In Melbourne for the upcoming release of Game of Thrones‘ season five on DVD and Blu-ray, Alfie Allen sat down to speak with Stevivor to discuss the show.
Allen plays Theon Greyjoy — or is that Reek, the name Theon’s torturer Ramsay gave him — on the uber popular show. Regardless of moniker, poor ol’ Theon has had it very rough of late. Allen’s character had his penis chopped off in season four as a form of sadistic torture.
Or so I thought.
“It was actually season three,” Allen said, correcting me. “Season three was physical, and season four was mental.”
“Get your torture facts straight, mate,” he added, very much in jest.
Whoops.
At any rate, Game of Thrones‘ season five still consists of Theon getting tortured, but in another way.
“It’s very much torture within himself, stemming from the decisions he has to make,” Allen said. “And dealing with the absolute fear he’s had instilled in him. It’s torture to try to become the man he once was.”
The man he once was, eh? It’s hard not to keep tying things back to Theon’s missing appendage.
“With the season three torture, and the willy being chopped off, it was most definitely appropriate for the character,” Allen said.
“Forgive me for sounding cheezy, but it was his only weapon in the Game of Thrones world. He was essentially a slave his whole life; he was a ward to Ned Stark and then became a slave to Ramsay. He never had any choices inside his own life; no choice over his own destiny. To have that taken away from him was completely appropriate and necessary.
“It was very interesting for me and, forgive the pun, to tackle as an actor,” he said.
See?
“It was fun all the same; obviously, there were dark moments, but it was fun really.”
Season five marks a departure from the Game of Thrones novels. The Theon of the literary world never runs into Sansa in the way the television show depicts. The pair spend a considerable amount of season five together.
“It’s going to make her look even more beautiful, when you’ve got a shivering mess standing next to her,” Allen said, referring to co-star Sophie Turner.
“It’s interesting to me because both of their journeys have been quite similar; they’ve both set out of Winterfell with delusions of grandeur,” Allen explained. “Sansa left to go to King’s Landing and become Princess or Queen and marry King Joffrey, who she thought was amazing, and things just spiraled out of control. The exact same thing happened with Theon; he went out to become King of Salt and Rock.
“To have those characters meet up after all of the horrible stuff they’ve been through, I thought, was very clever,” Allen said. “It’s a great pairing. An odd pairing in a way, but very apt.”
The fifth season of Game of Thrones is available on DVD and Blu-ray from 16 March. You can win one of five copies on DVD via Stevivor, here.
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