‘I’ve heard wonderful things about India’

Kristian Nairn, who plays Hodor in GOT, is excited about coming here

Northern Irish actor and musician Kristian

Nairn (above) owes a lot to the character of Hodor in popular American period drama Game Of Thrones. Here are excerpts from an interview with the 39-year-old, who will be attending the Delhi Comic- Con in ecember.

How excited are you to come to India? Game Of Thrones has a massive fan following here. Will you be meeting fans as well?

I’ve heard wonderful things about India and its amazing people... I can’t help but be excited. I’ve also heard that the people are polite, friendly and very interested in GOT.

Hodor has made you famous worldwide. How important has this character been for you?

Before Game of Thrones, I was already working as a DJ and musician, but this really changed everything. I’m immensely grateful for all the opportunities I get nowadays because of the show, and I think I’ve been very lucky indeed.

What do you think makes Hodor so loved by all?

I think that in all of Westeros, there are very few genuinely nice, selfless people, and Hodor is very much both of those things. Also, everything in GOT is so dark and serious, it’s nice that he can bring a smile to people’s faces in the middle of all that. I do think it was really nice to see him use his strength in season 4 though, through Bran’s Warging.

There have been many talks of adapting GOT for audiences in different countries. Do you think it will work?

No idea, really! The show we do itself is an adaptation from the book. Maybe to go back to the actual source material and adapt it differently from that (could work). I don’t think it’d work to do a version based on the show that has already been done.

You must be aware about the trolls and memes that people make based on the show. Do you have any favourites?

I never imagined there would be so many. I remember one year, there was an amazing set of GOT Xmas cards, which I definitely sent to my friends and family! I also like some of the mash-up ones ... like Hodor vs Pokemon and Hodor vs Hulk!