Here are a couple of interviews with Game of Thrones cast that have popped up over the last week or so.
First, Conan Stevens was interviewed over at The Tall Blog where he talks a lot about, as you might imagine, being tall. However he also has this to say about Thrones:
Working with HBO has been a good experience for me, mainly as I was working within the ‘Hollywood’ industry circles, rather than on the fringes. Pretty much everyone I was working with had a good track record and a ton of experience. For me to be chosen to work within these circles was a massive confirmation.
Domnick Walsh/Eye Focus
The other interview is with Aidan Gillen in the Irish Times. They talk mostly about his career and his role in the new Irish television drama Love/Hate, but touch briefly on Thrones:
He is distant. People know who he is, but he is hardly familiar. (“I’m Garbo-esque?” he smirks. But he doesn’t dispute that characterisation.) He has a dry sense of humour, compounded by a tendency to leer when it might be more profitable to smile. The facial hair he is sporting is for a role in the upcoming HBO series Game of Thrones (billed as “ The Sopranos in Middle Earth”), currently shooting in Belfast.
His character, Petyr Baelish, is a shadowy, mercurial figure. “So I based this look on Peter Mandelson circa 1984,” he says.
Loading ...
64 Comments
Good stuff. The Mountain that Rides….looks pretty scary!
ArzkiQuote Reply
“So I based this look on Peter Mandelson circa 1984,”
Pure gold :)
MurfQuote Reply
Aiden is perfect for Little finger – although I feas he may end up being typecast as ‘the shifty one’. Funny thing – as I was reading, I saw a character a bit like Jeremy Irons, slightly aristocratic with a slither of a ‘tach.
M
MartinQuote Reply
lol – yup – that would have been perfect casting.
MartinQuote Reply
Terrifyingly appropriate.
ShinyteapotQuote Reply
Interesting basis for the character, but it does LOOK awfully ’80s compared to the rest of the hairstyles we’ve seen on castmembers. I have to say I wish he’d included Littlefinger’s spade shaped beard. I have a hard time picturing him without it.
persephone88Quote Reply
I think Aiden came off as a little akward in that interview. I mean if he really didn’t want to do it or is too uncomfortable than why bother? I can’t say it painted him in a good light especially when compared to some of the other cast interviews. He came off too much like ‘bugger off don’t interview me’ but hey he’s perfect for littlefinger so I won’t put too much thought into just something I noticed.
AbstractPlainQuote Reply
Errrr WiC,
A minor thingy; why put the quotes in such a light gray? italic should be more than enough.
We did setup our monitor for the normal text. No reason to strain our eyes any further since most of us spent hours in front of it.
b/c I am Lazy.
HodorQuote Reply
hmm cool, but again GoT is said to be ‘Sopranos in Middle Earth’ don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing (and yes I know it has been discussed before ;p)
LiesieQuote Reply
I really like Aidens look for LF. The moustace fits the character perfectly, and he does have a little bit of a goatee, too.
sjweningsQuote Reply
He’s got a great look for Littlefinger.
I’m just starting to watch The Wire as well. Looking forward to seeing him in it.
And…good grief, Mr Stevens! If ever there was a more perfect actor for playing Gregor I don’t know who it is. Good interview. I’m size conscious myself at 6’4″, but I can’t even imagine what it’s like for him. He’s got a good attitude about it and his approach to acting and being typecast seems like the right one. He deserves much success.
ZackQuote Reply
OMG!!!!!!!!
The interviews are just WONDERFULLY WONDERFUL!!!
Just kidding!…errrr. sorry.
Quiet WolfQuote Reply
How can Gillan wear 1980′s facial hair? At no point does GRRM say that the facial hair in Westeros circa 298 is based on 1980′s fashions.
This totally ruins the show for me.
MormegilQuote Reply
Finally, post without potential ”chair syndrome” XD
m4st4Quote Reply
Oh, wait, I haven’t seen Mormegils comment before :P I guess he was being ironic…At least I hope.
m4st4Quote Reply
”Sopranos in Middle Earth” is great. You need fantasy fans and you need ”a serious show” fans…Although, I’d much rather say ”The Wire goes from Baltimore to Rome, will be good stuff, it is known.” :D
m4st4Quote Reply
Gillen’s remark IS wonderfully wonderful. First time I saw that moustache, I cringed – “what the hell? that doesn’t look modern OR medieval, it looks like ned flanders”.
