Game of Thrones: A Conversation With Finn Jones
Finn Jones, currently starring as Ser Loras, love interest to late Renly Baratheon in HBOs fantastic series Game of Thrones, appeared in the Doctor Who universe in one episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures, playing the grandson of former companion, Jo Grant. I caught up with him at the recent Gallifrey One convention in Los Angeles, where we discussed The Sarah Jane Adventures, Game of Thrones, and his fascination for one-horned creatures. ME: So how did you end up getting into Game of Thrones? JONES: I auditioned. I got an audition, andyeah. I auditioned, and I got the part. ME: Pretty basic. JONES: Yeah, thats the thing. People think theres this kind of magic thing that happens. Its just, you know, actors audition for the parts and they get the roles if theyre good enough. ME: Well, its Game of Thrones. Theres very little magic there. JONES: Yeah, yeah, right. ME: Have you been enjoying the role so far? JONES: Yeah, I love it! Its a dream role. Its the best role I could ask for right now at this stage in my career. I love it. ME: Was it much the same with The Sarah Jane Adventures? JONES: Yeah, Sarah Jane was great! I was really lucky to work on that show with such wonderful people and I had a really great time. ME: Excellent. And Im sure working with Katy Manning was all sorts of fun. JONES: Yeah, shes awesome.[]Shes on my wavelength. Shes totally crazy and lovely, and, yeah. Shes like the perfect fictional gran. ME: Shes one of those people who seems like shes exactly like she is on TV. JONES: Yeah, but wilder. ME: Less restrained. JONES: Oh, yeah. She dont do restrained, she just dont. ME: In Game of Thrones, do you have much coming up in season 3? JONES: Yeah, quite a lot. A lot more than the first, second andyeah. ME: But no more Renly! How will you carry on? JONES: Aaaahactually, he kind ofhe finds a way. ME: Ahnow Ive read ahead in the books, and Im sure by now you have, too. So Im sure theres a lot of stuff youre looking forward to doing. JONES: Yeah, yeah, I cant wait! Theres lots of stuff coming up from the books, and also stuff thats not in the books, which is nice. ME: Yeah, Im looking forward to that. Theyve done quite a bit of that seems to work pretty well. It can be really hit or miss with things like that, but theyve done a good job with that. JONES: Its good that the TV series, you know, doesnt just follow the books. That it does its own stuff. ME: It needs to be able to stand on its own. JONES: Exactly, yeah! The books get so ridiculously lengthy and complex that itd be impossible to ME: They start becoming like an even more complicated version of a Russian novel after a bit. JONES: Yeah, yeah, and you wouldnt try to make a screenplay out of one of those things. ME: I understand the third book will be spread out over seasons three and four. JONES: Yes, season three is the first half of book three, and season four is the second half. ME: Itll be interesting to see how that works out. I think it will give them some more breathing room. JONES: Yeah, I think its also that they are becoming less rigid about this season, this book. Its just becoming a story now. I mean, the books are irrelevant now. Its their own story in their own time when they want it. ME: Anything in particular youd like to do in the future? JONES: Uhride unicorns? Yeah, just ride a massive unicorn, I think. ME: How big of a unicorn? Because if its too big, that could present a problem. JONES: Oh, no, no. The bigger, the better. Massive, massive unicorn. Yeah, yeah. ME: I could make jokes about horns, but I dont want to drag it down to that level. JONES: Oh, yeah, that would be terrific. A big horned unicorn, yeah. ME: Im sure your fans will take note. JONES: Good, good, yeah, excellent. ME: And the question I dont want to ask, but probably have to; if you had the chance to return to the Doctor Who universe, would you? JONES: Yeah, of course, definitely. Id love to, but only if Katy could be there. ME: It would be kind of nifty to see her back on the show as well. JONES: Yeah, me and Katy, or no way. ME: Any last thing you want to say before I wind this up? JONES: (softly) Aliens are real.