So I had to plan it right.

The kids were there with their parents, and I was cheered by the strong sense of untiy; there wasn’t even the barest inkling of the dreaded “stage mom” rearing her head; in fact you could say they all sat back and quietly talked amongst themselves while letting their kids (whose ringleaders are clearly Sophie and Maisie) take center stage. Trust me, I have met bad “stage” parents, and these are not them. Perhaps Britain just breeds a different sort. I personally got along exceptionally well with Sophie and Art’s mums (mostly because I have corresponded with them before), but really, everyone was lovely. A more relaxed atmosphere you couldn’t hope for.

The first person you notice, of course, is Kristian, because you can’t miss him. Yet for all that, he’s very genial, soft-spoken and smart, with a sort of wry, self-depricating humor you might expect (or at least hope for) in someone who could probably snap your neck with one twist of his hand. He has a trail a stars tattooed from his left eye and across his temple; one of many different qualities that at first surprise then delight someone new to Kristian’s World. He’s as fantastic as many people said he is. (Jake lied.)

The girls look insanely good; Sophie is one of the few young ladies whose complexion allows that coppery hair color to just pop (she’s actually a natural blonde). I would consider suggesting she keep it. Not many can pull it off without it looking fake, and on her it looks completely natural. Gorgeous! And speaking of hair, yes, Maisie specifically got her hair cut for season two… and it looks really, really good. “Empowering,” is the word I’d use at times, with “super frickin’ cute” pretty much covering the rest. That took some spine on her part; I guarantee my own daughter would have balked at the idea of hacking her hair for any part, so… good on Maisie. I’m proud of that girl. It’s gonna pay off. This is bloody well art they’re making.

Speaking or Art, I wrangled some time with Art Parkinson (off camera) and learned we have something in common: the Arsenal FC! That’s right, the cannons are ablaze with the light of recent victories (van Persie is a scoring monster); now all I want is a dominating win over Man-U. Is that too much to ask?

Callum popped in late due to a prior football commitment (yes, his team won), and declared his allegiance to… well, the team he plays for. We tried to wrangle a few questions from him (he gave a brief shout-out to Aimee—who was already in Croatia filming and unable to make the event), but football was the topic we kept going back to. Lads will be lads.

As to the interview, here’s the less-than-five-minute chunk I got (forgive the shaky camera; I didn’t have my regular cameraperson with me for this one, so the shakiness you are experiencing is in direct proportion to my inability to hold a camera and talk at the same time):

…The rest was lost. Was it because FaB had (professional that he is) run out of batteries? No. It was because the subject was turning toward a certain Faceless Man, who clearly did not want too much revealed about himself. He struck so quickly, no one ever saw him enter—or exit—the room. FaBio woke up several hours later, his bowels a wreck, moaning something about Tansy tea or some such…

All in all it was great while it lasted. FaB’s one regret was that he did not corner Kristian or Maisie regarding their thoughts on the heinous and misleading color indigo.

There’s always next time …

• Published on 10/09/2011 at 2:18 PM CDT
• Last updated on 10/20/2016 at 6:03 PM CDT