Is there anything more exciting than the upcoming 5th season of Game of Thrones. Few times have we been lucky enough to get television this good. What makes it so good are the characters. Love them or loathe them we have an amazing group of characters with an amazing cast of people working to bring them to life. At Oz ComicCon this weekend we sat down with Daniel Portman, who plays Podrick Payne and Finn Jones, who plays Loras ‘Knight of Flowers’ Tyrell. And they were brilliant!
Listen to the recording, read the transcript and scroll down for more photos!
Pay no attention to the sign.
https://houseofgeekery.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/finn-jones-daniel-portman-hog-2015.mp3
G-Funk: Ok, the sound levels looks good…
Finn Jones: MAHMAHMAHMAHMAHMAH
Daniel Portman: RAAAAAAAAAAAAAR
GF: If you couldn’t tell we’re with to Finn Jones and Daniel Portman here at Oz ComicCon Perth, 2015. Hello!
FJ: Hello!
DP: Heeeello!
GF: I’ve got a question I always wondered with the Game of Thrones people: do you feel a sense of disconnection with a lot of the cast? Because you’re filming all over the place with different scenes.
FJ: Not at all.
DP: If anything, we feel more connected than ever!
GF: They’re cuddling…
Not kidding.
FJ: It’s funny, the show’s so big but it’s one of the tightest casts in existence. We all love each other very dearly, we’re all very good friends.
GF: Do you see much of each other while production is happening?
DP: A fair amount, usually. In Belfast there’s usually two units going on. Two different studios going. So we’ll see other people, which is great. At the end of the day we’ll have a pint, act cocky, catch up with each other. Spend a lot of time in the bar.
FJ: People come and go. Yeah, it’s nice.
GF: (To Daniel) You mentioned acting cocky…what did you do to those two women?
DP: (Laughs) Three women!
FJ: A magician never reveals his secrets.
DP: There’s a line in the scene that explains it best of all: lots of things.
FJ: Lots of things.
DP: I did lots of things.
“Lots of things.”
GF: Wonderfully vague. Now Finn, the description of your character in the book is of the ‘fairest knight in the land’.
FJ: Yes.
GF: What goes through your mind when you’re told that you’re to be the ‘fairest knight in the land’?
FJ: Oh, my ego got bumped up to 100, I take it all as literal. (Laughs). I don’t know…it’s nice. You don’t play that, I just play what’s on the script and allow my…I don’t know!
GF: We see the characters on the screen and (to Finn) you’re very arrogant…
FJ: Yes.
GF…and you’re (to Daniel) very meek.
DP: Yes.
GF: But that’s not what I’m getting here in person.
DP: No. He’s very meek and I’m very arrogant.
GF: The arrogant Pod we’ll call you.
DP: No, I’m…don’t call me arrogant. That’s mean.
FJ: Overly confident.
DP: Cocky.
GF: Humble.
DP: Modest.
GF: Let’s talk about the costumes. Especially Finn, you have to wear that suit of armor. Is it as heavy as it looks?
FJ: No.
GF: No, “not to me”. What’s it made of?
FJ: Underneath there’s a chain mail, which is probably the heaviest part. But it’s made out of this material which is a cross between plastic and metal. It’s not that heavy, but sometimes it feels it.
GF: (To Daniel) How about your outfit? you’ve got the leather.
DP: Mine’s really uncomfortable. It’s actually very, very heavy because all the studs on it are lead.
GF: Really?
DP: I don’t know if they’re actually lead or not but that’s what it feels like.
GF: They feel like lead.
DP: They are heavy.
GF: At least you’re filming somewhere cold, you’re not filming here (in Australia).
DP: Well, we film in Croatia.
FJ: No, no, no, no…there was this one time we were filming the Red Wedding scene and it was so hot. I turned around to say ‘hello’ to Daniel and he literally had his armor off and was sweating buckets. It was so hot and he had to wear leather upon sheepskin in like, six layers.
DP: I nearly passed out in a couple of scenes.
FJ: Yeah.
GF: You’re kidding?!
DP: No, not kidding. We’re dead serious.
Serious people.
GF: You’ve got a lot of desert scenes and battle scenes, do you have people pass out under the weight of it all?
FJ: I nearly passed out. I had this scene in Croatia this year and I was in full armor and I had to do a lot of tussling and all that stuff. It was intense. It’s so hot.
GF: Do you do much fight training to get ready for all this stuff?
DP: I do a lot of horse work, a lot of horse training. That’s the extent of my experience.
GF: Was that a new experience for you?
DP: I did a bit of horse riding before I started the show so I’m really good with a horse. It’s nice to do a wee bit more. The horse team and the stunt team are the best in the business. When you’re working with guys as good as they’re going to make you become better than you are. I’ve become much better than when I started the show.
GF: Do you do a lot of the stuff yourselves, the jousting and the riding?
FJ: All stunt doubles.
GF: They’re both shaking their heads. Would you if you had the chance, because I know they usually don’t allow it.
FJ: I’d love to, but because it’s television and they have such a tight schedule to stick to it makes more sense to have those people do it and do it well. Get it correct the first time around rather have me, an actor, try to do it and get it wrong ten times before I finally try and nail it.
GF: If I could rustle up a couple of horses, reckon we could have a joust?
FJ: Yeah, why not.
DP: Let’s do it.
FJ: There’s a really big room next door which would be perfect for jousting.
DP: You wanna get the horses and we’ll get some of those foam…
FJ: I’ve got lances out back.
DP: Oh yeah? I was going to say we’ll get those foam noodles you use in swimming pools.
GF: Very Australian.
DP: Yeah. I bit safer.
GF: Well, I’ve got horses.
FJ: You’ve got horses?
GF: Yeah, my Ma does.
DP: Really? Sweet, let’s go horse riding.
GF: You guys want to go for a ride, I’ll organize it. She won’t geek out at all.
(Laughs)
GF: Do you get to do many tours and conventions, see the fans?
FJ: Yeah, we do a lot.
DP: Loads.
FJ: Daniel was just in India.
DP: There for a week in Bangalore, which was an experience. It was really, really cool. We did one in Florida together.
FJ: Got one in Chicago, another in Australia coming up. London. We’ll be in Germany again.
DP: New Zealand. All over the place.
GF: If sounds a bit non-stop, is this your life now?
FJ: Yeah, kind of. We get breaks, it’s not that non-stop. Every two weeks of convention we do, we get two weeks of not doing them. It averages about one a month-ish.
GF: That’s quite a lot.
DP: You get to travel around a lot, which is nice.
GF: You get to come to Perth!
FJ: Absolutely.
DP: Loveliest place in the world!
GF: I’m getting the shuffle on signal, just a quick one or two questions: if you could play any other character, who would it be?
DP: Loras.
FJ: Pod.
GF: Do you have a favorite memory from the show?
DP: Meeting Finn.
FJ: Meeting Pod. I mean Daniel!
(Much laughter!)
GF: Guys, you’ve been great, it’s been a good laugh! Thanks for coming down to Perth!
FJ: Thank you!
DP: Thanks!