Game of Thrones Interview: Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy)
In the lead up to the Season 2 Premier on April 1st, we will be posting the series of interviews to whet your appetites for what will surely be another monumental season.
I attended a round-table interview with some of the cast and producers of HBOs award winning new series Game of Thrones. They were in town for the press launch of the Season 1 DVD/Blu-ray, which is available now. We reviewed it HERE. In the lead up to the Season 2 Premier on April 1st, we will be posting the series of interviews to whet your appetites for what will surely be another monumental season. Two weeks ago it was Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who plays Jaime Lannister. Last week was Michelle Fairley, who plays Catelyn Stark. Next up is young British actor, Alfie Allen. Alfie is the son of film producer Alison Owen and actor Keith Allen, but most of you will probably recognise his sister, pop singer Lily Allen. He has appeared in small roles in films such as Elizabeth and Atonement and in 2008 took over from Daniel Radcliffe as the lead in Equus. Alfie is now making his own name on Game of Thrones as Theon Greyjoy, the young Iron Islander who is ward (hostage in reality) to Ned Stark (Sean Bean). His role in Season 1 may have been small, but expect to see big changes in Season 2. Please note the interview was from a roundtable session and not all questions were asked by WhatCulture Q. Youve come from an already successful media family, does that make it harder to stand out for yourself? Alfie: Well Id say my Dad was a massive part in me wanting to become an actor in the first place but I dont really feel like Im under any sort of pressure to prove anything to him because (whispers) I think Im better than him anyway! I think it kind of annoys me, that sort of stuff (nepotism) because its like, if youre a plumber, and your son wants to be a plumber, youre going to help him be a plumber. I had a choice of whether to go to drama school or whether not to and I chose not to because I had an agent at the time and I think if you go into work you can learn just as much from teaching yourself as you can from somebody else teaching you. I think thats the best way to learn things is just to do it yourself to be honest. Q. So has Game of Thrones been a real break in terms of showing people what you can do? Alfie: Yeah, I reckon so. I hope Ive done a good job on it, I dont know yet, but I think I have. I think its time for people to sit up and take notice because Im good! Q. Did you expect the success of the first season; was it something you were prepared for? Alfie: You never know really do you, but I think through the fan base that it had accumulated through the books anyway theres going to be a huge interest in the first place. You need to do it justice and I think the boys, David (Benioff) and Dan (Weiss) and us as a cast definitely achieved that. I dont think I felt any sort of pressure towards that. The fans of the books tend not to like my character that much so (laughter) I wasnt really concerned with people not liking him but I wanted people to sympathise with him so if Ive achieved that then Im definitely happy. Q. When was the first time you knew the show would be huge? Alfie: I think you know what, just being part of an HBO series, that is huge in itself but I think when Peter Dinklage started winning the awards (Emmy and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in Drama Series) it garnered a lot of interest from that and then afterwards I sort of realised, Wow, this is pretty massive! Also the first day I got on set and I just saw these huge sets, all these extras, and it was just on a different scale to anything Ive ever done before. Q. Were you nervous on the first Season? Alfie: Yeah for the first series I was definitely and then on the second series when we started filming it I was definitely not as nervous about it. It was funny being on the second series and youre seeing people who are nervous and youre kind of going: Its alright! It was weird but it was great! Q. Did you find that you had a lot more to do in the second series with Theons larger role and lets say change in morality? Alfie: (laughs) Yeah I did, but I dont really think he Its not like I really knowingly did that (changed morality). I dont think he changes. I dont think Im allowed to say this so I wont say much but I think he just makes the wrong decisions through thinking that hes making the right ones. So his morals are constantly the same but hes just not that smart in his decision making so ultimately that kind of changes what he does. I dont think his morals change in his head but I think he sets out to do the right thing but he just ends up doing the wrong thing. Q. Do you enjoy playing the villain? Alfie: Yes! Yeah I do, definitely. I dont think Ill ever play James Bond but I might play a James Bond villain! Q. What was your favourite part of the first season? Alfie: My favourite part? I thought some of the stuff between Cersei and Robert was brilliant, that scene where he basically just says, You know Ive never really liked you that much, and shes like, I was in love with you but now Im not. I thought that was pretty amazing, that scene was fantastic. Then obviously, (whispers) the person who dies, you know, that scene. Q. And what about from your own scenes? Alfie: From my own stuff, I like my scene with me and Ros, I thought it was great I was wanted to know what