But Mandelson makes perfect sense. That sort of blend of supreme confidence with a degree of self-consciousness and inferiority.
Here’s a picture of him with a moustache, btw (and a review of his memoirs for those who don’t know him). It’ early 90s, but you get the idea (I hope he’s not going for genuine 80s huge-bushy-moustache!). Being next to a mirror is a key part of the character…
It’s doubly appropriate since Mandelson himself has always seemed very medieval – that review, for instance, calls him “the ultimate courtier”. This blog compares him to the Duke of Buckingham, and also provides another moustache photo. So it’ll be wonderful seing an actually-medieval (but modern for the times!) Petyr/Peter.
(Or Lord Mandelson, Baron Mandelson of Hartlepool and Foy, First Secretary of State and Lord President of the Council as we maybe should call him.)
Oh, and this blog (third or so item down) has an even creepier moustache photo (the rose is because he invented the rose logo of the modern labour party, based on the flowers in his garden at Foy), and has the great encapsulation: “Odd he may be, creepy he possibly is – but there is no doubt, whatever you think of him, his understanding of modern politics is uncanny.”
WastrelQuote Reply
Gillan sounds a bit like a tortured soul who wishes he could live as his characters instead of himself. Sounds like a fascinating guy.
darksofaQuote Reply
Incidentally: I don’t think it’s necessarily a problem if Gillen has a different style from other people. Petyr’s always been a little out-of-place and out-of-his-time and weird. Vain, yes, but looking different from everyone else shouldn’t be a problem.
WastrelQuote Reply
And to add: it’ll look different surrounded by beards. A moustache among clean-shaven men may look extravagent or ill-kempt, but surrounded by guys with long hair and/or beards, a neat moustache can look vain and effeminate.
WastrelQuote Reply
AbstractPlain,
He did, but he was candid about why. He’s a fiercely private person in a very public profession – someone who likes a clear separation of his public career and private life.
Honestly, the tone of the interview conveys more from the journalist than from Aidan himself. You have to remember, it’s written from an outsider’s perspective. That “awkwardness” is what stood out most about his interview with Aidan, so that’s what he framed the whole article within. I can’t say I blame the author, just as much as I can’t fault Aidan for being who he is.
Stella MarisQuote Reply
Stella Maris,
Agreed. I actually thought it was a interesting interview, especially because of the fact that it seemed like he was actually being himself – regardless of if that is awkward or “different.” It seems like, at least in America, there is a huge fascination with stars and not necessarily with actors. To cater to this, a lot of “actors” are just good-looking, walking, talking PR machines and not necessarily even good actors. They put on a show and do all their interviews and say what people want to hear, but then you find out that they are nothing like that in real life. What’s the point in that? It’s just a facade.
ChrisQuote Reply
Why is Conan choking a small child… oh wait that a full grown woman. Sometimes I forget how big he is. I haven’t seen anything with Gillan in it that I know of but I think that he looks pretty good. I just wish he had the pointy beard.
GrimtuesdayQuote Reply
Gillen isn’t really shy: he just doesn’t want anyone to know exactly what he’s after or what he’s doing, so no one can predict his moves or figure what to think of him. He’s Littlefinger to the bone :)
Nice interview with Conan. Hopefully one of many more to come, as he deserves to start being noticed not only for being tall, but for being a talented actor and a genuinely awesome person.
NymeriaQuote Reply
That picture with Conan and the girl is awesome and hot. I love it.
pualoQuote Reply
Ha. Why is he choking a girl? Oh, wait that’s a woman, so never mind.
If you look closely, he DOES have a pointed beard.
OhDanyBoyQuote Reply
Martin,
While I am sure Aidan Gillen will do well, I envisioned James Callis (Baltar) as being better suited for the role.
Steel_WindQuote Reply
If you look closely, you can see that Conan is actually holding the girl with his left hand (probably by the top of her jeans) and just has his right around her throat for dramatic affect.
