Ian McShane opens up about his brief time on Game of Thrones

Ian McShane breezed in and breezed out of Game of Thrones in “The Broken Man,” last night’s new episode. The Deadwood actor talked to Entertainment Weekly about how he got involved with the show, what it was like filming scenes with Rory McCann (“a delight to work with), and that time he called Game of Thrones “only tits and dragons.” Let’s dive in.

First of all, the short-lived nature of McShane’s character, Brother Ray, was one of the things that attracted McShane to the show. “It was one episode, for a start, which is why I wanted to do it,” he said. “Obviously he’s going to die.” McShane enjoyed the “two-page speech” the producers sent to him when they were courting him for the role, “It’s like he’s holding an improvised meeting – not Alcoholics Anonymous, but Murderer’s Anonymous. He’s an ex warrior who’s grown tired of the murdering life and trying to lead another kind of life.”

At the end of the day, though, McShane was up front about the fact that his character’s main purpose was to reintroduce Sandor “the Hound” Clegane onto the show. “The Hound has not been shown much humanity in his life, and he gets a little from Brother Ray and carries that forward into his character, which makes it more interesting for those who watch him.” Will the Hound carry that humanity forward when he’s hacking members of the Brotherhood Without Banners to death with that axe? Time will tell.

McShane, by the way, admits that he doesn’t know what’s coming in the next episodes, but imagines that the Hound will follow “the Western code” and “seek to avenge me, then continue his life in a different way.” McShane also had some interesting opinions on internet culture, which he doesn’t participate in himself but has been the subject of on occasion.

"I’m constantly surprised that when anybody says anything – when a dandelion farts in Belfast things go crazy in the Far East. It’s like the [butterfly effect] multiplied by 20; little things that have great affect. And you know it’s all just more publicity and it just adds to the popularity of the show. People are fascinated by it."

Relatedly, McShane commented on an interview he gave to The Telegraph where he called the show “only tits and dragons.” This was after he’d given other interviews in which he basically gave away that the Hound would be coming back. The ever-incorrigible McShane offered up an explanation:

"I was doing a completely separate interview about [the UK miniseries] Doctor Thorne, which happens to be on now. And the interviewer asked about the commotion my remarks had [about The Hound coming back], had I said anything out of turn. And I said – well, you know what I said. Suddenly they all go apesh–. And I thought, “Oh they’ll probably love that at HBO!” And they did, despite their protestations about the fans, saying, “Oh you’ve given something away!” I find the whole thing funny."

Ah, Ian McShane…never change. It’s a shame he wasn’t on the show longer.