Actor Brian Fortune has enjoyed a long and fairly uneventful life as an actor on Game of Thrones, something that not every cast member can boast. He’s been in Seasons 1, 4, and 5, and is set to be in 6, and was initially misidentified as another character altogether. When he first appeared on the show, many thought he was Bowen Marsh, the Old Pomegranate, but he was credited only as an unnamed “Night’s Watch Officer.” It wasn’t until Season 4 that Fortune got identified as First Builder Othell Yarwyck, while the role of Bowen Marsh went to actor Michael Condron.
As an officer in the Night’s Watch, Fortune took part in Season 5’s most talked about scene—you know, the one where Jon Snow gets murdered in the face…or chest to be exact, but you get the idea. Speaking to NewsTalk.com, Fortune described what it was like keeping such a huge secret for an entire season.
"Trying to keep that a secret was a bit like keeping secret that I really did murder somebody! I cracked and told my wife Polly… and that was the worst thing I could have possibly done because I was afraid she might let it slip… It was an absolute nightmare waiting for the episode to be screened."
Yeah, I’m pretty sure telling your wife is some sort of violation to your non-disclosure agreement but I can’t blame him, as I would have blabbed to my wife if I were in his shoes.
Unsurprisingly, Fortune experienced a bit of blowback from fans after the Season 5 finale aired, although it could have been a worse.
"When the scene was fresh in people’s minds a couple of guys gave me a bit of a hard time verbally and I was called a bastard among other things by some ladies. Pretty tame stuff."
So it was the ladies who got nasty with the name-calling, eh? I can only imagine, as my own wife wanted to murder everyone in the Night’s Watch after that scene aired.
Fortune was then asked about the Season 6 teaser poster, the one with Jon Snow on it. He laughed and said:
"What? Jon Snow is on the Season 6 poster? He’s still alive? News to me!"
Well played, Othell Yarwyck, well played. The actor also weighed in on his favorite Game of Thrones scene to shoot: apparently, it was the mess hall scenes at Castle Black, the beheading of Janos Slynt, and Jon Snow’s death. Interestingly, he then mentioned “a couple of great scenes in Season 6 that of course cannot be discussed.” Now my interests is piqued. Othell, how dare you.
You can read the entire interview here. And I suggest you do, as it provides a neat look into the world of a background actor who took a rather large step into the forefront, thanks to a dagger driven into the heart of Jon Snow.