Tropicana
Council Member
This April 17th on HBO (U.S) and April 18th on Sky Atlantic (U.K), comes a medieval fantasy called, "Game of Thrones" based on George R. R. Martin's series - "A Song of Ice and Fire"; that chronicles the violent struggles among the many noble families for the control of the Iron Throne of Westeros.
Main cast:
Filmed primarily in Belfast (N. Ireland) and Malta. Additional filming places includes:
It's kinda cool to know that Jason Momoa was here filming, hopefully he will be back. Assuming the Northern Irish weather haven't driven him away for good, as 90% of the time, it's overcast here.
Here's an interview covered by DigitalSpy with Jason Momoa.
Link: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/s1...314388/jason-momoa-chats-game-of-thrones.html
Alfie Allen, Emilia Clarke and Nikolaj Coster Waldau have had their say, and now it's time for Jason Momoa to tell you about brand new show Game Of Thrones! Jason stars in the drama as Khal Drogo, the fearsome leader of the Dothraki tribe. We caught up with him along with a couple of other reporters to find out more about the show, speaking in the Dothraki language, and his hatred of horses...
What was it like seeing the show? Was it different from the feeling you got when filming it?
"No. The way we filmed it, I knew it was going to be like that. I showed up to the set for a lot of [the] King's Landing and the Wall [scenes] just because the sets are amazing. And the costumes. It's completely different from my [character's] world. The sets are beautiful. I just love it. That's one of the great things about being an actor - you get to go to these worlds that obviously don't exist and see these characters and knights and jousting and all kinds of great stuff. It's fun."
What was it like working on set?
"I'd never been on anything like that. There's only two Americans. I'd never been to Ireland before, or Malta. To me it's quite a shocker just to be here working with a cast who are all English. [They're] amazing actors. So it's phenomenal."
The show's really highly anticipated - do you feel under pressure?
"I love it so I don't... The books are amazing. The script and the way [the writers] David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss] translated it from the book, it's like a gigantic movie. The budget's huge. I think it's going to be great. In America they're going to love it. Once you get past the first two episodes - because obviously there are like 50 characters you've got to set up, they've got to last for like seven books eventually - it really speeds up and the action gets pretty intense and the stuff that happens. The way [author George R R] Martin sets up the characters... Obviously my character's just this stoic intimidating king, and you see his warm underbelly. Once you let that open up you're going to see he does become frail. He starts really strong. And you see Daenerys [Emilia Clarke] starts very frail and becomes very strong. It's set up in a way where your bad guys are good and your good guys are bad. So it's very rich with the characters."
Did it make it harder for you to set up the character when he doesn't speak English, only Dothraki?
"It did. It was very scary, because when I auditioned for it I did it in a broken English. And I get there for the table read - 50 people there - and the writers are like, 'Hey, we got this great Berkeley linguist who invented this language... We just think it's better if the whole race won't know how to speak English, it's just this little white girl who learns to speak Dothraki'. I'm like, 'Right. Wait. So the whole monologue and the speeches I have - these war speeches and this great stuff - it's going to be in this language that's made up, is that right?' And they're like, 'Yeah, just wait until you get it, it's amazing. It's like German and Arabic'. I barely speak Spanish! I get it and I'm just like, 'F**k! This is an honour but how am I going to do this?' I locked myself in with some Guinness and some pizza and went to work. It's the greatest thing I've ever done to date. I don't think I'll ever have a role quite like this ever again. Some of the stuff I get to say in general is stuff that's never been on TV. Some of the things I get to do have really never been on TV. And then to put it in a made up, foreign language that you have to stay true to to honour the fans... So you just memorise it and then once you get it in it's just knowing what you're saying. You've also got to memorise everyone else's lines as well - you can't sit there like a deer in headlights or fake it. You have to understand what they're saying so you can react. You really have to submerge yourself in the role."
You mentioned the fans - there are some serious fans of the books, aren't there?
"Absolutely, and you want to honour that. That's why I think it's great that David and Dan really stayed true to the books. There's no way that they're going to be let down in any way. It's just catching all the fans that don't know the books, because it's a great story. Just stick with it - they'll be hooked."
With ten hours to tell the story and a big production budget, do you think the show's like a movie?
"Absolutely it is. I watched the opening with the snow and the beginning with the Wall and I was like, 'Wow, holy s**t'. It looks amazing. It looks like Gladiator or something. It's absolutely beautiful."
The costumes are great too.
