Editor’s Note: This show airs on HBO and contains copious amounts of nudity, mature content, and adult language. This article may contain the same. Well, maybe not the visual nudity.
The Marriot Atrium Ballroom was packed to the brim on Friday at 11:30AM as eager fans waited to hear from Julian Glover (Grand Maester Pycelle), Finn Jones (Ser Loras Tyrell), and Kristian Nairn (Hodor). “Game of Thrones: From Highgarden to Winterfell” was not a panel to be missed. Fans of the books and TV show alike asked questions of these amazing actors.
A Game of Thrones audition is not your typical reading and can even include a random child. Nairn was asked how he auditioned for a role where he only says one word. The audition consisted of Nairn reacting facially and physically while saying only “Hodor,” and carrying a random child on his back. As far as how he heard of his casting, Nairn found out after fans on Twitter leaked the news.
Jones auditioned for several roles, including Robb Stark and Jon Snow, before being cast as Loras Tyrell. Glover, however, jokingly informed the audience he turned down the role of Cersei Lannister. To which the moderator asked Jones if he knew Cersei. Jones immediately blurted, “I know that bitch!”
The costumes, or lack thereof, can make a scene and help the actor dive into the character. To our surprise, Glover’s costumes are quite uncomfortable. “I have to wear a beard. The bloody long dress, and a bloody heavy chain,” Glover lamented. The Maester’s chain is supported by a “wrestler’s corset” with loops. He is envious of Conleth Hill’s costume, which consists merely of shaving his head and slipping on a robe.
Nairn’s outfit should come with a nose plug. He very seriously stated that, “I’ve worn the same outfit for five years. Sweated in the same outfit for five years. It hasn’t been washed in five years.” The farther north Hodor has traveled, the more heavily adorned his costume has become. They added actual dead rabbit pelts with “arses,” paws, and all.
Jones had a much different take on costuming. He loves his comfortable armor, is honored to wear it, and it helps him to get into character both physically and mentally. However, as Jones states, “Half the time I’m not in any clothes anymore.”
“You just show up, and you have no costume. Just a ‘cock pouch’ lying in your trailer,” Jones said about nudity in the show and the hardest scene he’s had to film. As for the weirdest, it was probably shaving a guy’s chest on camera and then giving him a blow job, which was also one of the first scenes he filmed. During the scene, Jones kneeled and stared at the ball of gaffer tape that was “just stuck there,” to Gethin Anthony’s happy place.
Nairn also had a hard nudity scene that included a prosthetic penis, glue in a bush, 200 people, a small child, and the worst day of his life. A month later, he was still removing the glue from his man garden.
Glover’s big nudity scene with an orally-pleasuring whore was nixed by his wife. In the end, we see Maester Pycelle in bed post-sex and quite content.
When discussing their experiences thus far as Dragon Con first-timers, Jones commented on the amazing atmosphere Dragon Con has, along with the many men walking around in their [under]pants.
