Stepping away from a career-defining role can be a daunting prospect for any actor, but Liam Cunningham is taking it all in his stride.
fter becoming a mainstay of the Game of Thrones cast playing the role of Davos Seaworth, the 59-year-old Dubliner will forever be associated with a television series that became iconic long before its final episode aired in May 2019.
Yet remarkably, Cunningham has admitted he was not interested in taking part in Game of Thrones when his agent pitched a show featuring fantasy and dragons to him back in 2012.
It will come as little surprise that he has very different reflections on his role in the runaway success story now.
Kasia Smutniak plays the lead in Sky Atlantic’s epic new show
“When I was first contacted about being on Game of Thrones, I said very quickly that I was not interested,” he reveals.
“Then I read the script, I realised it was a story of power, legacy and paranoia, with the fantasy and dragons just a powerful backdrop for a fantastic drama.
“It was great to play Davos for as long as I did. I really liked him and the quality of the writing on the show was fantastic. I loved playing the role, but all good things come to an end.”
Liam in Game of Thrones as Davos
The offers have been flowing for Cunningham since he shot his last scene on Game of Thrones, with the chance to appear in Sky Atlantic’s epic new show Domina too good to resist.
The eight-episode series stars Kasia Smutniak (Perfect Strangers, Them, Devils) as Livia, supported by an international cast including Cunningham, who plays Livius.
The story follows Livia’s journey from a naïve young girl whose world crumbles in the wake of Julius Caesar’s assassination, to Rome’s most powerful and influential Empress, and it is told through female eyes.
“What grabbed my attention was the idea that this is a story about Ancient Rome, but it’s told from the perspective of the women, which is incredibly interesting,” continues the father of three, who lives in Dublin with his wife Colette.
“There were some very powerful women in this period of history and for them to have secured power when they weren’t really supposed to have power meant they were really clever and interesting characters.
“So I really liked the idea, before I saw the script, and then when I read the script… I mean, Ancient Rome is so interesting.
“It’s the old cliché, absolute power corrupts absolutely, and there are many occasions in history where we see that happen and it will happen again. People don’t seem to learn.
“Rome is a constant gift that keeps on giving, but I think what’s interesting is that people today need to pay more attention to history because it was an empire that collapsed – which they usually do.”
⬤ Domina is available to watch now on Sky Atlantic and NOW
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