Conleth Hill (Varys) says he was initially resistant about working on Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones is one of the most popular TV series, ever, with amazing cast members. The show, however, has needed a lot of luck to become as successful as it has, especially with landing just the perfect cast members to fill in the characters. One of our favorites, is Lord Varys, played by Conleth Hill. In a recent interview, Conleth said that he was very resistant about joining Game of Thrones, at first. Read on!

Conleth Hill recently featured on TheArtsDesk, where he was interviewed. He was asked ten questions, and Game of Thrones, obviously, was the subject of three of those ten.

To begin with, Conleth was asked if he had any anxiety about joining Game of Thrones, to which he replied :

“There have been so many occasion in my life when I’ve gone, “This is as good as it gets, this is amazing, I’ll never top this.” The experience of being in that show for eight years is incomparable. It’s just been life-changing for me, and that’s not a soundbite. I resisted it for so long. Like a lot of people who haven’t got into it I went, “Oh God, dungeons and dragons, swords and sorcery, that’s now really my thing.” My agent at the time said, “Look, they’re in Belfast, will you just go and meet them?” I originally went up for a different part and didn’t get and they came back and said, “Will you play this part?” I didn’t run at it and I hadn’t a clue in that first season. I just adopted the Linda Gray approach. In the first series of Dallas she didn’t have many lines and made the most of the screen time she had. There was a scene where Varys didn’t have any lines but they cut away to him and I just gave a couple of filthy looks, just to make the most of it. If it’s non-verbal it doesn’t mean it’s non-communicative.”

Well, that was fortunate! We couldn’t imagine Varys being played by anybody else, at all.

Next up, Conleth was asked if he ever felt restricted, being a part of Game of Thrones. He said :

“No. No, because they film for six months but I’m very lucky, my character is never in any huge battles which take days or weeks to film. So my fellow actors are up their oxters in mud and I just to sit around a nice place and bitch with Peter Dinklage.”

Finally, he was asked how he played a eunuch. Conleth said :

“Well, you don’t. I’m not that method for starters. I happen to believe that everybody is more or less the same. Male, female, gay, straight, black, white. We all have the same emotions. He still feels like everybody else feels. He still hurts. Do I not bleed?”

Well, whatever it is, it seems to be working for him. Lord Varys is one of the most interesting and intriguing characters in the series, and a large part of it is Conleth Hill, and the brilliance with which he portrays the character. What do you feel? Talk to us in the comments, below!

 

If you have any important filming news about House of the Dragon, or if you want to collaborate with us or want to write for us, please drop us a message here.

 

Official House of the Dragon Merchandise