6. Everybody Loves Alfie
Episode Three: What is Dead May Never Die Commentators: Episode writer Bryan Cogman and director Alik Sakharov In my Season 1 blog I also made the blanket statement that commentary tracks from actors alone are largely useless unless you want to be privy to inside jokes you don't understand or profuse praise mixed with awkward self-effacement. But one thing that actors know a whole lot about is acting and the one actor that all the other actors almost all unanimously go out of their ways to praise is Alfie Allen. Allen's role is a thankless one in portraying Theon Greyjoy, the man forced to make a choice between the biological family from whom he was torn away and the adoptive family that raised him for most of his life. We as viewers hate Theon because the family he ends up betraying happens to be the Starks, but lost in all that hatred is sympathy for a young, confused man who wants to prove something to his biological family because he has no claim to any of the benefits of his adoptive family. Cogman and Sakharov are also on board the Alfie Allen bandwagon, but with the added benefit of having been on set with him while other actors were segregated to their sets and shooting days. In real life, Allen and Gemma Whelan, who plays Yara Greyjoy, are good friends, having developed a close relationship over the course of Season 2 thanks to many scenes together with few other actors. But when it came time to shoot the scene where Balon Greyjoy (Patrick Malahide) divvies up Pyke's fleet amongst his children for an invasion of the North - one ship to Theon, the rest to Yara - Allen was little seen. In order to better prepare for the scene of division and confrontation, Allen kept himself withdrawn and separate from Whelan on the days that that scene was being shot. When re-watching the scene, be sure to also pay special attention to the way the scene is staged and how Allen presents himself physically. Not only does Allen stand quite a distance away from his relatives in relation to how close they're standing to each other, he also sports a constant slight slouch as though he's physically intimidated and smaller when he's in their presence. It's not exactly Viggo Mortensen sleeping in tents throughout production of
Lord of the Rings, but it's certainly a subtle yet effective touch to help accentuate the change in what was previously a very cocksure character.