Fans had very vocal reactions to the final season of Game of Thrones and that sentiment was also felt by some of the cast, including Conleth Hill.
Conleth is almost unrecognisable out of his costume but the 58-year-old portrayed Varys, a key player in Westeros and a fan favourite.
Back in 2019, fans spotted the Irish actor’s face during a filmed read-through was less than pleased at his character’s untimely end.
As good an actor as Conleth is, it’s hard to hide the disappointment felt in that final season, especially after all the build-up.
On review website Rotten Tomatoes, season eight is the lowest-performing season of Game of Thrones by a mile, sitting at an abysmal 30% audience score and 55% critic score.
In the four years since the show ended, cast members have addressed their complex relationship with it and now Conleth has confessed he felt ‘frustrated’.
Master of whispers, Varys, was one of the few cast members who survived from series one right the way through – although not quite to the very end.
The eunuch was clever and cunning, with a team of informants who brought him the secrets of King’s Landing to help him manipulate those in power.
However, this high intelligence did not always serve those above him as his double-crossing nature would eventually be his demise.
Voicing a common complaint levied at the final season, Conleth told The Times: ‘I felt that last series was a bit rushed. I was inconsolable, but now I’m fine about it.’
Varys’ shock death had a mixed response from fans, who adored the Spider, but it wasn’t the only poorly received decision in the final season.
‘I thought I’d done something wrong. Right up until the last two series, I had no complaints at all,’ Conleth shared.
‘I just felt frustrated with the last couple of series because Varys wasn’t the all-knowing character he had been. I think the writers wanted to do one thing to end it and the studio HBO wanted to do another.’
His face certainly gave away this discontent during the filmed table read as the two-time Olivier Award winner looked stoney-faced and genuinely hurt.
As Emilia Clarke read Daenerys Targaryen’s condemning lines to Lord Varys, Conleth folded his script in half and carefully discarded it on the table before leaning back and crossing his arms.
Next to him, Lena Headey, who played Cersei Lannister, giggled slightly to herself as a narrator read out the character’s death while Emilia cast him a sympathetic glance.
Conleth didn’t look up, eyes fixated ahead of him, taking in the awful news – having watched the last season, we can’t say we blame him.
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