Curtain Call: Jonathan Pryce

"“Sorry, I’m a bit of a stickler for paperwork. Where would we be if we didn’t follow the correct procedures?” -Jonathan Pryce as Sam Lowry in Brazil"

Jonathan Pryce was an interesting addition to the cast of Game of Thrones in Season 5. He said at the time that he had originally been tapped for another role back in Season 1, but his prejudices against fantasy made him turn it down. (He did not say what that original role was, but some suspect it was Pycelle.) By the time the show tried him again, its reputation preceded it, and some actors were openly lobbying to be cast. One does not turn down the biggest production currently on television.

Personally, I’m grateful Pryce waited. Although his role only lasted two seasons, his ability to play the stickler, as he did in Terry Gilliam’s landmark movie, Brazil, or the villain, as he did in the James Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies, made him perfect for the zealous High Sparrow. In both those movies, Pryce played a character who wanted, metaphorically, to burn it all down. The High Sparrow, too, wanted to burn it all down. He just never anticipated he’d be going up against someone who was willing to do that literally.

The High Sparrow is a character who remains alive in the books, and as Natalie Dormer did with Margaery Tyrell, Pryce has defined the character in ways that will affect my reading of the novels going forward. The subtleness of his performance, especially when he thinks he’s manipulating Margaery, when he’s manipulating Tommen, or when he’s outright threatening someone like Olenna, won’t be easily forgotten.

Also, unlike on the page, Pryce made it clear that his character was slightly blind to those who would use his own methods against him. His genuinely taken aback expression when Margaery drops the act in the Sept and says “Forget the bloody gods” is the answer to anyone wondering if he knew she was playing him. And his blindness to Cersei’s revenge plan showed a lack of imagination as to the reality of the game these rich people he’s trying to tear down play with each other. He conveyed all of these dimensions with a few facial expressions, an inflect in his voice here or there, and of course, those eye that shine with the light of the devout.

The High Sparrow, his followers, and his Sept were all taken out in the Season 6 finale, but his character will have a lasting legacy. Although he may have underestimated Cersei, the High Sparrow did lasting psychic damage to her with the Walk of Shame. And the smoking ruins of the Sept, the charred remains of the memory of the Faith, are a scar on the landscape that no one will miss. Thanks to the High Sparrow, Cersei rules over ashes.

Cersei may have won the battle. But the memory of Pryce’s character will never leave her. Now that’s a part worth taking.