Game Of Thrones S7 is almost upon us. So far, HBO has released two trailers (which YouTuber Sebastian Hughes has mashed up into one seamless trailer).
In May, Star2.com had the opportunity to interview some of the Game Of Thrones cast members in London. Although talking about S7’s plots was a strict no-no, the actors did give some insight into their respective characters.
Jacob Anderson plays Grey Worm, the ever-loyal soldier to Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke). He is the commander of the Unsullied, a group of men enslaved to be warriors.
In S3, the Unsullied was freed by Daenerys. No longer slaves, they choose to fight for their queen’s cause – to sit on the Iron Throne and rule the seven kingdoms.
Anderson spoke of the experience of acting in a whole new language; Grey Worm speaks Valyrian, the same language spoken by Daenerys and her handmaiden/advisor Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel).
The British actor has been in Game Of Thrones for three seasons so far. Throughout the seasons, Anderson spoke only in Valyrian with a smattering of English, after learning a few words from Missandei.
Nathalie Emmanuel as Missandei and Anderson as Grey Worm in Game Of Thrones. Photo: HBO/Helen Sloan
Tough fake language to master
Anderson, 27, had no idea his character’s lines were going to be in Valyrian when he first got the acting job.
He recalls: “When I first started in the show, I auditioned in my own voice, in my own accent. They didn’t tell me until I got the job that I wasn’t going to speak English the whole time.
“So the first few days of kind of speaking to the dialect coach, I was like, ‘So I can just make it up yea?’ And he said, ‘No, this is a language. It has tenses and full of rules’.
“This was one of the hardest things to do, the language. I wasn’t very good at languages in school! We all find it very difficult; Emily and Nathalie are superheroes in my eyes. It’s hard, and for me, it leaves my brain as soon as the scene is gone because I am traumatised,” he said, laughing.
It seems weird to see him laugh, as Grey Worm is always really serious on the show.
Anderson is just glad that fans who approach him on the streets do not talk to him in Valyrian. But that might change soon. “I don’t think they’ve released, like, a dictionary. I am sure they will do it. But nobody has spoken to me in Valyrian yet, but a lot of people ask me to speak to them in Valyrian and I am like no, no. I don’t remember anything.”
Game Of Thrones S7 premieres July 17 on HBO (Astro Ch 411) at 9am in Malaysia.
