Saved me from the taxman, says Liam
LIAM Cunningham is very grateful for being part of what is set to be one of this year’s key cultural touchstones – the final season of fantasy TV show, Game of Thrones.
For the Dublin actor, who spoke to the Irish Mail on Sunday at the exclusive afterparty of the Belfast premiere, it is the end of an era.
One of the few actors whose characters survived to make the last season, he explains that the role of Ser Davos Seaworth has helped him banish the taxman and set him up financially.
‘I’m not on the rich list because I am not rich,’ he said. ‘Good words tend to not pay much. It is the crap words that pay a lot, ironically. So I signed up to this because of the script and then it started to become successful.
‘I’ve made a couple of quid, I’ve cleared my debts, I’ve had the tax man on my back for ten years and I have cleared that. I’ve got a couple of quid in the bank.’
The final season of Game of Thrones kicks off on Sky Atlantic at 2am tomorrow morning, and it will be repeated at 9pm. It is expected to break all viewing figures for the HBO cable network.
At the epic after party thrown for the European premiere of Game of Thrones, Liam and the rest of the cast were in celebratory mood.
As the final plot lines remain a secret, he was forced to keep details from everyone, even family members.
He said: ‘Before we went paperless, I would leave the scripts lying around the office and I would have it open on various plot points. My daughter would see them and come running in begging me to put them away.
‘I knew she was never going to read them but it was killing her, because she was such a big fan.
‘I have a few bits and pieces but they are mementoes. They are things I will pull out in the years to come and I will look back at this great time and they will remind me of what we did. They won’t end up on eBay, that’s for sure,’ he said.
The 57-year-old said the show had changed his life and recalled his emotional final scenes.
‘On my last day, I thought I was going to be Mr Macho. There were three of us finishing that day. I thought the producers would make a little speech and I’d keep it all together and say “thanks very much lads”.
‘The two guys who went before me started blubbing and then I went. It was brutal. I was like a sixyear-old child. My lip was flapping, and you’re trying to be professional about it. We found ourselves looking at each other and at the set for the last time. It was bittersweet.’
Ballycastle actor Conleth Hill, who plays Varys in the show, said he’d been among the cast who had lobbied for the Belfast premiere. The eighth series had two launches, in Belfast and New York.
Conleth spoke of his pride that so much of the series was filmed on his home turf.
‘I’m very proud of what it did for here and what it continues to do for here, showing off where I live to the world,’ he said.
‘I’ve done so many things that I thought “that’s the height of my career” but I will never top this.’
Three giant copper wire dragons hung from the roof of the banquet hall at the Waterfront Theatre in Belfast. Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams, who play Sansa and Arya Stark, held hands as they hit the dance floor for a 1980s Kylie Minogue hit.
Kit Harington, who plays Jon Snow, took refuge from autograph hunters in a corner of the room.
Pilou Asbaek, who plays pirate Euron Greyjoy, happily posed for pictures with the crowd and the free bar ran late into the night as the celebrities retreated to the Fitzwilliam Hotel for a nightcap.
‘I was like a six-yearold. My lip was flapping’ ‘Showing off where I live to the world’