67th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards - Press Room (Photo : Getty Images/Kevork Djansezian)
Most of the actors would jump at the opportunity to do even the briefest of roles on "Game of Thrones". For Conleth Hill, however, it took a lot of convincing to make him take up the role of Varys on the show.
Starting out as a side role in "Game Of Thrones" Season 1, Varys has become an indispensable character on the show. The witty exchange of dialogues between Tyrion Lannister and Varys, two of the wisest men on the show, has become one of the highlights of the show, providing comic relief in between intense drama.
GOT fans also believe that no one could have portrayed the character of a secretly powerful eunuch, who controls a network of informants across two continents, better than Conleth Hill. Hence, it was nothing short of shocking when Hill confessed that there was a time when he was not sure if wanted to join the cast of "Game Of Thrones", in an interview with TheArtsDesk.
Even though Hill admitted that taking up the role of Varys was probably one of the best decisions for his career, he also did not shy away from recalling that he was almost going to skip the audition for GOT.
"I resisted it for so long. Like a lot of people who haven't got into it I went, 'Oh God, dungeons and dragons, swords and sorcery, that's now really my thing'," he remarked.
However, after a lot of persuasion from his agent, he finally decided to go in for the audition. Failing to land the role he had initially auditioned for, Hill eventually tested out for the character of Varys. Initially, his character did not have many lines on the screen, but Hill was not concerned.
"There was a scene where Varys didn't have any lines but they cut away to him and I just gave a couple of filthy looks, just to make the most of it. If it's non-verbal it doesn't mean it's non-communicative," said Hill.
Six seasons down the line, Hill has still not grown weary of his character on GOT. This might because while his co-stars are off riding dragons and going to battle over Westeros, he just gets to "sit around a nice place and bitch with Peter Dinklage."
Conleth Hill also keeps himself pretty busy with other projects when he is not shooting for "Game Of Thrones", Winter Is Coming reported. He will be performing on West End production of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" at the Harold Pinter Theater from Feb. 22 to May 27.
