Interview

Interviews with Liam Cunningham & Carice van Houten and Lena Headey

Posted on by Hear Marko Roar

Carice van Houten as Melisandre_photo Helen Sloan_HBO

The Austrian Prime Time has published an interview with Liam Cunningham (Davos) and Carice van Houten (Melisandre). Their double act is entertaining, as always. I have translated the content that has to do with the coming season from German below. For the rest (well worth it), please consult your local linguist, or rely on your own knowledge of the language and/or Google Translate.

A bonus hint: Liam mentions that there will possibly be more scenes with him and Shireen this season.

What can we expect from Melisandre in season 5?

Carice: (Laughs.) How can I answer that without spoiling anything? Season 5 is my favourite season so far. I had more screen-time than ever before, and Melisandre’s focus shifts in season five. More than that I cannot give away.
Liam: She undergoes an incredible development in the new season.
C: It is a good year for me.
L: Yes, for you perhaps. But not necessarily for some other characters! Maybe, perhaps …
C: There is a scene in the script – when I read it …
L: Careful now!
C: I was shocked.
L: Yes, I think we read it at the same time, and I just thought to myself: ‘What?!’ There were definitely some WTF-moments in there.

How does the relationship between your character and Jon Snow develop this season? At the end of season 4 Davos and Jon meet in the north by the Wall.
L: Well, eventhough Stannis and me would wish for Jon Snow to accompany us on our quest, there’s the problem with the Night’s Watch. He has sworn his life to them. This makes the situation a bit complicated. Either way, at the beginning of season 5 Team Stannis is for the first time in a good position. Blackwater was a disaster. We found ourselves powerless for a long time after that.

From the beginning, episode 9 in each season was always a very special episode. Will that be true in season 5 as well?
L: Well, that pattern was different in season 4, I think. In season 4 it was episodes 8, 9, and 10 that were special. So that has changed.
C: And of course the second episode.
L: Yes, Joffrey’s death! That was a big moment. It was, in a certain way, the beginning of an end for King’s Landing. In the first three seasons the story was always structured so that the ninth episode was the climax. But with the fourth season that has changed. We will not – I can reveal as much – return to the old pattern. In season 5, everything is bigger and darker. The high points are distributed over the entire season.

It is not only Melisandre’s big season that we can look forward to. Lena Headey in a recent interview for Entertainment Weekly likewise considers S5 to be a big season for Cersei. Lots of juice to look forward to, then. And all quite true to the books, considering what Lena tells us (follow the link for more). Of her role in the next set of ten episodes, she says:

Not that it was a love fest, but at least [Cersei] had guidance from her father. And sadly, she doesn’t really know much about their finances and political allies. She thinks she’s found an influential power group to join and manipulate, but she invests in the wrong people. She just has too much hatred for certain people, so she doesn’t help her cause.

There’s some great scenes with Margaery and Cersei this season. I think everyone will dig that. There’s a stab one way, then a good stab the other way—they’re fun and dangerous. And also, there’s a moment between Cersei and Olenna which is awesome as well. She’s got two thorns deeply in her side.

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33 Comments

  2. “I had more screen-time than ever before”
    “She undergoes an incredible development in the new season”

    Though not exactly unexpected, that’s great to know for certain!

    Considering her storyline intercepts with Jon, a major character, it was obvious that she would get more screentime. And she got her first POV in the one of the books that Season 5 is adapting, so it makes a lot of sense. Also, the fact that she “undergoes an incredible development” makes me wonder: maybe she will realize her mistake consciously in the show? “I pray for a glimpse of Azor Ahai, and R’hllor shows me only Snow.” That’d be difficult to translate to dialogue if Melisandre doesn’t actually realize that the fires are showing him that Jon Snow is Azor Ahai and not Stannis.

  4. I read the original and, regarding violence in media, Carice mentions she’s a fan of the very violent Paul Verhoeven —of RoboCop, Total Recall and Starship Troopers fame. Damn, she’s got good taste.

    What a wonderful interview. It was such a fun and interesting read.

  5. Luka Nieto:
    “I had more screen-time than ever before”
    “She undergoes an incredible development in the new season”

    Though not exactly unexpected, that’s great to know for certain!

    Her realization could fit into the season’s presumable last scene. She could cast her resurrection spell and realize she was wrong in the same moment.

    Luka Nieto:
    I read the original and, regarding violence in media, Carice mentions she’s a fan of the very violent Paul Verhoeven —of RoboCop, Total Recall and Starship Troopers fame. Damn, she’s got good taste.

    What a wonderful interview. It was such a fun and interesting read.

    She was in Verhoeven’s Black Book.