it looked like on camera. I was really happy with it when I saw it. I was in training for four months previously and I wanted to see what I looked like, how much my body had changed so that was interesting. Esmé Bianco, who plays Ros, she made that scene so much easier for me and it was just fun. Q. Playing in Equus, youve had experience with nudity before, did it get easier this time around? Alfie: Id say it was easier on stage actually, yeah, because youre more in the moment. You cant really see anyones faces looking up at you because the lights are just blinding you so you feel like youre more there but when youre on a set, theres people holding radio mics and Im half naked and it can be a bit strange but you just get into it. Its all about the person youre working with as well you know, if that person doesnt feel comfortable then you dont feel comfortable but if youre kind of not so serious about it and you joke about it then you can just get on with it. Q. Whats it like to watch those scenes back if youre with friends and family? Alfie: I havent done that, Im not going to do that! No, no, no! I find it hard enough when complete strangers are watching it with me so when its with your family its just unbearable! Q. Would you even want them to watch it at all? Alfie: Yeah of course! Definitely! Ive been telling them to. They can get their heads round that, its only a bit of nudity. In other projects Ive done Ive died and stuff like that so I think they find that harder to watch but we dont really talk about it you know, How did you find that sex scene Dad? (laughter) I havent really had that conversation with them about it but I think theyre happy with it, I hope they are. Q. Moving on, what projects have you got lined up in the future? Alfie: Ive just done a low budget feature with Daisy Lowe and Eliza Bennett. (Confine) My character in that is, I dont know if any of you have watched The Only Way is Essex, but I sort of based my character on Joey Essex in this film, hes just kind of a bit of an idiot but hes harmless at heart. Its quite cool; Ive just got to be tortured the whole time in it. So yeah Ive done that and then there might be something going on in the West End for me but Im just going to see what happens really, Im trying not to put too much pressure on myself. Q. Was it a difficult process to get the part of Theon in Game of Thrones? Alfie: Well the casting process, Ive never experienced anything like it. I did like, seven auditions and that was the same for everybody else. I went up for several parts. The Americans cast in a different way to the English because they make a choice of who they like as an actor and then they think OK, what part would he be good for? So I ended up going for loads of different parts and then Theon came along and they figured that one was perfect for me. It was nice going up for something and them not knowing who I was at all; I was just an unknown actor to them. Q. You mentioned going for different parts, what other parts did you go for? Was Theon your first choice? Alfie: Oh, I dont know if I can talk about this... I hadnt read the books, so I didnt really know much about it. Its funny when people ask me, What attracted you to this role? and Im like, Because they offered it to me! Id love to have that luxury of being able to choose my roles but Im not there yet so I just got into it straight away and just got on with it. Q. Having seen the first two episodes of Season 2 with the other cast, what is it like to guard all the spoilers from your friends and family? Alfie: Its really hard, I want to tell you everything but sorry, I cant! Its torturous. We watched it and people were saying afterwards, Oh God, I wish I hadnt come to the screening because now Ive got to wait a month and a half to see the third episode! You want to tell people whats going on but then obviously youd probably get the sack so, thats kind of your motivation not to. Q. What other TV shows are you watching, besides of course, Game of Thrones! Alfie: Im watching Friday Night Lights at the moment, which I quite like. Its really good isnt it? Its not my sort of show really but then I sort of started watching it and I thought it was great, its really, really good. So Im watching that at the moment and also Boardwalk Empire and The Sopranos I finished recently. I cant believe it took me that long to get round to The Sopranos! So Im getting into the box-sets. TVs like the new cinema now, I think people kind of prefer to sit in and blast a box-set in a weekend then go out on a crappy romcom date on a Friday. Youd much rather sit in with your partner and just watch a whole box-set, which is cool. Its not the new medium but Id say its newish. Q. So youre getting into the right business then! How about the fantasy element, is that a boyhood dream come true? Alfie: Yeah definitely, although thats the thing, its not really you archetypal sort of fantasy show, theres not really much sort of magic involved and stuff like that its kind of just more about the politics and about the writing and about the characters. People arent really black or white in it and I think thats a big trait in HBO shows is that you dont really know where the characters are going to go and I think thats one thing that Im very happy to be a part of and obviously I get to just play with a sword! Keep your eyes peeled as we post more of the interviews in the days leading up to the Season 2 Premier on April 1st. For our top 10 reasons to watch Season 2, read HERE.