The A-list actor – who writes poetry and does his own stunts – has a simple solution for going incognito when out and about
1. He’s still not used to seeing his face everywhere
It’s still awkward for him to see his face on a poster at the metro. “I don’t think that will ever feel normal,” he says with a laugh. “It’s especially strange when you’re waiting there and you’ve nowhere else to look and you’re staring at yourself. That’s very odd.”
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2. He does his own stunts – but he’s still a peace-loving man
“I like doing stunts, making sure it feels real. Most of my fights in Game of Thrones, that’s myself. Obviously there are some things they won’t allow you to do for insurance reasons, but, yeah, I like learning all that,” he says. That’s not to say he’ll be showing off those moves in real life.
“If someone tries to mug me, with a knife or a gun, I’m giving them everything,” he says. “‘Here, take it all, don’t hurt me!’ Maybe a part of me would think, ‘I’ve done this in a film, could I take this guy on?’ Thankfully, I haven’t had to test out that theory.”
3. He was already into make-believe as a kid
“I wanted to be a cowboy, I wanted to be James Bond. What child doesn’t like to run around with a fake gun? I liked running around with pretend swords. I like all that stuff. I’ve been a medieval warrior, a cowboy, a spy and a gladiator. I get to play around, it’s living the dream. Ultimately, I think actors are really like big kids playing games.”
4. “You know nothing, Jon Snow” is still a thing
“It still happens. I just say, ‘Yeah, you’re right!’ I still don’t know what that means,” he laughs. “It’s completely confusing to him [the character] and me, so it doesn’t make any sense. He knows some things, I know some things. I just smile.”
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5. He has a foolproof disguise when in public
“Losing your anonymity is a very odd sensation, but it’s not that difficult to blend in. My trick is to tie my hair back and it tends to do the job. No one really comes up to me when it’s tied back but when
I have it down, bingo – I’ll see the side glances or the sneaky phones taking photos while you’re
in a cafe.”
6. He’s not on Facebook
“I was never obsessed with it. I just used to go on it, never put up a photo, never said anything on it; just look at what people I don’t know any more are up to, and I would waste a good hour looking at crap. So I quit cold turkey and it was hard. For two weeks I had this compulsion to log back on; it was difficult. Then after two weeks, it was out of my system, and I really don’t miss it.”
7. He could have been in real-life battlefields
“[If I weren’t an actor, I’d want to be] a war correspondent. I think there’s a similarity with performance in both, but I think my mother is pretty happy that didn’t pan out. I probably wouldn’t have got there anyway; you’ve got to work pretty hard to become one of those guys.”
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8. He’s a poet
“[My poetry skills] have always been pretty abysmal, in all honesty. I really like writing poetry; I’m just not very good at it. I thought I’d take some courses at some point to see if I can improve. I like doing it but it’s for my own benefit, not for anyone else’s viewing.”
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