  7. I really have absolutely no idea what Davos is going to be up to this season. Still hoping to see

    Last Hearth

  10. One of Roose Bolton’s leeches,

    Though there is no evidence of Mantle returning to play Greatjon, I hope so as well. Rickon went to Last Hearth in the show; in the books Davos is sent to White Harbor and there Manderly gives him the mission to rescue Rickon from Skagos. It’s perfect! On the way to Winterfell, Stannis can go to Last Hearth (it’s on the way), and maybe him and Davos or only Davos can convince Umber to join them. And Rickon could be mentioned, if not seen. I don’t wanna get too fan-fictiony about this; if I do, I’ll be dissapointed when it doesn’t happen. But I think it could be a very powerful moment.

  11. If only Cersei had Melisandre as her right hand, they could shadow baby Tyrion’s ass and be done with it! Love Lena and Carice, they give their characters such compelling presence, it’s always a pleasure to see what they do with a scene. They are a credit to Thrones.

  12. I loved Carice in Black Book and Black Butterflies. The interview makes me so pumped for their time with Jon. Liam saying they want Jon to join them, confirms that Stannis will make that offer. I’ve been waiting for that scene for a long time now.

    The other is of course that Mel’s focus shifts, hopefully to Jon.

  13. There’s some really interesting quotes there… Even as a book reader, I’m excited to see what happens with/pre/post

    hardhome.

  14. Morna the Witch,

    Definitely! Carice was Oscar worthy in that film Black Book! This actress is so underrated, it’s not even funny. She brought up a great point in the interview about a lot of female roles being the token ‘girl’ to the movie hero. There is something so wrong with the movies, ever since the blockbuster of Star Wars changed the game. If you really think about it, Hollywood was built showcasing the power of women in the movies. If we can’t get back to that, they are right – tv is the only place these actresses can find the work they deserve.

  16. There are some cast members whose interviews are a little boring and predictable. Carice and Liam, on the other hand, are fantastic, and you really get the impression that they are exhilarated by being involved in the show. Along with John Bradley, I would say that they are amongst my favourite interviewees from the show.

    Also, thanks for translating this Marko; my German is definitely slacking since my school days.

  17. Oh I can’t wait to see Olenna and Cersei cooly volleying off each other! Maybe Cersei is the one they’ll never find what’s left of?

  18. That was a great interview, love that they call themselves Stan, Mel & Dave on set. 🙂

    There is a really good passage where Liam compares GoT to our real world politics with politicians doing their own thing and giving a damn f*** about the smallfolk just like in Westeros. So sad but so true.

  19. Luka Nieto,

    Apparently Jon name drops Last Hearth in conversation with Stannis and Davos in the first episode and Stannis says he will seek to gain the allegiance of the Umbers. Would make sense that Stannis would send Davos there and then Davos can discover that Rickon is there.

  20. From what The Onion Sleight / Messy Justin Massey translated over at Afoiaf, I’m so pumped by Liam mentionning the conflict over Jon’s vows with Stannis will play a part in S5 !

  22. wizardeyes,

    Good to know…I also like the notion that Mel’s big transformative notion this season will be the truth about AA at the same time as a certain resurrection that will hopefully take place on screen as well.

    And I can’t WAIT for Cersei/Olenna!

  25. I’m very excited for Jon and Melisandre’s scenes. I’m sure somebody could make a funny montage of them using Chris DeBurgh’s Lady in Red.

  27. Stannis will die this season. With that shot of Selyse on the ground covered with snow crying can only be after she hears the news of his defeat at the hands of the Boltons, perhaps via the Pink Letter. He’s most likely “the actor” the rumors are about, the one dying while still being alive in the books. Stephen Dilane does not attend any promotional events for Game of Thrones, perhaps he does not have a close relationship with the showrunners? I know they’ve said that they were going to take full advantage of Stannis this year, and maybe they did use him and then kill him off, which pissed off the actor who most likely knows that he’s going to play a big role in the winds of winter book, which would mean he should make it into season 6. I hope he does not die on the show, but I fear he will be one of the characters that gets axed early in the show

    I dont know how to do spoiler tags, sorry. It’s just speculation anyway

  28. Darjan,

    It’s not Dillane.

    The rumoured death concerns someone who read the books, Stephen didn’t read them. And he never attends promo stuff, it’s just his way. Also the Battle of Ice is not gonna be in this season. Regarding that shot of Selyse I fear for sweet Shireen…:(

  29. These were great…. Cant get enough Melisandre, really excited to see her development. It will be nice to see a fallible side to her on screen (recognizing her mistakes/second guessing herself).
    Liam is funny- almost says too much…. “quest” is an interesting word to use, considering show watchers shouldn’t know about any quest, unless it involves WW
    STOKED! Just 10 days!

  30. Darjan,

    It’s mentioned how to do this at the top of every comment section. [ spoiler ] spoiler here [ / spoiler ] without the spaces.

  31. Darjan,

    Honestly, I think it just has to be Barristan Selmy, not Stannis… plus I think Barristan is totally fucked in TWOW

  33. Hey, do you guys think if jon dies, and is brought back to life, that would release him from the whole “giving his life” to them thing that Mel mentions?

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