Curtain Call: Thomas Brodie-Sangster

When I first bumped into Thomas Brodie-Sangster it was almost in a quite literal sense; it was September of last year, and he was coming down the stairs of the Belfast convention center and I was going up. He deftly avoided my expert parody (?) of Clumsy American, and only in passing did I realize I had only narrowly escaped a very public collision with Jojen Reed.

I was able to finagle an interview later that day, and we chatted in the building’s green (white) room. He was–and is–a lovely chap, one part English polite, another part English bemused. I think the fervent nature of fandoms–perhaps this one in particular–puzzle him as much as they amuse me. We got on swimmingly.

A lot has been made of Jojen Reed’s early death. Some question whether or not it thieved some of Jojen’s rightful presence in A Song of Ice and Fire; others pointed out the fact that, in the books, Jojen may actually be very well dead. (The “Jojen Paste” theories taking wing here, though the fact that Leaf just seemingly flash-fried his corpse perhaps begs different questions.)

But no one can question Thomas Brodie-Sangster’s presence onscreen. I have maintained since season 2 that both Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Ellie Kendrick do more than most with the little bits of screen time they’re allotted.

Jojen was Bran’s spiritual guide. It can be argued that, once Bran arrived at the Three-Eyed Raven, his tale was done, and that spurred an onscreen death rather than offscreen. It remains to be seen what Meera’s role will be, but up until now, Jojen was the focal point; he was the young “grandfather,” the wise male ingenue whose frame paid the toll for his mind’s expansive acumen, and the drummer who set the beat for Brandon Stark’s mystic rhythms.

We were shocked–Sullied and Unsullied views alike–when Meera turned around and could only stare in open horror as that skeletal wight plunged its icy dagger down into Jojen’s stomach again and again and again and…

Meera’s horrified eyes and Jojen’s helpless body mirrored our own. There was nothing any of us could do, and we knew, in that instant, that a beloved character was gone.

Thankfully, Thomas Brodie-Sangster lives on! (Shocking, I know!) He is as busy as he ever has been; I don’t think he’s paused a moment in his career since his memorable turn as Sam in 2003’s Love Actually. (Actually he’s been working since 2001.)

He continues to voice the iconic Ferb in the animated Phineas and Ferb, and has a number of other projects in the works, including an adaptation of one of my daughter’s favorite books, The Maze Runner, Phantom Halo, and 2015’s Thunderbirds Are Go! Suffice to say he is not bored.

But to Game of Thrones fans, he will always be that iconic Reed–the one we saw so little of and always hoped for more, even though, in the end, we knew we would lose him. (“Today is not the day I die,” coming from someone with the Sight, usually means they have seen that dark day–and likely so will we.)

Thank you, Thomas, for all that you did for the fans of this show.

Fire and Blood: It was a pleasure meeting you, Thomas! Best to you in all future endeavors!

• Published on 06/19/2014 at 9:17 PM CDT
• Last updated on 10/21/2016 at 12:41 PM CDT