Lord Tywin was never one to mince words, and it appears the man behind the “Lion of the West” is not either. Actor Charles Dance was recently in Washington to accept the William Shakespeare Award for Classical Theatre at the Harman Center for the Arts, and had a few thoughts on his time on Game of Thrones. The veteran actor discussed the always controversial levels of sex and violence on the show, the British Broadcasting Company’s potential role in production, and just what those R’s in George R.R. Martin stand for. But first, what of the sex and violence on the show?
"They screened the first couple of episodes of season one for a whole bunch of us. I didn’t come into episode seven or something in season one, so this was all stuff I wasn’t involved in but I wanted to see what the flavour of the piece was. So there’s all this rumpy pumpy going on, it was all doggy fashion, and I said to David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss], the two writers – and they’re also executive producers – ‘Well, obviously the missionary position didn’t come into vogue in the Seven Kingdoms for some time to come.’ They said, ‘We wanted it to be animalistic, Charles.’ I said, ‘Well, it’s certainly that! Wham, bam, thank you mam.’"
Indeed it was Mr. Dance. Although it was perhaps a tad shocking that a gentleman actor in his late 60’s such as Dance was not off put but the amount of sex on the show. Few realize that in its infancy the BBC was involved in producing Game of Thrones, but pulled out over concerns about the cost of producing the sprawling epic. Dance, a veteran of many BBC produced shows, has not forgotten, and is very grateful the BBC was not involved long term.
"If that had been the BBC [British Broadcasting Corporation], they’d have pulled the plug on it immediately and I was told that there was a time when the BBC were going to be part of the co-production and thank God they weren’t, because HBO knows how to spend money, and it was HBO and Sky Atlantic. They think they can get a hundred dollars’ worth for spending 10. It’s crazy. I know a lot of crew people and indeed actors whose enthusiasm for a project is dampened when they know it’s going to be made by the BBC because they know they’re going to be penny pinching."
HBO certainly knows how to spend money, with season budgets rumored to be north of 100 hundred million dollars. Dance went on to praise the television being produced here in the United States, and cast doubt as to the British’s long running claim to be producing the best television on Earth.
"We rightly used to say we have the finest television in the world. We don’t necessarily any more. Some of the best television now is being imported from America. There’s some really great writing going on and the production values are cinematic, especially Game of Thrones. There are some scenes in Game of Thrones that take my breath away."
And lastly, did Dance have any idea what he was getting into when he took the part of Tywin Lannister? Had Dance read the novels by George R.R. Martin before appearing on the show? And what do those damn R’s stand for anyways?
"I didn’t know what it was about and I hadn’t read and I haven’t since read any of George RR Martin’s books. Do you happen to know what the RR stands for? Neither do I. Nobody can seem to tell me."
At the risk of being sent to bed without supper, that would be Richard Raymond Lord Tywin.
h/t: The Guardian