Frontlines: Game of Thrones

The Irish stars of Game Of Thrones came out last week as the red carpet rolled up outside the Lighthouse Cinema in Smithfield, Dublin.

Liam Cunningham (Ser Davos Seaworth), Ian McElhinney (Barristan Selmy), Kristian Nairn (Hordor) and Michael McElhatton (Roose Bolton) attended an exclusive screening of the opening episode of the fourth series, which hits Sky Atlantic on April 7.

“It’s great to be bringing it all back home,” Liam Cunningham enthused to Hot Press. “It ‘s a truly great series coming out during a golden era for television. It’s brilliantly written, adored all over the world. Someone told me yesterday it has overtaken The Sopranos as HBO’s most successful series of all time. Whatever way you look at it, that’s absolutely staggering. It’s mind-boggling to be part of all this.”

Well-known from a plethora of roles, including The Wind That Shakes The Barley, Hunger and The Guard, Cunningham sees Thrones as a classic example of the cream rising to the top.

“Game Of Thrones works and has such wide appeal because it’s adult and not patronising,” he offers. “It’s about power and legacy and family. It will actually put you off ever having power of any description (laughs).

“It interrogates the perpetual pursuit of power. The best kind of art always holds a looking glass or mirror up to society. I totally understand why Obama requested advance copies of the show.”

President Obama is just one of countless millions of fans. While it’s impossible to put an exact figure on its viewership, conservative estimates are in the region of 14 million per episode. But consider the telling fact that last season’s finale has the distinction of being the most bootlegged programme of all time, with at least 5.9m downloads.

Game Of Thrones is shot in Iceland, Croatia and Morocco. However, 80% of its content is filmed just up the M1 in Norn Iron.

“It’s truly incredible. The city has become a film capital now,” enthuses Belfast boy Ian McElhinney. “There’s an awful lot of film and television being shot at the moment. A few years back, BBC Northern Ireland became a centre of excellence for drama. Film and TV has blossomed exponentially ever since. More TV and film is made in Northern Ireland than any other part of these islands, which is absolutely amazing. No one would have thought that 20 or 30 years ago, when the eyes of the world were on us for very different reasons.”

“To work on a show of this scale is unbelievable. To be doing it just up the road is even more unbelievable,” Paths To Freedom creator and star Michael McElhatton adds. “Whoever thought we’d be doing this two hours drive from where we live? It has put Ireland on the map. They’ve built a new studio and there’s so much new work for everyone. Everybody benefits.”

Kristian Nairn also hails from Belfast. “I’ve noticed it’s really helped the restaurant and pub scene,” he says. “And that’s just the start of it. Personally speaking, not a week goes by without something bizarre happening, such as Kelly Clarkson inviting me to her concert because she’s a fan of the show.”

The success of the series has also greatly helped Nairn’s deejaying career. The house enthusiast started behind the decks in The Kremlin in Belfast. Now he spins all over the world.

“Weddings, bar mitzahs, funerals – you name it,” he laughs.

While the Irish cast waxed lyrical about the show’s numerous benefits to this island, they remained extremely tightly-lipped as to the storyline of Season Four.

During a Question and Answer session after the screening hosted by the Irish Independent’s Vicki Notaro, Cunningham revealed he’d met author George R.R. Martin in Los Angeles. Martin confided a secret about what happens to his character in the show. But no more than that would he divulge.

“The screw turns a bit more in this series,” Cunningham teased. “There will be a number of surprise events. I won’t say anymore. I can’t say anymore.”

Liam Cunningham also told the audience that Game Of Thrones was actually devised in Dublin. Creators and executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss met while studying in Trinity College. Benioff specialised in Beckett, while Weiss majored in Joyce.

“We were two American Jews in Dublin,” Weiss told Vanity Fair. “With no Irish roots of any kind, obsessed with Irish literature, and trying to find a functional gym in Dublin in 1995. I was killing myself trying to write this paper on Beckett, and then realising that perhaps three people on the planet would read it. I decided that maybe academia wasn’t going to work for me.”

Trinity’s scholarly loss has been the world’s gain, with Game Of Thrones set to create new home-box office records over the next 10 weeks.

“I don’t think any of us would’ve expected to be in something on this scale, or to have this sort of impact, at any stage in our careers. We’re certainly not complaining.” Cunningham reflects.

One fan asked the cast if they were ever tempted to steal a sword from the set. Cunningham revealed the weapons are so “real” and heavy it would be impossible to sneak off with one. Nairn, meanwhile, had a hilarious confession.

“I have to own up and admit I did nick something from the set,” he said sheepishly. “In Season Two, I fed Rickon some nuts, so I took my nut sack thing.” Cue lots of LOLs from the crowd.

“No, seriously, not a manbag – a ’nut sack’,” Nairn chuckled. “It was filled with walnuts. So I took Ricon’s walnuts and I posted them to fans. I still have some mouldy ones somewhere. So there you go. Sorry HBO!”

The new series of Game of Thrones starts on April 7 on Sky Atlantic.