Game of Thrones. I love that series. And guess what? Even before you pheasants (ehehe! I kid! I kid!) even got a whiff of watching that brilliant HBO Series, I got to talk to the man himself - Mark Addy who plays Robert Baratheon!
This piece came out in newman August 2011.
One of my most favorite interviews to date. Hope you like it.
Once in a while, that little black box (or flat panel these days) called the television blows our socks off with a brilliant and engaging series. In recent years, the channel that has managed to do so on the most regular basis has been the one with three letters to its name, HBO (think Six Feet Under, The Sopranos, Band of Brothers, Boardwalk Empire).
So when the channel decided to pick up George R.R Martin�s medieval fantasy epic Game of Thrones to be made into a series for television, needless to say that the book�s fanbase was more than delighted at the prospect of a much-loved fantasy being brought to life by a production company whose reputation and repertoire in drama speaks for itself.
We got hold of Mark Addy, who plays King of Westeroos King Robert Baratheon in the series (Addy�s most memorable role to date has been playing Dave in The Full Monty), as he talks about what to expect in this highly-anticipated seven-part first season (the second season is already in production as the time of writing).
What special preparations did you have to go through to get into the character of King Robert?
I took quite a few horse riding lessons actually although ultimately there are only two scenes where I appear on horseback. But in order to get into the character of a man who is a horseman and is used to be around them, you got to get into some element of understanding on how it is like. And the thing about Robert is, he�s basically a regular guy; kind of a foot soldier who�s found himself in the position of power for being the leader of a rebellion. He�s really more comfortable when he is with the troops than with the upper echelons of society, which doesn�t sit well with him being king, really.
So it didn�t take much on your side to be him?
Oh no. It�s pretty straightforward really; I got to drink a lot of red wine and allowed myself to slob out! But there was a wealth of information and history that could be used to create the character which was brilliant, because you don�t normally get that much of background information on a character you are playing.
How similar or different is the role of King Baratheon from the book to the one that you play?
He is very, very close to how he appears in the book. In the book you learn about the fact that he was once a fearsome character, this really powerful and strong guy wielding a war hammer. You don�t get to see that in the series as he�s grown fat and drunk and lazy and taken his eye off the ball. He is a terribly complex character. Not comfortable being king and trapped in a loveless marriage that was a political move in order to strengthen his power base. He is leader because he led a rebellion with Ned Stark (Sean Bean) against a tyrant who was power crazed and happily murders his people on a whim and needs to be rid off. And in the power vacuum that remained, he stepped up to nominally claim the crown but it didn�t turn out to be a bed of roses. He has surrounded himself with advisors who each have their own agendas and by people who�d rather sit on the throne than kneel before it.
How similar are you in person to King Robert?
We share the similarity of being married but unlike Robert, I am happily married and have children of my own. And nobody treats me like a king.
Any particular standout scenes fans should look out for?
They wrote a scene that didn�t appear in the book, a scene between Robert and Cersei (the king�s wife). The producers felt they needed to explain that partnership and it�s a really nice scene between me and Lena (Headey) where we talk about how they came to be and how their marriage is holding the seven kingdoms together. It�s a marriage doomed to fail from the beginning and although she had feelings for him at the start, he never loved her and the love of his life was Ned�s sister who was raped and murdered by mad King Aerys Targaryen. And that�s why Robert holds this lifelong grudge against the Targaryens. It�s an interesting scene and its one to look out for.
Did the author George R. R Martin gave any advice on how the characters should be played according to his vision?
He took part in the casting process and had the opportunity at any point to say �Yes� or �No� to the actor (or actress) playing a particular role so you know his vision of what the characters are is supported by the people that were cast. I chatted with him about his inspiration for the series of books and he said he read up a lot on British history; The Wars of the Roses for example, two powerful houses fighting and struggling for power and I suppose there are elements of Henry the VIII in King Robert. So it is not completely removed from historical reality.
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