So, we have a new interview with a cast member, this time Liam Cunningham who plays Davos. Unfortunately, one part of the written interview stood out in a very bad way… The producers now say that they prefer it if the actors do not read the books? Lovely. I guess it was too good to be true having so many of the actors reading and enjoying the books before and during the first season of Game of Thrones.
If an actor personally feels that reading the books isn’t compatible with how he or she prefers to work, well, that’s one thing. Its their work and I am not going to question how they approach it in the sense that this is just one of many parts in their career. However, I vastly prefer it when an actor says “oh yes, I read the books and I really like them” because I do think it can improve the performance if an actor is a fellow fan who has had a chance to fall in love with the same aspects of the books that fans have fallen in love with. I also feel that if an actor comments on differences from the books it puts those differences in a better light if the actor has read the books and can speak of the how’s and why’s of the changes from a position of knowing what the original story was.
In fact, I believe there were some instances of actors who had read the books pointing out bits and pieces during the first season and I am also reminded of how apparently Christopher Lee did the same during the filming of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Having actors that have read the books adds more people who may have insight on a scene or may be able to point out little slip-ups and unintentional changes. Perhaps they won’t be able to argue against most intentional changes, but I’ll take any little crumbs we can get in terms of getting more of the actual story into the show.
If this truly is what the producers recommend to the actors I am afraid my respect for them and my trust in them has taken a serious plunge. I had really hoped that success for the show wouldn’t mean that it no longer matters to them to stay true to what those who love the books want to see, but its looking pretty bad.