Conhill Hill (Varys) defends Game of Thrones showrunners over season 8

Game of Thrones aired its series finale, “The Iron Throne,” in May of 2019. If you were around back then, you know things were…intense. For reasons much discussed, the final few episodes of the series were not well-received. Things got ugly online; fans didn’t limit themselves to criticizing the show, but went further to insult the people behind it, namely showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss, in weirdly personal terms. It was an internet dogpile that will live in infamy.

In the chaos, narratives formed. Some of the fans unhappy with the final season drafted cast member Conleth Hill, who played Varys on the show, to their cause after he expressed some mild frustration with how his character was sidelined in the home stretch of the show. “As a whole it’s been overwhelmingly positive and brilliant, but I suppose the last couple seasons weren’t my favorite,” Hill said at the time. “I can’t complain because it’s six great seasons and I had some great scenes these last two seasons. But that’s when it changed for me a little.”

Now, years, later, Hill looked back on that whole experience as he talked with the Irish Examiner about his new show, Holding. “One of the things I said was I felt — which is one of the things about being in a multi-character piece of work — is that if they chose to go with other characters there is nothing I can do about it. I wasn’t bad-mouthing them,” Hill said. “I was always satisfied with what I got. I preferred [Game of Thrones] when it was smaller. That doesn’t mean I hated it when it was bigger.”

"Everyone had invested so much in it. I had no problem with people not being happy about it. I had a problem when they went for the two show runners [David Benioff and DB Weiss]. It was very personal. You’re allowed your opinion. Don’t have a go at them, that’s all."

Conleth Hill: “You’re allowed your opinion. Don’t have a go at them, that’s all.”

We’re a few years out from the whole fracas at this point, and I think the air has pretty much cleared, with lots of people now looking forward to the Game of Thrones followup House of the Dragon. But man, was it intense at the time. “I was probably one of the least hardworking people on it, just in terms of time and things,” Hill continued. “You just go on to the next job.”

As mentioned, the next job for Hill is Holding, a small town murder mystery you can watch on ITV.

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