In a new interview with the Express, Paul Kaye discusses landing his part in Game of Thrones, the upcoming season seven and his latest comedy role.
The actor admitted that just hours before he was due on set as Thoros of Myr, he found himself Googling how to act in a state of desperate panic. Comparing the shoot to his first day at school, Paul claimed he still had to pinch himself that he had actually landed a role in the show, even after six auditions.
When I first got the gig, I was pretty terrified and couldn’t sleep. I got to Belfast and I was being picked up at 4.30am for filming, and at 2am I was on Google typing in, ‘how to act.’ I suddenly thought, ‘what am I doing here? How the hell have I got here and how am I going to cope with it?’ I do have those moments of massive insecurity.
He remained typically vague when asked about a return for Thoros in Season Seven:
I don’t have a clue what is going on, I don’t really know if I am in it or not. I don’t know whether I’d get told off if I say anything about it. If I was in it, I would have started filming. I don’t want to be the one to let any cats out of any bags, sorry.
Vague as Kaye remains, Watchers on the Wall has heard rumors as to whether or not we might see him in the new season.
Meanwhile, Paul can be seen alongside The Inbetweeners’ James Buckley in The Comedian’s Guide To Survival, playing a magazine editor in the comedy about a struggling stand-up comic.
My character is just a bit of a bully, he’s tired of what he’s doing I think. He’s probably smack bang in the middle of a midlife crisis, that’s why I can relate to him
You can read the interview in its entirety here.
Hodor?
Beric and Thoros deserve more screentime 🙂
Absolutely agree! And meshing their scenes with Sandor Clegane’s is pure genius.
“I don’t want to be the one to let any cats out of any bags, sorry”
Haha! He’s sooo in S7!
It’s only to be expected, the Brotherhood without Banners (Thoros, Beric etc.) met up with Sandor, and the talk was about going north to fight in the real war.
Nice try, Paul!
I want to see Thoros at the Wall, catching up with Edd, and then Bran and Meera.
I thought this site had
Alba Stark,
Double Agreed. Can’t wait to see more of that trio.
Hope we see the return of the flaming sword too.
I love Paul Kaye’s Thoros. He plays him like a washed out hippie with nothing to lose. It’s great. I hope he comes back with the rest of the Brotherhood and the Hound. I’m hoping they run into Arya, or some masked version of her whilst heading for the North. Talk about awkward…
Two more points.
Firstly, Thoros the red priest has seen something in the fires to convince Beric to take the still true and good part of the BwoB north to fight the real war.
Secondly, I’m just squeeing about BwoB, Thoros and Beric hooking up with Sandor and then potentially meeting other characters in the Riverlands. There’s Mel, on her way south, there’s Brienne and Pod, on their way north… And there’s Arya, lately at the Twins! Squeee!
Come on…there’s anyone who thought that he won’t return?
Sorry to be a pedant (my internal Stannis coming out…), but Thoros has never met Edd, Bran or Meera. So he can’t “catch up” with them. He might get to meet them for the first time, though.
Or maybe English not being my native language led me to misunderstand your meaning, and I humbly apologise.
Whatever acting tips Kaye picked up from that Google search, they worked. 😉 He’s been great as Thoros, bringing a persistent spark of wit and an immense amount of charm to the role (not to mention, he’s great at playing drunk, as one would have to be).
I think that Kaye is particularly excellent in “The Climb”, when he delivers the long monologue about being a terrible priest, his crisis of faith, and the hopeless moment in which he was able to resurrect Beric Dondarrion. “I knelt beside his cold body and said the old words. Not because I believed them, but … he was my friend, and he was dead. And they were the only words I knew. And for the first time in my life, the Lord replied.”
I loved that scene at the time, in large part due to Kaye’s performance. After Season 6, I love it even more because I feel like the writers drew upon the thematic significance of that moment when Melisandre whispered “please” as she was attempting to resurrect Jon Snow. Right there, like Thoros, she was at her absolute lowest moment of faith. And that’s when the Lord of Light finally answered her pleas.
Anyway, Thoros’s appearance alongside Beric in Season 6 was a delight, and I’m glad that he’s returning for Season 7 … even if he won’t admit it because he fears the HBO snipers. 😉
talvikorppi,
No need to apologize at all! 🙂 I like the English language, but I am not a stickler for its grammar; one of the many reasons I disliked Stannis. 😉 (All so proper about a language, but rather careless when it came to people’s lives!) And yes, I meant that I would like to see a first meeting between Thoros, Beric, and the Watchers, Bran, Meera.
Jared,
Exactly!
You put it so eloquently, Jared, but I think you’re getting at something at the core of the Lord of Light religion.
I’m very interested at how it all pans out in the context of the bigger picture. D&D didn’t bring back Thoros and Beric (and make them meet up with Sandor) for just shits and giggles. We’re getting so near the end that everything counts, everything is important.
Oooo, the hairs along the nape of my neck are standing up, that’s how exciting this is! 😀
I wonder, if Thoros and Beric are meeting Jon? They could have an interesting conversation about their death and resurrection experiences.
Sophie and Maisie are both in Belfast today. I don’t think either has been seen anywhere in the last week or so, so they might have been there for a bit already:
https://twitter.com/manlikenoosa/status/791665442377043968
I love the BwB so much and I was so happy when they returned last season. It was one of the highlights of season 6 for me.
Jared,
Very well said! I totally agree with you here. I can’t wait for Thoros and Mel meeting up again.
Can you imagine them comparing notes.
Mel: I resurrected a person as well.
Thoros: I ressurrected a person seven times.
Mel: My person is eight times more important, so there!
talvikorppi,
LOL! Mel would totally say that! 😛
Having taken them off her “kill list” at the HoBaW, I wonder how Arya would react to seeing Beric & Thoros again?
I want to see Thoros lead the van into battle against the white walkers with his flaming sword! I can see him shredding through the wights.
So glad “we think” he’s returning. One of the best things about the show’s adaptation is bringing back characters that GRRM obviously deemed important enough to flush out. STOKED.
Sean C.,
Maisie was tweeting loads about the ‘Great British Bake Off’ while it was on a few nights ago – it makes me smile to know she likes this so much ( I don’t watch it), how un”-Arya like” this seems, and might have been watching it with Sophie 😀