Owen Teale may have swapped the Night’s Watch for witches in a new Sky drama, but that doesn’t mean he’s out the loop on the future of Game Of Thrones.
The 57-year-old actor played Alliser Thorne in the HBO fantasy show, who was noted for betraying Jon Snow before meeting his comeuppance via hanging for treason.
Despite leaving the show in season six, Owen reckons he has an idea of what will happen in the show’s final eighth season – even though he was reluctant to share the details.
Asked by Metro.co.uk whether he knows what happens in the final season, Owen said: ‘I think I’ve got a rough idea, yes, from conversations when I was there last about a year ago.
‘But I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a little bit different.’
Owen is still regularly confronted by fans with bizarre requests, recalling one particularly worrisome incident after the episode where he stabbed Jon Snow aired.
‘I remember a guy coming up to me in Greece with a knife in his hand in a restaurant,’ Owen said.
‘I was filming in Athens and he came over in this restaurant, he might have had a drink, and I said, “Could you just put the knife down?” And he said, “No, you hold the knife.” He gave me the knife and I was feeling better now but still it was a strange situation.
‘I’ve got the knife in my hand and he says, “Now I want selfie with you and knife in my chest.” I get a lot of that.’
He’s now starring in new Sky drama A Discovery Of Witches, following Diana Bishop (Teresa Palmer) as she discovers a long-lost manuscript which forces her back into a world of witches, vampires and demons.
Facing off against vampire Matthew Clairmont (Matthew Goode) is witch ringleader Peter Knox (Owen Teale), whose authoritative character drew the actor towards the show.
‘What attracted me was that it’s a very powerful character,’ Owen said. ‘He’s got to really go for it.
‘He’s got a clear goal and his eye on the main prize, and that’s the manuscript he’s been looking for pretty much all his life.’
While the show is based on beloved book series by Deborah Harkness, the source material wasn’t the only source of inspiration for Owen’s witch antics.
‘I did a sort of comparison with people who are like that in life, human beings,’ Owen added. ‘People who have got a cause, anybody who feels they’ve been oppressed as a race.
‘We’re talking about a species I suppose really. That’s what he feels, that the vampires have them in a secondary position – they’ve been second class creates and he wants to put the witches back on top.’
A Discovery Of Witches airs on Sky One in the UK Friday 14 September at 9pm.
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