From The Archives: How Liam Cunningham became Ser Davos

Interview originally published in December 2015

Forget unicorns, hen’s teeth and Labour politicians who haven't stuck to their election promises, I’ve just discovered that rarest of things; an Irish person who hasn’t seen a single second of Love/Hate.
“David Caffrey is a fantastic director and I know some of the actors in it, but I’ve been too busy with other stuff to watch,” Liam Cunningham tells us.
That ‘stuff’ includes reprising the role of Davos Seaworth in Season 5 of Game Of Thrones, the HBO fantasy-fest which has kept the Dubliner in regular employment since 2011.
“I was approached about the first season, but by the time we got round to talking pretty much everybody had been cast,” he resumes. “They said, ‘It’s not going to work out this time, but we’ve got some really interesting story lines coming up next year.’ I thought, ‘Yeah, more Hollywood bollocks’ but true to their word we had another meeting and there was this gorgeous character, Davos Seaworth. I’d been sent DVDs of the first season, and went, ‘Right, I’m going to spend the week looking at these.’ I remember putting the first one on at ten o’clock at night and going, ‘I have no idea what’s happening here. Who’s he? She’s what?’ I was completely fucking confused. By episode three... well, it’s like heroin, you’re addicted. I watched six back-to-back, grabbed a few hours sleep and then watched the rest. I’ve never in my entire career been so delighted to land a role.”
Was the character 100% sketched out or was Liam able to inject a bit of himself into it?
“I went beyond the character breakdown – which was pretty precise – and thought, ‘Who is this guy, Davos? A smuggler and small-time criminal, yes, but in many ways he’s a decent, principled man of his word. He’s also a very lateral thinker. Who do I know that’s like that?’ I remembered Robert Duvall’s character in The Godfather, Tom Hagen. He’s part of it yet not part of it. He tells the truth, even when that truth is unsavoury. I didn’t base it on him per se, but his attitude and quiet truth-telling correlates with who I imagine Davos to be.”
Did he have actorly buddies on set to welcome him?
“I was absolutely delighted when I heard Stephen Dillane was going to be playing Davos’ boss, Stannis Baratheon,” the 53-year-old enthuses. “He’s not a movie star, he’s an actor and I’m a huge fan. Carice van Houten who plays my nemesis, Melisandre; we were lovers in a Dutch-German co-production, Black Butterflies, which left very little to the imagination. It was really bizarre that we’d had this torrid love affair and four years later were arch-enemies.”
Richard Dormer, who played Beric Dondarrion, told me that you either faint from the heat in the studio or freeze your bollocks off in the quarry near Larne where most of the outdoor Game Of Thrones scenes are filmed.
“Yeah, there’s no in-between,” he laughs. “It’s not the Maldives, it’s full-on. I’ve done the quarry, I’ve been in Castle Black. I’m maybe going back to the quarry, but I don’t want to give too much away!”
How closely guarded are the scripts?
“They’re under lock and key with a big Rottweiler looking after them,” he deadpans. “It’s interesting because the series is up to the end of book five, and book six is only in the process of being written by George Martin. So, it’s only him and the main TV writers, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, who know what’s happening after Season 5. Davos may, as we speak, be coming to a grisly end or could have a new nymphomaniac love-interest – I know which I’d prefer! Actually, I’d like to see my ass on the throne sucking on a Cohiba. It’s the natural conclusion...
“The two boys went down to Albuquerque a couple of months ago and George rolled out the story so that they can start translating it onto the screen. I don’t think they’re allowed on the same plane! It’s funny, people come up and say, ‘Listen, can you tell us what happens?’ and when with a bit of divilment I go, ‘Yeah, okay...’, they’re like, ‘No, don’t!’”
While us mere mortals will have to wait until April 2015 for our first glimpse of Season 5, a certain Pennsylvania Avenue resident will probably be getting the ten new episodes for Christmas.
“Well, you know, everything in the Oval Office stops for Game Of Thrones!” Liam laughs again. “Obama got the last season before anyone else, so I imagine an aide will be on to HBO going, ‘Him, Michelle and the kids need something to watch over the holiday.’”
A contender for Tweet of the Year was the ‘Westeros Wing’ photo of the Pres and five of his cabinet, which appeared on the official White House account in May.
“I think we’re on his top 5 list with M*A*S*H, The Wire, Breaking Bad and Boardwalk Empire, which confirms that his taste in television is impeccable.”
With Game Of Thrones now officially the most-watched premium TV show in the world, Liam must turn a lot of heads when he walks down the street.
“I had to run out of a bar in Sydney this year because of the attention,” he reveals. “Before it was just the UK and Ireland, but now I find myself being chased around Sao Paolo and Warsaw. It’s a bit nuts.”