Curtain Call: Art Parkinson

Hindsight is 20/20, but perhaps we should have written a Curtain Call for Art Parkinson back in Season 3.

That’s a little unfair of me. After all, his character, Rickon Stark, was not actually dead. He didn’t die until this week’s “Battle of the Bastards.” But although Rickon was technically part of Season 6, he only showed up twice, and for no more than five minutes altogether. Moreover, he never spoke this season. Although Parkinson, like Isaac Hempstead Wright, had clearly hit puberty, we never even got to hear if his voice had changed.

And that really sucks! And not just because some of us were curious to see how Parkinson had grown as an actor during his two years away from the production. Parkinson also holds the honor of being the youngest actor cast in the show who remained in his role the entire way through the production. (The other child actor who was as young as Parkinson when he was cast, Callum Wharry, was replaced with Dean-Charles Chapman as Tommen in Season 4.) Perhaps that’s because there was no point is changing him out, since he wouldn’t have that much to do in Season 6.

For all that, Parkinson was good in the role. Rickon is a character that many fans forget about. He’s the youngest, most extraneous Stark (he’s even younger in the books) and is sort of a toddler appendage to Bran’s band of travelers until Osha escorts him to the Umbers. Many suspected that the name of Rickon’s direwolf, Shaggydog, was a hint that the character was a red herring and unimportant (as that is what a “shaggy dog story” means in writing parlance.)

I’d like to remember Art Parkinson as he was back in the earlier seasons, as a believable little kid, scared as hell, but brave because he had a direwolf by his side, someone who was always trying to live up to the models presented by Robb, Jon, Bran, and his father. Others may have forgotten Rickon, but Parkinson always did a much better job at making an impression than, say, the actors who originally played Tommen or Myrcella (Aimee Richardson, who was also replaced before her final season). Even without words, he made an impression during his brief time onscreen in Season 6, bringing a physical urgency to his final run across the battlefield that helped sell the moment.

And with Game of Thrones as his launchpad, Parkinson may yet go on to have a decent career. Last year he starred with Mr. The Rock in San Andreas, and he’s been working steadily during his time on Game of Thrones. I’m only sorry that he wasn’t given even one word for us this year.

Farewell, Rickon Stark. As Sansa correctly asserted, you may have already been dead, but you made the most of your exit.