Liam Cunningham has played Ser Davos Seasworth since the second season of Game of Thrones. But it might have gone differently. In a recent interview with GQ, Cunningham reveals that he auditioned for a different role in the HBO drama’s first season.
"They contacted me and said, ‘It’s dragons.’ And I said, ‘Stop right there.’ And they said, ‘It’s HBO.’ And I said, ‘Send me the script.’ I read the script, and the hair went up on the back of my neck. I ran back to my agent and said, ‘Get me in there immediately.’"
Obviously, he didn’t get that role, and won’t reveal what it was. “It wouldn’t be fair to the other actor,” he said, displaying a very Davos-like sense of decency. But all was not lost. “They said the old thing: ‘We’re going to go another way. But: We’ve got more characters coming in Season Two, and we want to see you.’ And I went, ‘Yeah, yeah. This is Hollywood letting me down politely.’ But sure enough, they came back.”
They came back, of course, with the role of Davos Seaworth, and Cunningham would spend the next four years acting alongside Stephen Dilane (Stannis Baratheon) as the Hand of the King.
"I miss him. He’s an extraordinary actor. We would be walking around in the car park in circles, running lines. People would avoid us, thinking the pair of us were fucking mad, repeating this thing."
Cunningham seems to have formed a similar bond with Kit Harington (Jon Snow), with whom he was paired after Stannis died at the end of season 5. Now they find themselves staring down the end of the show together. “The amount of time I’ve spent with Kit Harington… it’s coming to an end, and we’ve been trying to prepare ourselves.”
But it’s not here yet. Before Game of Thrones finishes, Cunningham has some goals he wants to his. “My ambition was to get to the last season,” he said. “I’ve gotten to the last season. Now my ambition is to get to the last episode.” We’re rooting for you, Davos. He’d also love to share some screentime with one character in particular. “I’d love to be stuck in a room with Cersei, with her going, ‘Who the fuck are you?’”
Sounds like Davos isn’t the only character Cunningham has a good read on. That scene would be great.
Besides finally reading through the Song of Ice and Fire (“ Martin told me he’ll kill me if I don’t.”), Cunningham doesn’t exactly know what’s next, but he does know what he won’t do:
"I’ve been doing this 30 years now—and the moment it bores me, or it’s ‘just another job,’ I hope I have the balls to stop immediately and let somebody else in. It would not sit well with me to be paid 20 fucking mil to do some piece of shit. And sit there, opposite a journalist like yourself, and say ‘The movie’s great, the movie’s great,’ when both of us know it’s fucking shit."
In fact, Cunningham has some harsh words for Hollywood in general, and foresees doom for large movie studios if they continue to pump out big budget superhero movies and the like at the rate they’re going.
"[T]he studios are going to become victims of their own success. People are going to get bored with that stuff. Too much money. Too big to fail. Which means they lower the bar to get as many people in to see it. It’s not a criticism—but it’s business. It ain’t art."
It sounds like HBO cast exactly the right actor to play Ser Davos. If he doesn’t make it until the end of the series, we riot.
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