Syrio Forel actor talks joining Game of Thrones, being Arya’s “Obi-Wan”

Syrio Forel died (we assume) way back in the first season of Game of Thrones protecting Arya Stark from members of Joffrey Baratheon’s Kingsguard. But even all these years later, his character is remembered, with actor Miltos Yerolemou making the most of it by giving water-dancing lessons at conventions and (during the pandemic especially) online.

He talked about Syro’s longevity with Collider. “I never expected it in my wildest dreams, especially after only being in three episodes of Season 1,” he said. “I honestly did not expect that my gravestone will say, ‘Not today,’ but with the not crossed out. Now, you can hold me to that. But I really did not expect that to be my reality, but it is. And like I said, I’m thrilled, embarrassed, and humbled by it every single day.”

There was certainly no indication at the start of the show that it would grow into the kind of thing that could support a side gig as a swordfighting instructor, although Yerolemou knew that Game of Thrones was something special right from the start, when he did research for the part. “I made the terrible mistake after I got cast to go and have a look at some of the Game of Thrones forums and realize just how excited the fans were that they were turning it into a TV show,” he said. “[T]he ingredients for a good TV show were there. But, I mean, it’s one thing having a successful and well-watched TV show. It’s another thing to do what Game of Thrones did, which changed all of our viewing habits overnight, really.”

"[I]t became a show that you had to watch when it aired because of the nature of it. The fact that there were so many twists in it. If you didn’t watch it when it aired, you were very likely to get spoiled. I had the fantastic experience of being able to watch the show aired live in big viewing parties in Greece, in Texas, in London. I kind of had that amazing experience, and I’d never had that experience before. Especially at the time when things were moving from the terrestrial… That whole way of watching TV was already shifting. I mean, now we’re all into the streaming medium and binge-watching. But Game of Thrones kind of straddled that transition, and really took us back to a place where it was exciting to watch that show all together and at the same time. I thought that was pretty, really important as far as for the television industry. That’s for sure."

There’s been a lot of talk about Game of Thrones being “the last water cooler show.” I think it’s too early to say that, but watching it was certainly a special experience fans won’t soon forget.

Before he was cast as Syrio Forel, Miltos Yerolemou auditioned to play a different character

As for Syrio Forel, you may be surprised to learn that at first Yerolemou auditioned for an entirely different role: Lord Varys. He auditioned with the scene between Ned and Varys in the dungeon before Ned’s execution.

“[I]t’s such a brilliant scene,” Yerolemou said. “I had no idea what I was reading — I hadn’t read the books, and it literally was just that scene. But it was so brilliantly written… I don’t think I’m being too disrespectful to other jobs that I’ve been for. But, it’s not often you get really good scenes to read in your castings. And when you get a really good scene like that, that is so well-written, you go, wow. You really want to do this job, because if this is the standard of the scripts…”

"So it was really good, and they really liked my reading, but they just didn’t think I was right. But they saw something in me. I was lucky [casting director] Nina Gold and me go back a long way, so she knew who I was when she gave me that thing to read. But I think once she saw it, or once the producers saw my casting for Lord Varys, they were like, “Oh, hang on a minute. Maybe we should get that foreign dude…”"

Incidentally, the guy who did end up playing Varys, Conleth Hill, originally auditioned to play Robert Baratheon. Clearly casting director Nina Gold had a good eye for which people fit what role.

The “foreignness” of Syrio Forel was something emphasized by A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin himself, as Yerolemou explained: “[I]n the books, Syrio Forel is described as bald, with a nose like an eagle. We had lots of discussions about, ‘Are you going to shave your head?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, of course, if you want me to.’ I’m one of those actors that loves the transformation. I really like changing my appearance as much as possible when I do roles. So, I was all up for it.

"But in the end, George R.R. Martin said, “The reason why I wrote Syrio the way I did was because he had to be different from all those hairy guys in Westeros. The long hair, the beards.” When I saw him, he said I exuded a certain European-ness that kind of meant that there was no way that they were going to mistake me for a hairy guy from Westeros. So, they said, “There’s no need to shave your head. You’re different enough. As long as you look different, that’s the most important thing.” There’s a sophistication to those Braavosis anyway."

Likewise, Yerolemou’s natural accent became the template for how the Braavosi talk, kind of like how Sean Bean’s accent became the base for the people of the North.

Miltos Yerolemou thinks of Syrio Forel as Arya’s Obi-Wan Kenobi

Syrio is best remembered for his relationship with Arya Stark, whom he set on a path to becoming a great fighter. “I always say this, and it’s probably incredibly arrogant of me to say it. But I always consider him to be the Obi-Wan to Arya Stark’s Luke Skywalker,” Yerolemou said. “He’s the guy that sets off the story and hangs around in her head saying, ‘Use the force, Luke.’ Instead, I’m just … She repeats those mantras in her head.

"And so, I guess that’s why it captured people’s imagination. We all love that, the unconventional teacher who sets a protagonist off on their journey. I think that is the wonderful gift that Syrio Forel gives to the show. And Arya Stark is such a fantastic protagonist that we can’t help but really root for her story. So, I’m just very humbled and really lucky that I got to be part of her story."

To this day, Syrio’s final fight against the Meryn Trant and the Kingsguard is the stuff of legend, in part because it was never completely clear whether Syrio lived or died, although considering that Meryn Trant lived long enough for Arya to kill him seasons later, it doesn’t look good for Syrio.

Yerolemou himself wondered about Syrio’s fate, and got some advice from George R.R. Martin. “I remember asking George…’Why don’t you answer the question that everyone has asked since you wrote that chapter in the book? Why don’t you do that?’ And he said, ‘That isn’t what I want to do. That doesn’t serve my narrative purpose.'”

"And that’s all he would say. And I understood it. And yet, now I really understand it because to me, it makes a lot of sense that you don’t get the traumatic ending of Syrio, because in the books Arya remembers his words. It’s like the training is kept alive, in the same way … I keep going back to Star Wars. The presence of Obi-Wan Kenobi is still there because he’s kind of still there. No one really ever dies. That kind of thing. It’s not mystical in the same way as Star Wars. But the resonance and the echo of the words, the mantra, the training is alive in her head. And I think the ambiguity allows that to exist. And if she’d seen him cut down, I think it wouldn’t have the same effect on her, or it would be too traumatic for it to live on in her head in the same way. So, as a narrative device, I think it’s brilliant. And I think that is the reason why George did it. And I think that is the reason why, ultimately, Syrio Forel sacrifices himself to save this girl he barely knows. And that’s also very poetic. And also, there aren’t that many good guys in Game of Thrones, so you got to have at least a couple."

I’m sure most Game of Thrones remember that Syrio and Arya’s call-and-response. “What do we say to the god of death?” “Not today.” Yerolemou hears from fans about it still. “I’ve had Marines tell me that they say before they go on operations. I’ve heard that people facing cancer say it in the mirror every morning. It’s really humbling. And sometimes it’s very difficult for me to hear. But it’s a nice reminder that for some people, [the show] has a profound effect.”

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