Conleth Hill talks Varys’ motives

We know Conleth Hill as Game of Thrones‘ Master of Whispers Varys. He recently sat down with Vulture for an interview about his latest project, in which he plays-what else?–a spy master on the long running ITV show Foyle’s War.  As always, it doesn’t really matter what projects actors from Game of Thrones are trying to push, the questions always invariably turn to HBO’s monster hit.

Hill was very good natured about it, pointing out that, as Varys’s look is so singular, he himself has the advantage of going unrecognized in public most of the time. As he puts it: “I would be a bit worried if I were recognized as Varys, because I don’t look like that normally. If I’m at a red carpet event, they’ll recognize some of the other stars from Game of Thrones, but not me. I’m not recognized immediately. Normally, if I’m wearing a tuxedo, people think I’m a security person or a wine waiter, just because of the uniform, you know?”

With the new season weeks away, Vulture natural asked if Hill could slip us any details. How evasive was he? See below!

Of course he was evasive. In fact, Varys himself might be proud of some of these answers:

Well, one never knows entirely what’s going on with Varys, but he seems to be less guarded this season, is all I can say, and more prepared to declare his allegiance to someone. I can say no more than that. You know, but I can’t say, unless you want me to get sacked! [Laughs] That’s another reason it’s best for me to know as little as possible.

What Hill means by “knowing as little as possible” is that he hasn’t read the books, and works hard to try and stay unspoiled until he receives his scripts. This is pretty typical for the cast, though Hill has a great reasoning behind it:

…I didn’t want to read a brilliant scene in the books that wasn’t in the TV show, and also, I thought, “Well, you can’t play knowledge. You just have to play the moments.” So that’s what I try and do. And the show and the books are two different things now. Very much so. They’ve ceased to become so identical… But yes, it’s two different storylines. And a lot of the conversations Varys has with Littlefinger aren’t in the books, either. So they’ve kept my character alive and kept me going, and I’m grateful.

Of course, there was one Season 5 moment he couldn’t really evade being asked about, and that was the moment in the trailer where he turns to Tyrion and says “Who said anything about ‘him’?” when talking about someone to unite the Seven Kingdoms. After all, this is the same character who you might remember was the contact to Ser Jorah when Robert originally ordered to have Daenarys killed in Season 1. When asked about that, he responded:

…because every individual is allowed to change their mind. And there are more stories in the book that aren’t being transferred to the screen… so it’s probably an element of what’s best dramatically and also how to accumulate his reasons. I think in times of war, and in terms of politics, people change their minds all the time. And something that seemed like a good idea at the time can be changed in a heartbeat. The order not to kill her came from someone, just as the order to kill her. And maybe that will come out in future episodes, so I don’t want to talk too much about it.

To check out more of the interview, including who he would seat upon the Iron Throne, and why, head over to Vulture.

• Published on 02/17/2015 at 10:00 AM CDT
• Last updated on 10/21/2016 at 1:06 PM CDT