Conleth Hill jokes there are not many recurring roles for balding eunuchs
AS A Game of Thrones fan, I had to suppress my excitement when I bagged an interview with Conleth Hill.
The 57-year-old actor, a doyen of stage, film and television, is best known for his guileful character Lord Varys, a eunuch who played a pivotal role in the raging warfare for the seat to the throne of the seven kingdoms in the critically acclaimed fantasy drama, Game of Thrones, from 2011 - 2019.
Admittedly, it was not easy. But the chat with Hill was so engaging that I didn’t have to worry about that.
Hill’s latest role is in BritBox’s Holding, a crime drama based on the debut novel of talk show host Graham Norton.
Interestingly, Norton also has a voice role in the show as a radio DJ.
Hill, on the other hand, plays a podgy policeman in a sleepy Irish village. Cast as Sergeant PJ Collins, he has breezed through his career binging on comfort food while half-heartedly doing his job.
A nice enough guy, he isn’t one with the community.
But he is forced to step up when the body of Tommy Burke, who was a local legend, is discovered. Pretty soon, PJ is thrust into a world most foreign to him where he has to find the perpetrator.
In doing so, he forges a new relationship with the community as he unearths secrets long buried.
Before delving into his character, Hill shed light on the fandom, as it were, around his GoT character.
He shared: “It’s weird, it was a life-changing experience and it was an amazing job. But it was a job like
you say, and the most important job is the one you are working on at the moment. And as brilliant and life-changing as it was, it’s over. It has been over for years now. And I loved it. Loved everything about it.
“That’s just what happens. As important as a job is when you are doing it, eventually it’s over and you
move on. As for the celebrity bit of it, it wasn’t really a problem, I wasn’t really tortured. I was very lucky.”
While the entertainment industry around the globe is now pushing full steam ahead following the production slump brought about by Covid-19 for close to two years, Hill revealed: “Initially, the first lockdown was frightening for everyone, I think. And then the entertainment business, as in film and television, was seen as a front-line job. I was very proud that my profession kept going.
“And I was very busy in the two years of lockdown, including making, Holding.”
On slipping into the skin of a character poles apart from one that viewers have grown accustomed to seeing him play, he laughed: “Well, I think anything I play is going to be different to Varys because there are not that many recurring roles for balding eunuchs in an alternative universe.”
He added: “It’s not any big decision that I make. It’s just whatever the part requires, as you discover early on PJ has an overeating habit brought about by nerves or any kind of crisis. So it causes him to be heavier than I am, but that is taken care of by costumes.
“I honestly think everyone around me does the hard work for me and it makes it easier for me to do my job. But it is not a big decision that I take. I think the script supports it.
“The reason for wanting to do this project was a combination of things, not least the brilliant cast that I work with, the brilliant script by Dominic (Treadwell-Collins) and Karen (Cogan), based on the amazing novel by Graham Norton.
“And then Kathy Burke as a director was a no-brainer. It was like, where do I sign?”
Hill was chuffed to get to work alongside Brenda Fricker.
He admitted: “Oh yeah, to work with Brenda Fricker was a dream come true. Ever since I’ve been a teenager, I would say, she has been an amazing presence on screen and I’ve worked
with Charlene McKenna a few times.”
On the pull of the series, he revealed, “I think, as with all frontline shows, it just takes twists and turns and, hopefully, if we were doing our jobs, you are not sure who the murderer may be. I love that it wasn’t very physical or very violent. He’s [PJ] just an ordinary little guard, plodding his way through this mystery.”
As for the roles that pique his curiosity, Hill ticked all his bucket list roles a few years after drama school.
He admitted: “I’ve been very lucky to work with brilliant writers in theatre, TV and film and I regard my career as successful just because I work and not because I have lots of money or loads of fame. I’m happy to be working for over 35 years. My only ambition is to do lovely work for lovely people for lovely money.”
¡ Holding is currently streaming on
BritBox.