Jonathan Pryce, who played the crafty High Sparrow on Game of Thrones, was hospitalized due to complications from COVID-19. Happily, he pulled through.
Jonathan Pryce, who played the High Sparrow on Game of Thrones, has revealed to The Guardian that he was hospitalized over complications involving the coronavirus. But happily, he recovered.
“I had coronavirus in late March,” Pryce said. “I was hospitalized for eight days with COVID pneumonia. It left me tired and anxious for a long time, but I’m over that. I’ve now got high levels of antibodies so I’m secretly rather pleased with myself.”
On Game of Thrones, the High Sparrow only died when Cersei Lannister exploded the Sept of Baelor right out from under his feet. We should’ve known that it would take more than the coronavirus to take out the guy who played him.
Still, at 73 years old, Pryce is in the danger zone for the disease, so we’re glad he pulled through. “One comfort of being in lockdown was that everyone else was, too,” Pryce continued. “I live in an area of east London with a lovely community feel. We all looked out for each other, dropping off home-made bread and cakes. I’ve secretly enjoyed being cocooned at home.”
Pryce also thought back on the real-life public figures he used as inspiration to play the High Sparrow. “The High Sparrow in Game Of Thrones got compared to [Labour Party leader] Jeremy Corbyn, but I actually based him on Pope Francis.” And then, weirdly enough, a few years later, Pryce would actually play Pope Francis, the current Pope, in The Two Popes on Netflix.
You could do worse than get typecast as a populist religious leader, I guess.
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