"[The costume designer is] Michele Clapton. She is going to win award after award, she's amazing. I befriended her - she's a true artist. I was blown away by it. No-one was allowed to have their stuff and I was like, 'There's no way. I've worked too hard. I'm taking these pants with me. My wife loves these pants, trust me, I need to take these home'. I think I'm the only one who got my stuff!"
Did you feel connected to the mysticism in the role because of your Hawaiian upbringing?
"I think it's what helped me book this. I went in for the role and obviously he speaks this foreign language and this audition was me doing this broken English. I went in there with an idea that you don't get to see him command his officers and go to war and see this intense side in any of these scenes. So I went in and did the haka, which is a Hawaiian or Fijian war dance, a war chant. I went in there at HBO, I did the haka and they f**king s**t themselves! That's how I got it. You watch me doing the haka in front of you, I'm going to rip your head off... You see that and you're like, 'S**t!' That's why I did it, because they're not going to see that. And it's a foreign language, but you can see that intensity. I got people sticking their heads out of offices saying, 'Are you alright? What's going on?' That's probably what solidified my job."
You have to ride horses in the show...
"Ah, I f**king hate them! It's funny because they were like, 'Do you like horses?' I was like, 'Yeah, I love them', but I can't stand the b**tards. [When I was filming upcoming movie] Conan, I almost died twice on my horse. When we do Conan 2 I'm going to eat that horse. I f**king hate that horse. It's funny, because in Bulgaria [where we filmed Conan] they're like, 'Yeah, go ride, rear it up, do this, do that'. On HBO, they're like, 'No'. The horses that were on Game Of Thrones were amazing. I actually started to fall in love with my horse. But then I had to go back for reshoots on Conan and it made me hate horses all over again! But then, if I was a horse I wouldn't want 220lbs on my back either, so I don't blame them."
Game Of Thrones begins on Sunday at 9pm on HBO in the US and on Monday at 9pm on Sky Atlantic in the UK.
Main cast:
- Sean Bean as Eddard "Ned" Stark
- Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister
- Mark Addy as King Robert Baratheon
- Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Ser Jaime Lannister
- Michelle Fairley as Catelyn Stark
- Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister
- Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen
- Iain Glen as Ser Jorah Mormont
- Aidan Gillen as Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish
- Harry Lloyd as Viserys Targaryen
- Kit Harington as Jon Snow
- Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark
- Maisie Williams as Arya Stark
- Isaac Hempstead-Wright as Bran Stark
- Richard Madden as Robb Stark
- Jack Gleeson as Joffrey Baratheon
Filmed primarily in Belfast (N. Ireland) and Malta. Additional filming places includes:
- Carncastle and Magheramore (near a town called Larne at the east coast).
- Tollymore Forest Park
- Shane's Castle (near a town called Randalstown, one of many in the middle of nowhere, lol)
- Castle Ward (every Northern Irish school kid has came here as part of a school trip, it's located at a place called Strangford at the Ards Peninsula).
It's kinda cool to know that Jason Momoa was here filming, hopefully he will be back. Assuming the Northern Irish weather haven't driven him away for good, as 90% of the time, it's overcast here.
Here's an interview covered by DigitalSpy with Jason Momoa.
Link: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/s1...314388/jason-momoa-chats-game-of-thrones.html
Alfie Allen, Emilia Clarke and Nikolaj Coster Waldau have had their say, and now it's time for Jason Momoa to tell you about brand new show Game Of Thrones! Jason stars in the drama as Khal Drogo, the fearsome leader of the Dothraki tribe. We caught up with him along with a couple of other reporters to find out more about the show, speaking in the Dothraki language, and his hatred of horses...What was it like seeing the show? Was it different from the feeling you got when filming it?
"No. The way we filmed it, I knew it was going to be like that. I showed up to the set for a lot of [the] King's Landing and the Wall [scenes] just because the sets are amazing. And the costumes. It's completely different from my [character's] world. The sets are beautiful. I just love it. That's one of the great things about being an actor - you get to go to these worlds that obviously don't exist and see these characters and knights and jousting and all kinds of great stuff. It's fun."
What was it like working on set?
"I'd never been on anything like that. There's only two Americans. I'd never been to Ireland before, or Malta. To me it's quite a shocker just to be here working with a cast who are all English. [They're] amazing actors. So it's phenomenal."
The show's really highly anticipated - do you feel under pressure?
