Mysteries in the making

BETTER KNOWN as the Onion Knight, Ser Davos Seaworth dropped into Bangkok last week a couple of months ahead of the premiere of season 7 “Game of Thrones” to reassure Thai fans that they would not be missing out on the cult series despite HBO no longer showing through the Kingdom’s cable and satellite TV providers. 
Travelling as his alter-ego, Irish actor Liam Cunningham, he put in an appearance at CentralWorld on Friday to introduce HBO’s new bouquet of channels, which is now available through AIS. 
This was Cunningham’s second visit to Thailand – he was here 15 years to shoot the TV movie “Stranded” in Krabi – and the 55-year-old actor was obviously delighted to be back.
A veteran of movies, TV series and the stage, he has appeared in Ken Loach’s “The Wind that Shakes the Barley”, which won Palme d’Or award from the Cannes International Film Festival, Steven Spielberg’s “War Horse”, and the action series “Strike Back.”
Cunningham sat down with the Thai press at the Grand Hyatt Erawan before the launch to talk about his life, his loves and, of course, the series, which premieres on July 17. Excerpts.

WILL YOU HAVE SOME LEISURE TIME ON THIS TRIP TIME TO ENJOY BANGKOK OR IS YOUR VISIT ALL WORK?
I have a weekend off so I’m going to play Mr Tourist. I really want to go to the night market and I will also visit the Grand Palace and floating market. I love street food as well as markets mainly, I guess, because I like to cook. Maybe I’ll try and get to the beach too.
 
CAN YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER IN GAME OF THRONES?
Davos is probably the most enjoyable character I’ve ever played. I’ve done a lot of bad guys but they were not so interesting. This guy has a good heart, he’s loyal, he’s a decent man and he’s incredibly brave. He’s not a man of power but he still does the right thing. I wish I were like him in real life! 
 
SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED IN THE LAST SIX SEASONS. CAN YOU SHARE SOME OF THE MOST INTERESTING EXPERIENCES YOU’VE HAD?
What I love about the show is the quality of the storytelling and the surprises. One of my favourite moments was when Jon Snow came back after everyone speculating about it for so long. I love the relationship with my son Matthos. It’s a real pleasure working with people Stephen Dillane or Kit Harington and I really admire their professionalism. 
 
CAN YOU REVEAL ANYTHING ABOUT THE UPCOMING SEASON? 
It’s certainly a different season for me this year and it’s extraordinary. I’m not going to give you details but I can say that this season is bigger, bolder and more cinematic. If you compare it to a painting, then this season’s canvas is much bigger than the previous seasons and it’s more beautiful. Do watch out for the cinematography this year, the filming is amazing. 
CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT HOW YOU’VE GROWN PROFESSIONALLY AND PERSONALLY SINCE YOU STARTED IN THE SHOW?
I love acting and I always want the opportunity to portray an interesting character in a wonderful story so I feel incredibly lucky and very privileged to have been asked to join this cast. Professionally I’ve managed to keep very quiet for 20 years and just do theatre, independent films and a few mainstream movies. GoT has really put me out there in front of the public and I’m happy with that. I’m not anonymous anymore, which is very strange because I didn’t start acting to become famous or wealthy. I really love acting but I find it strange to say that I’m an actor. 

IF YOU COULD CHANGE THE PAST SEASONS, WHICH HOUSE WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE SERVED, AND WHY? ALSO, GIVEN THE SPEED AT WHICH THE CHARACTERS VANISH OR DIE, WHAT WAY YOU WOULD LIKE TO DIE? 
I’ll answer the second question first – I’d like to die of old age. And to answer your first question, I would like to be associated with the house that doesn’t want to kill me!

HOW DO YOU HANDLE THE INTENSITY OF THE STORYLINE? 
Well if you imagine the feeling when you watch something like the red wedding scenes, then you come pretty close to the feeling we get when we read the script. When the scripts come to me, I’m very quiet, lock the door, get plenty of coffee and read. The cast is so big that when I read other people’s stories, I read them like a fan and I watch the show like I’m a fan. Everybody on this show is a fan of the show, they just love the storylines of the other characters and that’s what’s fantastic about this, everybody gets a little piece of the pie. 
 
WHAT’S THE MOST CHALLENGING OR STRENUOUS PART OF THE SHOW? 
If you’re talking about physicality, then you need to talk to Kit Harrington [who plays Jon Snow]. I work a lot at home or in hotel rooms, reading and learning the script so it’s harder mentally than physically. On set it’s an amazingly concentrated work, with everybody working together like a fantastic machine. The cast and crew are so proud to be part this project whether they are actors or handling the publicity, props and costume, so it’s a constant reminder of why you wanted to do this job in the first place.
 
IN WHICH WAY DO YOU RELATE TO YOUR CHARACTER? IS THERE ANYTHING SER DAVOS DOES WITHOUT HESITATION THAT YOU WOULD NOT DO IN REAL LIFE?
I probably wouldn’t risk my life like Ser Davos does for his old boss Stannis Baratheon. He’s incredibly brave because doing the right thing it’s more important to him than anything. He’s not waking up in the morning and saying I’m going to be brave: it’s just in his bones, to be decent and loyal. I personally admire Davos and I think we should all try to be brave like him. He doesn’t like injustice. I don’t like injustice either but he’s much braver than I am.
 
CAN YOU SAY ANYTHING TO THAI FANS?
What I love about this show is that it has global appeal. It’s a story that’s being told for the world because “Game of Thrones” reflects the world. Journalist Clive James has written about GOT and compared it to the old show “The Wire”, saying that it had a bit of society and a bit of civilisation in it and I found this an interesting observation.
So to Thai fans all I can say is |I think it’s a story that that the |world is involved in and that |nothing can make it show bigger. I think everywhere we go, people keep asking about what’s going to happen. We all have this same level of excitement and expectation and to me that means we’re doing our job properly.