Liam Cunningham says the pressure is on to make Season 8 live up to expectations

Having made it to the eighth season, Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth) hopes to make it all the way to final episode.
Liam Cunningham as Davos Seaworth.

Although it won’t be until 2019, we know that Game of Thrones is indeed coming to a close, and wrapping up the world’s most popular television series comes with its own set of challenges — not the least of which is bringing it to a satisfactory end for its fans around the globe. Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth) is just one of the actors feeling the pressure to live up to such high expectations, especially with only six episodes slated for Season 8.

“The pressure we put on ourselves [is to] try and get it as good as we possibly can,” he told RTE Entertainment at the announcement of this year’s Irish Film and Television Association awards, in which he and fellow Irish actor Aiden Gillen are nominated for their performances on Thrones. “[It’s] not one person who is the lead in this, who’s carrying the whole thing, it’s an ensemble piece.”

It’s a fitting way for the remaining cast to handle the end of a series that they all consider themselves to be fans of, not merely actors in, Cunningham added — and that no longer having Thrones to be a part of will take some getting used to.

“We’re all fans of the show, for several years some actors only read their own bits so they could enjoy the show when they went home, they were that much fans of the show,” he said. “So to be coming to the end, it’s going to be really weird.”

Will everyone’s favorite Onion Knight make it to the season finale? Cunningham couldn’t say, but he did note that having made it this far — especially when other fan favorites have met their end much earlier in the the series — he certainly hopes to make it all the way to the end.

“Well, my ambition was to make it to the last season and now I’m in the last season, [so] my ambition is to make it to the last episode,” he said. “Typical selfish actor.”

The full interview is available here.

30 Comments

  1. “So to be coming to the end, it’s going to be really weird.”…………………………………………for what that means for the end ..only assumptions/theories can we make ..nothing more ..nothing less..I hope his badass/kickass character got survive and go back to his home and his wife in the end ..He deserves to live.

  2. I think I’ll miss Liam’s comments the most. He’s such an enthusiastic fan. 😊

    Congrats to him and Aidan on the nominations!

  3. Artemisia:
    “So to be coming to the end, it’s going to be really weird.”…………………………………………for what that means for the end ..only assumptions/theories can we make ..nothing more ..nothing less..I hope his badass/kickasscharacter got survive and go back to his home and his wife in the end ..He deserves to live.

    Imagine poor, long=suffering Mrs. Onion Knight finally seeing her husband again.

    I’d like to see him try to explain this situation… 🙂

  4. Erica,

    I would imagine Davos is gonna need to bring home an awful lot of fermented crab meat to make Mrs. Seaworth forget about his galavanting.

  5. Clob:
    It still feels like he has the highest chance of surviving the series than anyone.

    Same here but I can see him making some joke about preferring to face the Night King instead of his wife at this point, fermented crab a-plenty or no. Poor woman.

  6. Mr Derp: But is the pressure on to make it bittersweet?

    heh, I can see it now:

    Director: “more saccharine! no, wait… more lemon! Crap, too much, um… some honey … little more… NOOOOO!!! Not the whole jug! Ummm… OK, 2 tons of coffee ought to fix that….”

    Emilia Clarke: “I was only asking how high to raise my left eyebrow for the closing shot….”

  7. Erica: I’d like to see him try to explain this situation…

    Better yet:
    Davos: “Well, I’m home.”
    Lady Seaworthy: “Oh, I didn’t notice that you were out.”

  8. Wimsey: Better yet:
    Davos: “Well, I’m home.”
    Lady Seaworthy: “Oh, I didn’t notice that you were out.”

    Hahaha…how harsh would that be??

  9. Erica: Imagine poor, long=suffering Mrs. Onion Knight finally seeing her husband again.

    I’d like to see him try to explain this situation…

    YOU NAILED IT..LOL

  10. Ten Bears: After all the hype, will it be bittersweet if it’s not bittersweet?

    For me simply seeing the ending to the story will be bittersweet… It could be fun, happy and exactly what I want and I’ll still be bitter (and sad) that it’s over.

  11. Are they in production again? Anyone ferret out what work , in a general way , is left for 2018? Seems they have not done any work at the southern European sites yet?

  12. Mr Derp:
    Erica,

    I would imagine Davos is gonna need to bring home an awful lot of fermented crab meat to make Mrs. Seaworth forget about his galavanting.

    He’s going to have a hole poked in his chain mail.

  13. Wimsey: Better yet:
    Davos: “Well, I’m home.”
    Lady Seaworthy: “Oh, I didn’t notice that you were out.”

    “Your dinner’s cold.”

  14. Clob: For me simply seeing the ending to the story will be bittersweet…It could be fun, happy and exactly what I want and I’ll still be bitter (and sad) that it’s over.

    Q#1. Out of curiosity, what would be “fun, happy and exactly what [you] want”?

    Q#2. Six weekly episodes will fly by in just five weeks. After waiting a year and a half, would you rather they stagger the episodes every other week? I know I would.

  15. Ten Bears,

    Waiting another year and half for season 8 to start will be torture enough…

    I want to watch 6 weeks of the best Game of Thrones season in 2019

  16. Clob:
    It still feels like he has the highest chance of surviving the series than anyone.

    Agreed! It would be out of character for Davos to die as he couldn’t talk about living to a ripe old age.

  17. Lady Seaworth: “New raven, who dis?”

    The bittersweet ending is the remaining Starks reunite, but they are all different people now.

  18. Boojam,

    They are going to film in Croatia next month. But I wonder if they will film in Spain this year since almost everyone is on his way to Winterfell. Most will be filmed in Northern Ireland. And maybe also in Iceland.

  19. What expectations? Seasons one to four were satisfying enough. Everything else has just been the cherry on top. Honestly, if they give us any more epic spectacle combined with the best character dynamics on TV (fact), I’ll be completely stuffed.

  20. Does anyone else have the feeling that Liam is one of the nicest person working on the show? I like his enthusiasm. Also in the making of videos he’s amazing.

  21. I’d imagine Davos is one of the few characters with a very good chance of making it through this alongside Sam and potentially Tyrion.

  22. kevin1989:
    Does anyone else have the feeling that Liam is one of the nicest person working on the show? I like his enthusiasm. Also in the making of videos he’s amazing.

    I do! But he is in good company, as I also think that a lot of GOT cast members are very nice people.

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