Exclusive interview with Richard Madden (Part 2)

Note: © HBO/Sky/myFanbase 2014 - The interview is exclusive to myFanbase and may not be published on other websites or the like. You may share the first 2 questions or up to 180 words if you link back to this site. Translations other than English and German may be posted with full credit including the writer's name and link to this site.
Foto: Richard Madden, Game of Thrones - Copyright: 2013 Home Box Office, Inc. All rights reserved.
Richard Madden, Game of Thrones
© 2013 Home Box Office, Inc. All rights reserved.

8. Were there scenes that you particularly enjoyed doing during Season Three?

Yes, there were. There's a wonderful scene that I had with Tobias Menzies, who plays Robb's uncle, Edmure Tully, which was so well written and wonderful to do. And one of the things that I love about Game of Thrones is that when I watch it as a viewer it has the power to pull you in to all the different stories that are going on and a way of making you involved with different characters. When Robb's on I'm on his side, obviously, but when Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) is on I'm on his side or when Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) is on I'm on her side. It's incredible the way it can do that. Every character is like that – so brilliantly drawn and rounded and you are involved in each and every one of their stories. And obviously the most memorable sequence in Season Three was filming episode nine. Anyone who has read the book will know exactly what I'm referring to. It's called The Red Wedding and I don't really want to give anything away for those people who haven't read it. But it was kind of operatic and incredible to film.

9. What’s your relationship with the books? Have you read them all or do you read them in conjunction with the relevant series?

I read them season by season. I read the first book just before we started Season One and held off reading the second one until just before Season Two.

10. Was it hard not to read on?

Oh, it's very hard. And I made the fatal error of Googling Game of Thrones, which I should never have done – never Google things that you like because you spoil it for yourself. But I did and even if I hadn't, I'm afraid people spoil it for me anyway.

11. In what way?

You get people coming up to you and saying, "do you know that this happens…" and "what about when Robb does this?"

Foto: Richard Madden, Game of Thrones - Copyright: Home Box Office Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Richard Madden, Game of Thrones
© Home Box Office Inc. All Rights Reserved.

12. That must be annoying?

(laughs) No, I can understand because people are passionate about this story, the books and the show, and that's great and I was never going to escape that. So I kind of knew the arc of Robb's story but I didn't know when or where, the specifics, but I knew broadly what was coming. But I did make an effort not to read the books because I didn't want to pre-empt myself. I didn't want to look at the end of Book Two while I was making the first series because I didn't want it to filter into that. There's an argument that maybe you should do that and that would have been right in order to kind of help steer that course and make that arc. But I much prefer the challenge of not knowing what's going to happen and I think that's more interesting to watch. As an actor I like to make strong decisions about the character and then stick to them and then have Dave and Dan (the show's creators, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss) throw me something that smacks me on to a different course and I then, as an actor, have to work it out. It's like "OK, I set him on that path, he now needs to be here, how do I turn it around?"

13. The show has a blend of younger actors – and it's always introducing new faces – with more experienced actors. Do you learn from the older hands?

It's a really great blend. I came in as a 21 year-old actor on "Game of Thrones" and was working alongside actors of the calibre of Mark Addy and Sean Bean, who was playing my father. And I'm playing Robb who is a young man who looks up to his father and I was certainly looking up to this actor, Sean, and the brilliant work that he has done. And I've changed a lot as an actor since I started on the show and I've learned a lot, too. Lots of actors come in and they influence you as much as you influence them, it's very collaborative. And it's lovely to have that blend of actors, the experience with the guys who are starting out. You might be working alongside someone who is doing their first television job ever and another actor who is doing three different jobs and dividing his time between a couple of different sets. That's the nature of the show and it's the nature of us as actors. But what it means is that the set is so alive and vibrant with lots of influences filtering through.

14. You've met George R. R. Martin. What's he like?

He's a fascinating man. He writes an episode for every season and Dan and Dave speak to him a lot. But the actors don't have a lot of contact with George at all when we're actually filming. Dave and Dan are our references points although George is always available, you can email him if you want to but I've never emailed him although we have spent some time together, which was great.

15. Have you been tempted to ask him who wins the throne in the end?

Who wins? What happens in the end? Everybody wants to know that, don't they? Different cast members have been told little bits and he's told me certain things about a character's heritage or what happens to another character and it's like, "ah ha!" But it's all on pain of death and I can't say any of it or I'll get killed and anyway, he'd deny it all (laughs).

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