Alfie Allen talks about Theon Greyjoy’s legacy and submitting himself for an Emmy

Alfie Allen may be vying for the onscreen death crown currently held by his onetime Game of Thrones costar Sean Bean (Ned Stark). As Theon Greyjoy, Allen died in a glorious but doomed charge at the Night King, and in his latest project, Hulu’s Harlots, his character Isaac Pincher is blasted away by a prostitute five episodes in.

Still, at least he’s getting lots of work. A lot of it has been in movies — his lengthening list of credits now includes John Wick, The Predator, Jojo Rabbit and How to Build a Girl, with Harlots being one of his few small screen appearance since starting on Thrones. For us Thrones fans, it’ll be hard to forget his depiction of the complex and much-maligned Theon Greyjoy. The role made an impression on him as well, as he told Indiewire, and he’s satisfied with how Theon went out.

“I enjoyed the fact that I was there with Isaac (Hempstead-Wright), who played Bran, and I did my first ever scene with him in Thrones in the first season,” Allen said. “To have it end on that note was really, really special to me.”

"I’ll definitely miss the character. It’s just been really lovely to see how people have responded to the show as an ending. I know some people weren’t happy with it, but I thought it was ended beautifully and I just thought … that it was great when people feel such affinity for the character and I just couldn’t ask for anything more, really."

Like many of his Thrones costars. Allen acknowledges that the notoriety he gained from being on such a popular, long-running show changed the trajectory of his career as well as his development as a person. “The ways in which it didn’t change my life is kind of nonexistent, you know?” he said. “It changed it in kind of every respect. But I wouldn’t kind of change it for anything. And I would say that I’ve definitely grown up somewhat since the beginning of the show, without a doubt.”

Image: HBO

Like castmates Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth) and Carice Van Houten (Melisandre), Allen paid a $225 fee to submit himself for a 2019 Emmy acting award for his work on season 8. All three actors went on to snag nominations, which is going to make Emmy night very exciting.

Naturally, there are no hard feelings that HBO didn’t submit Allen itself this time around. “I think HBO submitted me way earlier on in Season 1 or Season 3 as the character’s journey developed more and more,” Allen remembered. “But I think there’s just so many main characters in Thrones that if HBO were to kind of play that game of submitting everybody diplomatically, it would be really tough.”

Allen isn’t sure if it’s really hit him that Thrones is over for good, but he suspects that this awards show will finally drive it home:

"I think the night at the Emmys is going to really have a sense of finality to it, and on such a positive note as well. It literally is like a dream come true that I get to go there and spend it with people that are really close friends of mine. I love everyone, but Gwendoline [Christie] is someone who’s a really close friend of mine, and to be able to share that experience with her is something I’ll never, ever forget."

Considering the power of Allen’s portrayal, it’s no surprise that he got the nod. “I think my team and I just felt it was the right time to submit,” he said. “[H]opefully HBO will reimburse me the $225.”

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The Emmys air on Fox on September 22.

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