Carice van Houten (Melisandre) makes her US talk show debut
Game of Thrones has a ton of standout cast members, so it must be difficult to get all of them booked on late-night talk shows to do press. This year, producers have leaned on heavyweights like Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke to talk the show up in the weeks before Season 5. Still, it comes as a bit of a surprise that Carice van Houten, who’s done such a compelling job as Melisandre over the past three seasons, had never been on a late-night talk show before stopping by Late Night with Seth Meyers this past Tuesday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=212&v=zBEH0d9Q8OU
Van Houten (who reveals that, like her costars Lena Headey and Emilia Clarke, she is actually a brunette) makes the most of her appearance. Generally, she and Meyers keep things light, but there were some fun takeaways.
- Apparently, Van Houten and Meyers have known each other for a long time, which isn’t something I would have guessed. Van Houten actually texted Meyers after getting the offer to play Melisandre, correctly assuming that Meyers was a dork who had read the books. He recommended that she take the part, and is a little upset that he hasn’t seen dime one from her afterwards.
- Like many of her fellow costars, Van Houten does not read the books, so we needn’t bother scouring her interviews for insight into how Season 5 has altered them. She’s a fan of the show, though, and calls it a “mirror to our own society.” That sounds a bit melodramatic, but hey, you don’t see politicians giving boxsets of Sex and the City to monarchs as a way for them to understand “the political crisis in Spain.”
- Van Houten gets asked to do a lot of nude scenes, which can be a little uncomfortable. To diffuse any tension, she keeps a healthy sense of humor about it, which is probably the best way to go about it.
Like many of the cast, appearing on Game of Thrones has given Van Houten’s career a boost. Shell be playing German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl in an upcoming film about the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, and recently scored a guest-starring spot on The Simpsons, always a sign of moving up in the world. If she can bring the gravitas she exhibits as Melisandre to other roles, she should have a long, successful career.
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