Iain Glen (Jorah): Game of Thrones season 8 is “brilliant, yet beautiful”
While promoting his new PBS miniseries Mrs. Wilson on the Television Critics Association press tour, Iain Glen (Ser Jorah Mormont) talked to Indie Wire about the final season of Game of Thrones. What does Daenerys’ oldest companion have to say?
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To hear Glen tell it, showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss have always shared details of the plot with the cast and crew members, rather than keeping secrets like other showrunners do, apparently. “Certain directors work that way… but I find it slightly belittling to what we do as actors, the notion that we’re denied large [parts of the script] unless it’s integral to the story that you’re telling,” Glen said.
"The knowledge you gain about the story, the telling, and the themes that are involved…you piece your little journey into that. That’s what we do as actors. We should be given the material. We always got to read everything before we started."
Game of Thrones may be open with its cast members, but security around the scripts is notoriously tight. But as long as they know enough to do their jobs as actors, we suppose it’s okay. Now, can Glen actually reveal anything about what happens in season 8?
Naturally, the actor was hesitant to discuss the ending, but he did praise the writing. “I was in awe at the writing finesse, that it just realized everything in a very fulfilled way. I thought it was brilliant, yet beautiful.”
Heading into the final episode, Glen thinks Ser Jorah is where he wants to be: by Daenerys’ side.
"I think he’s very, very relieved and content to be back inside Daenerys’ good favor. He’s well placed to try and to look after her. Through all the seasons, he’s ebbed and flowed with her, and now he’s well set, so that’s where he is."
And how does he feel now that he’s said goodbye to the show? And remember, this is a guy who was in the very first episode “It’s just a funny old melange of different sensations,” Glen said. “I felt very sad of course, but you don’t want to outstay your welcome. I think it’s the right time for us to reach our conclusions. These things have a saturation point, and although people are desperate to see the resolve and see where we go, you want people to wish it was going on, and wish to want more.”
"But personally, it’s been a decade of my life. I was in [the] original pilot and every season since then. I’ve gotten very fond of the people… Acting by its nature is ephemeral, and that’s what you’re used to having quite strong relationships with people and then saying, ‘Bye,’ and then bumping into them later. And so, knowing that you were going back each year, and knowing that the whole thing was growing and becoming so ridiculously, massively, globally popular – it transformed all our lives. It was extraordinary. I know I’ll miss it, but I also want to finish when it felt right."
I think we’re all going to need therapy after the final episode fades to black, regardless of what happens. Might as well make your appointments now, because the final season starts on April 14.
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