Interview Roundup: Moving past the books, the shortcomings of body doubles, and playing a badass
Here are a few bits from recent interviews with the Game of Thrones cast, and a new sit down with George R.R. Martin for your Sunday reading/viewing pleasure.
A few characters reached the end of their already-written storylines in Season 4, and parts of Season 5 are expected to move beyond the A Song of Ice and Fire novels. In a new interview with News.Com.Au, Aidan Gillen says that not knowing where the story is going could be a good thing. “It’s an adventure everyone is on — the audience, the cast. Not knowing where it’s going, that’s good. People playing end games could work … but if you don’t know what the end game is, maybe you won’t play the obvious thing.”
The interview was to promote his new film, Calvary, and he admitted he had one regret about the film – his Petyr Baelish moustache. “I was in the middle of Game of Thrones so there was a look I couldn’t shed… The HBO people are very accommodating, but you’ve got to be on first call for them, which means having a bit of facial hair.”
Petyr Baelish without a moustache is kind of like Jon Snow with a tan. Kit Harington travelled to Cannes this year, but he had to be very careful where he stood. Kit told ShortList, “I can’t turn up to shoot with a tan. They shove so much mud on your face it doesn’t really matter anyway, but yeah, I have to stay pale.”
He also spoke about his use of a body double in Season 3, and why he’s planning on showing up in Croatia this year:
You needed a body double for a nude scene in Thrones, due to breaking your ankle. Were you worried he’d look out of shape?
The thing is, you have more of a hold over your character than you think. The painful part was watching someone running and walking for me. It’s a wide shot and no one will ever notice, but if I think about season three, it bothers me.
Did he have a funny run?
No, it’s just not you. It’s not your run. You feel like your character’s been taken away from you.
You mentioned how big the show is now. Do you notice that in your daily life?
Yeah, each season I’ve noticed it. This season’s been the biggest jump. It was the Red Wedding thing and the moment it blew up on social media. I think everyone was like, “Why’s everyone talking about this thing?”
Do you get annoyed that all your scenes are in Iceland while half the cast are sunning it up in Morocco or Croatia?
I’m going to Croatia this year. I’m going to do a set visit because I’m sick and tired of them coming back and saying, “Oh we just finished on set and jumped into the sea – it was great!”
Maisie Williams has been busy promoting her new film, Heatstroke. Many members of the press are drawing comparisons between Arya and her character in the film, Jo. In a new interview with Complex Maisie talks about getting to play the badass again, and how she feels about being considered a role model for young women.
“I think the word badass is thrown around quite a lot. Yeah it’s quite cool to play a strong female character again, but they are real people and I like that about them. They stand up for themselves.
I think it’s wonderful that people kind of look up to me and Arya, but that’s never really what I intended to be or do. It’s great that people like the decisions that I make and the decisions that Arya makes and that stuff is pretty amazing, but it is kind of a lot of pressure.”
If you’re a fan of Maisie, she also did a great new interview with Vanity Fair.
George R.R. Martin recently took a trip to Europe, and while in France he took the time to sit down with Le Mouv for an interview about his writing. Martin discusses historical fiction, the unpredictable nature of his writing, low-magic fantasy, realistic characters, if he knows the ending to his story, and more.
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