Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy) celebrates his first Emmy nomination

Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy) was one of the standout cast members from the final season of Game of Thrones, in my opinion. In fact, looking at the series as a whole, Allen’s portrayal of Theon was never less than solid, and often inspiring. It’s pretty insane to think of how effectively Allen navigated Theon’s journey from brash ward of the Starks to Ironborn traitor and finally to a world-weary defender of his adopted home. He came a long way, and his final moments broke our hearts.

Alfie Allen has a lot to be proud of. And it looks like Emmy voters feel the same way, because this year Allen is nominated in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama! Below, he talks to Gold Derby about that honor:

“I was in a shop and got a text from my agent saying congratulations on the nomination,” Allen remembered. “My agent said, no you’ve been individually nominated and I was, well I still am in shock about it. So I tried to call all of my family members, but couldn’t get through to any of them, so I had a glass of champagne with the lady in the shop to celebrate it.”

As long as someone drank champagne to celebrate.

“I’m not going to lie, when Thrones first started, there was a part of me that was like maybe one day I’ll get an opportunity to be up for an award or something, but it all faded into it definitely wasn’t going to happen,” Allen said. “It’s nice to have a pat on the back from the academy, from the people who vote on the Emmys. It does feel vindicating.”

It’s true that Allen was largely left out of the Game of Thrones awards season buzz every year. To date, Peter Dinklage is the only cast member to ever win an Emmy for acting on the show; he and Coster-Waldau are joining Allen in the Outstanding Supporting Actor category this year. Will Allen be able to bust through?

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Whatever happens, being on Game of Thrones has altered the course of Allen’s career for good. “The accurate thing to say would be how it hasn’t changed my life,” he says, “because it has in every respect.”

The Emmys air on Fox on September 22. Good luck, Allen — we’ll be rooting for you!

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