Interview blitz: The cast and crew of Game of Thrones tease Season 6 up, down, and sideways
By Dan Selcke
The cast and crew of Game of Thrones are throwing themselves into press ahead of the Season 6 premiere, and we’ve got a bunch of interviews for you, video and otherwise. First, a bunch of the male cast members stopped by Good Morning America and chatted about fans, twists, and Jon Snow.
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No one besides Isaac Hempstead Wright (Bran Stark) weighs in on crazy fan stories. I guess no one’s going to be able to top getting picked up by a random guy.
Over at Variety, showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss discussed who’s winning the game of thrones (the Night’s King), what characters they identify with (Sansa and Sam), the hardest character to write (Tyrion) and the easiest (Hodor). They also tease what sounds like a pretty cool line from the upcoming season.
I wonder what “cheat shot” Benioff and Weiss are talking about. So long as everyone survived, all’s well that ends well.
BEGIN MINOR SPOILERS
Wright, along with several other cast and crew members, also did interviews with Yahoo. Wright talked about how Bran, back from a season-long absence, has been “at the underground tree Wizarding School, a sort of Branwarts,” by which he means studying under a giant weirwood tree north of the Wall with the Three-Eyed Raven (Max von Sydow).
"He’s been honing his skills as a Greenseer and as a Warg. Now he’s moving away from the Warging and into other things, more into how he can channel the power of the Weirwood tree to be able to see into the past and the future. [The Three-Eyed Raven is] trying to teach Bran what he can use his powers for. There’s also a slight sense every now and again that Bran might be able to interact with these past figures and characters through his visions — we’re not quite sure."
In another interview, with TV Line, Wright confirmed that the above shot, of him standing with the Three-Eyed Raven, is indeed from a vision. “In the previous seasons, there have been vague little glimpses of some of the powers Bran might possess,” he said. “But this season, we see them come into their own.” According to Wright, Bran will take on more responsibility this year, and that the character is around “a lot more than [in] previous seasons. This is his biggest season.”
Back on Yahoo, Alfie Allen teased Theon Greyjoy’s return to the Iron Islands, something we’ve known might be in the cards for a while, but I can’t recall Allen being this open about it before.
"He needs to go back to the Iron Islands and confront his family. He needs to go and clear things up with his sister. Apologize to her for not going with her when she went to try and save him as Reek."
According to Maisie Williams, Arya is in for some rough training at the House of Black and White. Based on footage from the new season, we believe her.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JnAyka8p-8
"This whole season is a process of her training, being given an opportunity, f—ing it up, repeat,” says Williams. “But what’s really interesting is that she hasn’t decided to leave — ultimately she does want to be there."
Kristian Nairn (Hodor) gave an interesting interview to James Greby over at Spin. Narin mostly talks about his DJ-ing career, which expanded during his year off as he toured the world. The interview is worth reading for Nairn’s thoughts on his music career, plus his insights into the music of Game of Thrones, but the juiciest stuff comes at the end, when he hints at what may be in store for Hodor in Season 6.
Admittedly, they’re oblique hints. For example, here’s what he said when Spin asked him when he’ll start filming for Game of Thrones Season 7.
"I’m not sure when we’ll start this year. It’s usually around June, July, but we don’t really find out until nearer to the time. But I have a tour of Asia coming up. I’m going to head to the Philippines in June. Then I’ll probably do the Comic Cons, and — it’s a really busy summer."
I’m not sure if we can take this as confirmation that Hodor will survive Season 6, but it certainly seems like evidence.
Spin also asked Nairn about Wright’s growth spurt, and Nairn may have given away a little more.
"He has tripled in size, at least. He’s very lanky, hasn’t filled in yet. His legs are still full of air, thank God! But, he’s getting really big. It’s just ridiculous at this point. Yeah, my back has noticed, and all my body parts have been aware of his growth spurt."
With Bran studying at the feet of the Three-Eyed Raven, we weren’t sure if he’d need Hodor to carry him around again. However, if this quote is any indication, Hodor’s vehicular function isn’t completely exhausted.
Finally, check out John Bradley (Samwell Tarly) and Hannah Murray (Gilly) talking about their acting processes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gjtDd94oYA
April 24 can’t come soon enough.