Game of Thrones an unruly but loved beast
TORONTO — The third episode of this pitch-black season of Game of Thrones featured one horrific scene that ignited much heated discussion — even in the home of star Liam Cunningham.
Spoiler-phobic sorts behind on their DVR homework had better not proceed. In the controversial scene in question, Jaime Lannister sexually assaults his twin sister, Cersei, over the altar containing the body of their dead son.
Cunningham, who plays the noble Ser Davos Seaworth on the fiercely loved HBO Canada series, watched the episode with his wife and daughter — whom he describes as a “hardcore feminist.”
An intra-familial discussion of the divisive rape scene — which was a consensual encounter in George R.R. Martin’s source novel — lasted 30 minutes.
Cunningham points out that the action was so heinous in part because the once dastardly Jaime had been in the midst of a twoseason redemption arc. Further, he notes some “moral ambiguity” given the twins’ bizarre incestuous relationship.
Mostly, he doesn’t seem sure what to think — and he says that’s sort of the point.
“I kind of think about it in terms of doing a painting — you don’t always need a painter there to tell you what your interpretation of it is,” said the friendly Irish actor during a recent visit to Toronto.
“It’s a grown-up show for grown-ups, made by grownups. It doesn’t necessarily expect you to take any sort of position on this. ... It’s not up to me or anybody who made the show to tell anybody what to think about what they’ve seen.
“I think it would be arrogant of us to say this is what it is supposed to be,” he added. “It’s patronizing for anybody to do that. It’s there for what you want to take from it. And I think that’s intelligent and I think it’s as close as you can get to a piece of art for what it is.”
Cunningham, 52, was in Toronto for the opening of Game of Thrones: The Exhibition, running through Sunday at the TIFF Bell Lightbox.
The internationally touring exhibition features 100 original artifacts, costumes, weaponry, storyboards and other ephemera from the consistently shocking fantasy series.
An accomplished character actor, Cunningham is no stranger to large-scale productions.
He was featured in the swords-and-sandals, Clash of the Titans, in the costly 2008 saga, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and the thriller Safe House, more recently, but says the famously ambitious Thrones is in a league of its own.
“Each one you do is a different set of pain-in-the-ass problems that you have to try and get over and different levels of enjoyment. But doing Game of Thrones, it’s a peculiar beast.
“You need to do your work. You need to do proper acting. You’re not looking over your shoulder dodging bullets or whatever it may be,” he added. “It’s not dopey.” The show’s fourth season was shot in Northern Ireland, Croatia and Iceland, and Cunningham’s plot line has been isolated to the point where he’s never shared a scene with many of the show’s stars.
“... We pass each other in hotels, or somebody’s finished for the day and you’re going to be working tomorrow so you have a couple of beers in the bar with them. (But) Emilia (Clarke) shoots everything in Croatia, in Morocco — we’re not even, in a sense, on the same continent.
“It’s kind of really weird. And because everybody’s a link in this chain, in this big cast, what’s kind of cool about it is when you do get to see it we’re watching it like fans.”