With many thanks to the hard working fingers of Pthalo over on TMB, here's the content of a new article in Sky magazine:
Sean, is your character Eddard 'Ned' Stark a good guy?
Yes, he is. He reluctantly leaves his familly to help the King, but he's a fish out of water - not used to dealing with these kinds of cutthrouats and back stabbers. There is so much corruption, scandal and struggle for power, lying and incest.. It's a society gone wrong. Ned doesn't know who to trust. His downfall is his virtue - he's loyal and honourable.
King Baratheon, played by Mark Addy, is a bit like Herry VIII....
Yeah, a bit. He wants to enjou himself and gets Ned to do his work while he goes hunting or whatever. He trusts Ned as a loyal and honest friend - Ned feels the same. Mark Addy's a good friend of mine, so it was great working with him.
Your costume is impressive - was it hard to put on and get off?
We came up with some tricks after a while because there was so much lacing. Wer had these little clips which made it much easier to get in and out. We'd do anything so we could get up later in the morning!
There's some great dialogue in the show - do you have a favourite line?
'Winter is coming' - It's the Stark family motto. It means that in this world the summers last years, but then once winter comes, it will last equally as long So it's really hard then, really tough - it's like a dirrerent planet. 'Winter is coming' means things are going to get harder for nearly 20 or 30 years.
Someone insults your character by saying, 'Your older brother was trained to lead and you to follow' What is that about?
Cersei Lannister says that - we're enemies. I know she has a big secret with her twin brother Jamie, and I'm trying to get to the bottom of it.All the noble families around the throne are constantly plotting withtheir spies. There's an amazing variation of characters.
We think it's quite Shakespearean in style - do you agree?
Oh yes, it's a brilliant work - the way the author George R R Martin has put this together. He invented these characters with a whole new way of life, politics, religion, language - he must have an incredible imagination.
Was it daunting to take it on?
I suppose so - it's like playing Boromor in The Lord of the Rings. Withj any epic character, you're only going to get a chance to do it once and whatever you create is kind of set in stone. So, it's important to get it righjt!
How does the series compare to The Lord of the Rings?
The Lof the R had a beautiful, ethereal, magical qualityu to it, whereas GOT is much more brutal - it's certainly not for children. There's a lot of violence and quite disturbing scenes. There's definitely something that gives it an edge that you don't see very often in mythical tales.
Do you feature in any steamy scenes in the series?
Not really. I give my wife a kiss evefry now and again! But im'm not involved in any of the steamy scenes. I sound boring! Well, I kill a lot of people....
What are you doing next?
I just want a bit of time off. I'll lie in bed, watch telly, do some gardening and visit family. I have a cotytage in Sheffield that I'm having renovated. There are a few things I'm looking at for the spring, one is Hansel and Gretel. I'll be their dad - a good guy. I'll have to start playing some baddies again - I never thought I'd say this, but I might be getting typecast as a good guy!