Alfie Allen on the many degrees of Theon Greyjoy, and Ramsay Bolton as the new character we love to hate

If there was a time for Theon Greyjoy to break free of Reek, it was when his captor asked him to role-play as his former self and treaty with his father’s allies. But “Theon” came and went, and Reek is seemingly here to stay, as the Boltons have secured their stronghold on The North, and are setting up in a once familiar place for Reek, Winterfell.

The transformation of Theon to Reek has been largely carried by the acting talent of Alfie Allen, and in a new interview with Vulture, he says that the task of portraying so many different aspects of one character was not daunting, but rather exciting.

“I’m totally excited by that idea. I think there are moments where he revisits the state of mind of Theon again but I think right now, he’s just totally Reek. He’s driven by fear and pain, and I don’t think there’s even any anger there. It’s just fear and pain, and maybe the only times he can come back as Theon is when he’s slightly angry. So he’d be two percent Theon now, when he’s angry at himself, angry at the world, you know? I don’t want to say it’s tough to play, but it can be hard to sort of jump in and out of these degrees of Theon, but it’s an opportunity that I’m relishing. I don’t know if I’ll get a chance to play a character like this again, but it’s a horrible state of mind to be in, without a doubt.”

That horrible state of mind is thanks to his captor, Ramsay Bolton, who many of the fans have nominated as the top candidate to inherit the love-to-hate character throne in the absence of King Joffrey. Alfie says that although he does share some similarities with the fallen King, we shouldn’t hate him too much, and perhaps the throne should belong to Littlefinger instead.

“Like Jack, Iwan is a lovely, lovely guy, which is a testament to how well he plays the character. We spend a lot of time together, so it’s not like we try to separate ourselves from what goes on. We’re really good friends, and Iwan is a massive, massive, massive help, and it’s just been great to have him there the whole time. He makes it easier for both of us… He does a great Ramsay, but don’t hate him too much! Some people hate my character as well, or maybe my friends just like to see me in pain. [Laughs] They just laugh. But Littlefinger is the one that makes my skin crawl a little bit. Aidan Gillen does a fantastic job playing him.”

Alfie also puts to rest any rumors that his sister Lily Allen was originally offered the role of Yara, and jokes about the tricky situation that would be a post-torture Reek nude scene. For the full interview, visit Vulture.

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• Published on 06/03/2014 at 5:00 PM CDT
• Last updated on 10/21/2016 at 12:41 PM CDT