Time Out meets some of the cast from the bloodiest show on TV, Game of Thrones.
As the fourth season of medieval drama Game of Thrones airs on TVs across the world, we sit down with key cast members to talk gore and parental supervision, plus scrub up on where the third season left off.
Isaac Hempstead-Wright: Bran Stark
The crippled son of Ned Stark has been making his way north. At the end of season three, he passes under the wall and into the Haunted Forest, towards the threat of the White Walkers.
Isaac, you were just ten when you began on Game of Thrones. Did your parents let you watch it?
When you’re on set and there are dead bodies and a decapitated head and blood, the violence is debunked, so when you watch the show and see someone’s head cut off, you know there’s a guy behind the
block pumping the blood. My mum gave me equally inappropriate talks on the other stuff.
Who is your favourite character on the show?
I’ve come to like Joffrey. Not as a person, as a character. It’s fascinating to see a teenager given power. It’s a great way of symbolising that many leaders in our world are just kids given power.
Kit Harrington: Jon Snow
Ned Stark’s son has forsaken his Wildling lover and returned to his place on the Wall. Will his comrades still trust him? And what of Mance Rayder’s invading army – not to mention the White Walkers?
Kit, Jon has lost so many people. How does he keep going?
He’s a very resilient human being. He’s not like a modern man. If it was me, I’d be crying, I’d be a wreck, I’d probably turn to other things, if I’d lost all of my family and broken up with my girlfriend, the only person I’d ever loved. But these people who live in this world aren’t like that.
Do you have a response to those hilarious people who like to shout out Ygritte’s catchphrase, ‘You know nothing, Jon Snow’?
I still haven’t found one. It’s a good insult because I don’t know what it means, and there’s no comeback.
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau: Jaime Lannister
Involved with his evil sister Queen Cersei, the ‘Kingslayer’ has lost his sword hand, but gained his humanity as he formed a bond with Brienne of Tarth.
Nikolaj, in the first season, Jaime pushes a kid out of a window, but now he’s likeable – what is it like walking that tightrope?
We all do that as human beings. One part of us knows the right thing to do, but our actions constantly betray us. When you look at Jaime, you know he is conflicted. Also, when he’s defined as the swordsman then loses his hand, it’s surprising, both to watch and for me as an actor.
Of the twins Cersei and Jaime, Cersei is the more spiteful. Are women are crueller than men?
I have two teenage daughters and it’s very different. Boys will beat each other up, but the cruelty between girls is unbelievable.
Season four airs Mondays, 11pm on OSN First HD.