That’s all I have to contribute to this one.
izakmoQuote Reply
Aidan is perfect in looks and in talent for LF – Game of Thrones has turned me onto a whole new crop of actors/actresses. Really enjoyinging watching their stuff. (omg “Queer as Folk”… who’d have thought?)
As for Conan, I am in ~love~. I myself am rather ‘statuesque’, so I can understand his lofty perspective on things ;). He seems so jai dee, so REAL and enthusiastic, and the muscles are simply eye-candy! He’ll be a great Gregor, though pardon me if I look away during some of the more ‘crimson’ scenes.
Deidre KQuote Reply
Someone should photoshop The Red Viper in that photo.
dizzy_34Quote Reply
dizzy_34,
Brill!
Deidre KQuote Reply
The Gillen interview was strange. The first half struck me as being close to a hatchet job. The journalist presented him as socially awkward and seemed utterly mystified as to why a celebrity might want to keep his private life private. He also didn’t bother to do simple background research – a Wikipedia check would have shown him that Gillen’s been married since 2001 with two kids. Instead he speculates as if his life as been some impenetrable mystery.
Not being Irish I’m not sure if there’s some history there, but if I were Gillen this would reaffirm my reluctance to talk to the press.
Maxwell JamesQuote Reply
Stella Maris,
Oh, I think you can blame the author a little bit. It’s one thing to make note of Gillen’s reticence, but the interviewer really hammers that point into the ground in a way that (to me) comes across as somewhat personally hostile to his subject. I mean, he really seems to be going out of his way to make sure we get the worst possible interpretation of everything Gillen does: if there’s a pause in conversation while the guy is driving a car, then it’s not just a pause, it’s a “stony silence”; Gillen “seems intent on merely reading his CV into the record” for “a couple of hours”, with no indication of what kind of questions the reporter was actually asking him during those hours; etc. etc. etc. And the author feigns astonishment that someone might feel awkward and unpolished on a TV talk show, since all you have to do is “answer the questions”… really, come on!
And yet two-thirds of the way through the piece, after labeling Gillen as a “cold fish”, he suggests that we might instead “judge the man by his actions, rather than his manner”. No kidding!
mummerQuote Reply
Or, what Maxwell said.
mummerQuote Reply
Maxwell James,
Yeah the opening sentence let you know its some piece of melodramatic journalism.
dizzy_34Quote Reply
Wargh, just read on the Twitter that someone has the pilotepisode on a disc. It makes me wonder if I would download a leaked version of this.
Off-topic: today a guy from Northern-Ireland (G-Mac!) decided the Rydercup, what a great tournament it was!
KnurkQuote Reply
mummer,
Maxwell James,
Yeah, after another re-read I am squarely in consensus with you guys. I also picked up on the “Love/Hate Relationship” title of the piece, which I suppose was meant to be cheeky but came off as rather contrived. Eugh.
Stella MarisQuote Reply
Knurk,
What?! I thought it would get out there eventually but not this quick. You got a link to that?
dizzy_34Quote Reply
* link to that tweet that is…
dizzy_34Quote Reply
http://twitter.com/AustinMovieSnob
darksofaQuote Reply
Sorry, that was the guy’s feed. This is the exact tweet.
http://twitter.com/AustinMovieSnob/status/26387499128
darksofaQuote Reply
Hmmm…Austin’s only 300 miles away… maybe… nah I’m not that crazy…but jealous for sure.
dizzy_34Quote Reply
Aidan has often said that his experiences when playing characters are as real to him as his real life. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t enjoy his real life though – his family mean everything to him and he has said numerous times his life is just how he wants it.
Aidan hates being interviewed as he dislikes talking about himself in any personal way – he can talk about his work but isn’t comfortable with anything else. Unfortunately he probably has to do a certain amount of PR for any new show and that would be expected of him, but he’s extremely private and doesn’t answer questions about his family or his personal life. I’m actually shocked that the reporter was allowed into his home – and also really surprised how much Aidan actually DOES tell him in the interview. He’s a very shy, private person most of the time.
SilverjaimeQuote Reply
mummer,
Totally agree with you on that! And yet this reporter isn’t the only one I’ve read who’s done Aidan down regarding his personal hesitancy, mannerisms, unfinished sentences etc. If they’re not praising him to high heavens they’re trying to make out that he’s socially inept or bordering on truculent. I think they don’t know how to write about someone who isn’t waxing lyrical about how wonderful they themselves are – as I’ve read other actors do in other inteviews.
