Ian McElhinney (Barristan Selmy) talks Game of Thrones Season 5

Ian McElhinney, who portrays exiled Kingsguard knight Ser Barristan Selmy on Game of Thrones, recently sat down with The Bits Herald to talk about Season 5, among other things. The actor had plenty to say about the show out-pacing the books, his sword-work, and who his favorite character was in the books (yes, he’s read the books).

See what Ian has to say, after the jump, but beware of SPOILERS, which are everywhere.

When asked about his character’s legendary skill with a sword, Ian McElhinney had this to say.

“So far I’ve lived off my reputation. They spend so much time saying “Oh, he’s a wonderful swordsman”, that I never have to demonstrate, you just accept their word for it. But in the upcoming series 5, I do fight, quite a lot.”

Finally! We will get to see Ser Barristan use that sword for something more than just decoration. In the books, every character who mentions his name raves about what a great fighter he is, but we have yet to see him display any of that prowess on the show.

McElhinney was also asked about the fate of his character in Season 5:

“After season 5 is completed, we are at the end of the books as we know them. So nobody knows the future after season 5, apart from George Martin, of course, and the two principal writers of the series, Dan and David. They’ve been pretty faithful to the books, but there’s no guarantee that series 5 will replicate the books entirely. And it’s also fair to say that hereafter, because we, the TV series, are going to get ahead of the books, maybe things will happen on screen that will not happen in the books.”

Speculation has run rampant as to which major character(s) will die during this upcoming season, and Barristan the Bold seems to top that list for a lot of fans. Could McElhinney’s portents about Season 5 not replicating the books be hinting at an early exit?

Next, the actor was asked whether he had read the books:

“I love them. It’s weird because when I got the job, I didn’t even know it was based on books. Then I got the book – thick, paperback, 800 pages long and small print. I put it on my dressing room table and for about two weeks I just looked at the thing sitting there. One night after I left the theatre, I started reading it and I was totally hooked! The scale of his vision is phenomenal and it’s a rocking good read. And after book 1, I was determined I was going to read the rest of it. I wanted to see if I made it through! I’m glad to see I’ve been going on to series 5.”

It’s cool that McElhinney has actually gotten invested in the books, since so many of the other cast members either haven’t read them or have only read their chapters. It also makes me sad, because we know that the surprise death this season will involve an actor who has read the books. Barristan seems like a more likely candidate than ever, now.

Finally, McElhinney was also asked about his favorite character:

“Well Barristan Selmy is one of the more decent people, so in that sense he gets good press. It’s great being a Lannister as an actor, because the best parts to play are villains. One of my favourites, but one I could never get to play, is Arya. I think she’s a great character, and I’m sort of rooting for the Starks. I do hope they get vindicated. Jon Snow is an interesting one, and I’m sure he’s of royal blood too. It would have been nice to have played someone like Tywin. He’s such a despicable, yet interesting character.”

Interesting! Ian McElhinney thinks Jon Snow has royal blood, which would mean that he probably subscribes to the R+L=J theory. Also, Arya is a great choice for favorite character, as she is probably the most complex one in the series.

Hopefully, Ser Barristan will live through Season 5, but I feel less confident of his survival after reading this interview.

(Thanks to WiCnet community member Aaron for alerting us to the article.)

• Published on 03/21/2015 at 10:00 AM CDT
• Last updated on 10/21/2016 at 1:06 PM CDT