"I love it so I don't... The books are amazing. The script and the way [the writers] David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss] translated it from the book, it's like a gigantic movie. The budget's huge. I think it's going to be great. In America they're going to love it. Once you get past the first two episodes - because obviously there are like 50 characters you've got to set up, they've got to last for like seven books eventually - it really speeds up and the action gets pretty intense and the stuff that happens. The way [author George R R] Martin sets up the characters... Obviously my character's just this stoic intimidating king, and you see his warm underbelly. Once you let that open up you're going to see he does become frail. He starts really strong. And you see Daenerys [Emilia Clarke] starts very frail and becomes very strong. It's set up in a way where your bad guys are good and your good guys are bad. So it's very rich with the characters."
Did it make it harder for you to set up the character when he doesn't speak English, only Dothraki?
"It did. It was very scary, because when I auditioned for it I did it in a broken English. And I get there for the table read - 50 people there - and the writers are like, 'Hey, we got this great Berkeley linguist who invented this language... We just think it's better if the whole race won't know how to speak English, it's just this little white girl who learns to speak Dothraki'. I'm like, 'Right. Wait. So the whole monologue and the speeches I have - these war speeches and this great stuff - it's going to be in this language that's made up, is that right?' And they're like, 'Yeah, just wait until you get it, it's amazing. It's like German and Arabic'. I barely speak Spanish! I get it and I'm just like, 'F**k! This is an honour but how am I going to do this?' I locked myself in with some Guinness and some pizza and went to work. It's the greatest thing I've ever done to date. I don't think I'll ever have a role quite like this ever again. Some of the stuff I get to say in general is stuff that's never been on TV. Some of the things I get to do have really never been on TV. And then to put it in a made up, foreign language that you have to stay true to to honour the fans... So you just memorise it and then once you get it in it's just knowing what you're saying. You've also got to memorise everyone else's lines as well - you can't sit there like a deer in headlights or fake it. You have to understand what they're saying so you can react. You really have to submerge yourself in the role."
You mentioned the fans - there are some serious fans of the books, aren't there?
"Absolutely, and you want to honour that. That's why I think it's great that David and Dan really stayed true to the books. There's no way that they're going to be let down in any way. It's just catching all the fans that don't know the books, because it's a great story. Just stick with it - they'll be hooked."
With ten hours to tell the story and a big production budget, do you think the show's like a movie?
"Absolutely it is. I watched the opening with the snow and the beginning with the Wall and I was like, 'Wow, holy s**t'. It looks amazing. It looks like Gladiator or something. It's absolutely beautiful."
The costumes are great too.
"[The costume designer is] Michele Clapton. She is going to win award after award, she's amazing. I befriended her - she's a true artist. I was blown away by it. No-one was allowed to have their stuff and I was like, 'There's no way. I've worked too hard. I'm taking these pants with me. My wife loves these pants, trust me, I need to take these home'. I think I'm the only one who got my stuff!"
Did you feel connected to the mysticism in the role because of your Hawaiian upbringing?
"I think it's what helped me book this. I went in for the role and obviously he speaks this foreign language and this audition was me doing this broken English. I went in there with an idea that you don't get to see him command his officers and go to war and see this intense side in any of these scenes. So I went in and did the haka, which is a Hawaiian or Fijian war dance, a war chant. I went in there at HBO, I did the haka and they f**king s**t themselves! That's how I got it. You watch me doing the haka in front of you, I'm going to rip your head off... You see that and you're like, 'S**t!' That's why I did it, because they're not going to see that. And it's a foreign language, but you can see that intensity. I got people sticking their heads out of offices saying, 'Are you alright? What's going on?' That's probably what solidified my job."
You have to ride horses in the show...
"Ah, I f**king hate them! It's funny because they were like, 'Do you like horses?' I was like, 'Yeah, I love them', but I can't stand the b**tards. [When I was filming upcoming movie] Conan, I almost died twice on my horse. When we do Conan 2 I'm going to eat that horse. I f**king hate that horse. It's funny, because in Bulgaria [where we filmed Conan] they're like, 'Yeah, go ride, rear it up, do this, do that'. On HBO, they're like, 'No'. The horses that were on Game Of Thrones were amazing. I actually started to fall in love with my horse. But then I had to go back for reshoots on Conan and it made me hate horses all over again! But then, if I was a horse I wouldn't want 220lbs on my back either, so I don't blame them."
Game Of Thrones begins on Sunday at 9pm on HBO in the US and on Monday at 9pm on Sky Atlantic in the UK.
not even sure I will buy the final book. so I may watch it