SilverjaimeQuote Reply
I still can’t believe we got Aiden Gillen! I just finished watching the Wire right before he was cast in GOT, so it was very surreal.
Also, Conan continues to rule.
LexQuote Reply
I was hoping for a GOT presence and real trailer at NYC comic con but I guess that isn’t happening…
coltaine777Quote Reply
Yup – he looks the part too, for some reason I saw someone slightly less handsome than that though, with a slight dash of malnourished eroll flynn maybe.
Gillan’s latest role in UK TV was in a detective series based around identity theft, where he played an ex-undercover officer (shifty again).
Maybe this photo shows hoe Gillan would look good for the role – shame his ‘tache isn’t more like this one though >
Martin
MartinQuote Reply
Martin,
Gah – link didn’t work – should have pointed here:
MartinQuote Reply
OK 3rd time lucky
Martin
MartinQuote Reply
http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Arts/Arts_/Pictures/2007/11/02/gillen460.jpg
there – finally ?
Martin
MartinQuote Reply
Someone please tell me that they didn’t just say ‘The Sopranos in Middle Earth’..
I am shocked and appalled.. but seriously.. I think I threw up a little in my mouth when I read that.
ShagnastyQuote Reply
Well, my only response is… where have you been? That has been their (HBO’s) description of the series since day 1. I have no problem with it – it is just using a well-known show and example of the genre to lure in fans of a) HBO and b) the fantasy genre.
OhDanyBoyQuote Reply
Just checked Not a Blog – two new castings, Hot Pie and Lommy Greenhands.
HOTPIEEEEE!!! – my favorite battle-cry ever.
BrudeQuote Reply
Yay! So glad we’ll get to see them this season! Thank you for the news!!
ZackQuote Reply
Good to hear we have a Hot Pie. We hadn’t heard anything about him yet right? No casting calls or anything telling us he would be in the first season? I still have my fingers crossed for Lords Frey and Bolton…
Avalanche3319Quote Reply
We got a Kevan on the way too so I think that we will get The Late Lord Frey and The Leech lord in the first season.
GrimtuesdayQuote Reply
Shagnasty,
Have to admit I always groan a little when I see that tagline, in spite of being fond of both The Sopranos and LotR. In HBO’s defense, the tagline comes from David Benioff who said “a crappy tagline for the show could be The Sopranos in Middle Earth’” (emphasis mine). The media just decided to pick it up and run with it, I guess. Could be worse, though.
Same here on all counts. And yeah, there was a casting call for Lommy, but not Hot Pie (at least as far as WiC’s little birds told us). I was a little worried they’d cut Hot Pie and just given Lommy all of both their lines. Which would also mean either cutting out Lommy’s death or abandoning any lines and actions of Hot Pie’s from Gregor’s camp onward.
DemokritosQuote Reply
Wow, what a great Gillen interview. Extremely interesting, considering the roles he’s played in Queer as Folk and The Wire. Anyway, he sounds like a sweetheart. :) I’m sure he’ll be wonderful as Littlefinger.
ipodQuote Reply
Hey guys according to George RR Martin’s not a blog, the parts of Hot Pie and Lommy Greenhands have been cast. And there also in the process of cast Meryn Trant and Kevan Lannister!
my watch beginsQuote Reply
HOT PIE! LOMMY GREENHANDS! Yay!
LexQuote Reply
Lommy Greenhands
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2869309/
Hot Pie ???
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3444954/
JoseMaria GutierrezQuote Reply
If you’re right, Hot Pie has met Theon Greyjoy ;)
OhDanyBoyQuote Reply
Conan seems to be one of the fan’s favourites at the moment – I wonder how that will evolve when the series starts and the general public only gets to know him as The Mountain That Rides And Kills Infants And Children And Women And Men Alike And Has A Weak For Torture :)
KelsierQuote Reply
Fantastic post has been shared and a great interview shared . Good content and awesome matter thanks to share this post .
Wedding Photographer Austin
Wedding Photographer AustinQuote Reply