Posted in: Movies, NYCC, TV | Tagged: Conversation, Finn Jones, fire and ice, game of thrones, keisha castle-hughes, natalie dormer, NYCC '15

NYCC '15: Fire And Ice: A Conversation About Game Of Thrones With Natalie Dormer, Finn Jones And Keisha Castle-Hughes

Written by Amanda Gurall

NYCC hosted a Game of Thrones panel  and although I thought most of the moderator's questions tended to be on the silly side we were able to experience some nice moments and learn a little about how the actors see the show.

They talked a bit about the energy on set, that many of the actors are book readers and they spend a fair amount of time discussing what might be next for both the show and the books. All three actors are impressed by George R.R. Martin's intellect and his understanding of world history and mythology which is evident in his creation of the Game of Thrones characters and events.

When the moderator asked if there was a character on the show the actors would like to work with Finn Jones immediately said "Jon Snow! (Pause) But he's dead." Then he gave the crowd a huge smile

Jones was then asked if we should be worried about Loras to which he replied, "Definitely. He is in the hands of some nasty people we should definitely be worried."

Jones speculated that perhaps the series will end in an epic battle between fire and ice with the throne being melted down into Valyrian swords.  There would be a great loss of characters but out from the ashes will come the tree people, establishing a world of peace and order with characters like Tyrion, Brienne and Bran leading this new world.

Keisha Castle-Hughes actually found out she was given the role of Obara the same day she watched the death of Oberyn, making the experience emotionally intense for her.  She was asked who in the cast she would like to work with and she felt Arya and Obara would be a good pairing of kick ass women and that working with Maisie Williams would be the best experience.  A fan asked the panel which house they would fly their banners for and Castle-Hughes immediately replied "Stark" and told the group that before being cast her twitter handle was "KeishaStark" and that HBO made her change it so got didn't lead to confusion or speculation; she basically had to admit what a fan girl she was for the show.  She also discussed her love of her armor and the extensive training she goes through in martial arts.  Her combat trainer cracked a bullwhip repeatedly over hours of physical training so that Castle-Hughes would not be startled every time she heard it in the scene.  Sometimes the production flows to smoothly on screen fans tend to forget just who dedicated the people making it are and how much work they put into it.

Game of Thrones is no stranger to controversy so things like the red wedding and the role women play came up a few times in the fan questions. Each of the actors feel the show is not mysogonistic and is full of strong female characters. Natalie Dormer talked quite a bit about Margaery's aspirations and motivations. She feels that Margaery is not interested in sitting on the throne but rather in being the power behind the position.  She wants to have children with a king and control him much the way Cersei does. She sees definite parallels between the two women and thinks their machinations may guarantee mutually assured destruction and that possibly "The enemy of my enemy is my friend"?  The moderator asked if Margaery could do Cersei's walk and Dormer immediately became coy saying ,"We are in dangerous territory if we talk about that!"

A fan asked what she enjoyed more: wearing beautiful make up and costume or filth make up and prison rags? Dormer said that female actresses are expected to be beautiful regardless of the situation and she prefers to be freed from that expectation and just be the character without the pressure.   Obviously people can still expect Margaery to look lovely in prison but as an actor the pressure is less. She feels that in the last few years there has been a huge jump in quality roles for women and that cinema is starting to catch up to television where shows like Game of Thrones offer many strong roles and better characterizations for actresses to work with.

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