Unforgettable moments
Game Of Thrones actors talk about their favourite episodes.
John Bradley (Samwell Tarly)
“Despite all the grandstanding, some of the record breaking THERE’S something to be said about having nothing. According to actress Melissa Leo, growing up without made her the woman she is today.
Leo, who earned an Academy Award for her role as the fight manager-mother in The Fighter, says: “I had a great blessing in that I grew up in a family with very little means. So when as a young actor I got hungry, it was not unfamiliar.
“That willingness to do without, that willingness (to know) it wasn’t about having whatever I wanted to eat in a day, it was what I NEEDED to eat in a day. That’s how I was brought up. That is absolutely what gets me sitting here today.”
Actually what gets her sitting here today is another mouth-gaping performance by Leo. She plays the tough comedy club owner and impresaria in I’m Dying Up Here.
Executive produced by Jim Carrey, the series is about the burgeoning comics of the 1970s – many of whom are the top rib-ticklers of today. Though loosely disguised, many of them are recognisable. And while the legendary Mitzi Shore ran Hollywood’s famous Comedy Club in those days, Leo insists she’s not playing Shore. sequences, my favourite episode is still Episode Nine of Season One (titled Baelor) with the Ned Stark beheading. That was the moment when the world saw that this show is different.
“There are certain rules that are applied on TV, film and stage plays as well, where no matter how confusing it gets, you have one character that says, ‘Take my hand and I will lead you through all this’, the moral centre of the show.
“You think you have that (with) Ned Stark as the dependable character who is going to make everything OK ... Then by Episode Nine, he is gone, and all bets are off. Literally nobody is safe.
“I have to say my first response when I was invited into the show and saw the script and read it, I was delighted. But I was SO surprised they were asking me to play Goldie. So I was a little daunted. And there’s a pilot episode scene where I’m having cocaine and am quite riled, I thought, ‘Ewwww, I don’t know ...”
But Leo insists it’s the roles that frighten her the most that she relishes. “When we feel that fear that we can’t do something, it needs to
“Once you realise that, you get what kind of unpredictable and volatile world this is ... That was the turning point where you realise you are not watching a safe and conventional piece of TV. You are watching something more dangerous than that.” Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth)
“Battle Of The Bastards (Episode Nine, Season Six) was extraordinary. be done, I think,” says Leo who’s wearing a tweedy jacket with black stripes, a black lace top, draped by four necklaces.
“Because we wouldn’t be afraid if it weren’t so important. And so then you just screw your courage to the sticking post and march forward. I reference my upbringing of not having much. You cannot have anything if you keep skirting around the fire. When you go through that blaze that’s when the gifts arrive. When you skirt round
“I also really loved when we did the battle in Blackwater (Episode Nine, Season Two) because for many of the scenes, there wasn’t a lot said. There was brilliant camerawork and brilliant direction.
And Neil Marshall, who is an old friend of mine, directed that, and he’s never done television before. The result of that, I thought, was just brilliant.
“And then you see the red wedding episode (The Rains Of Castamere, Episode Nine, Season Three). What! It was extraordinary. Generally speaking, there are a couple of episodes per season where you’re gonna go, ‘Does it get any better?’”
Aidan Gillen (Petyr ‘Littlefinger’ Baelish)
“The episode The Door (Episode Five, Season Six) is my favourite.
“I am sure I am not alone on this. It just came at you, all at once, from two different places, a very emotional way that was wrenching and the way they told that story, technically, was really surprising.
“Because I felt like I was pulled apart: I was really thrilled at the cinematic process that was happening right there but at the same time being gutted. So for me, it would be that one.”
Season Seven premieres tomorrow at 9am on HBO (Astro Ch 411).