Co-stars working for a studio often clash on-set. For example, Ian McShane and Rory McCann once clashed on Game of Thrones’ set over a burger. Sometimes clashes like these develop into a friendly rivalry. Jonathan Pryce, who played the High Sparrow on Game of Thrones, recalls his faux-rivalry with The Two Popes co-star Anthony Hopkins.
After beating his co-star at BAFTA Cymru for Best Actor for his role of Pope Francis, Pryce talked to Wales Online. He said, “I grew to be enormously fond of Tony and I grew to respect his work. We manufactured some rivalry because there wasn’t really any between us.”
“I was number one on the call sheet and he was number two. And every morning I would see him and he would say ‘good morning number one’ and I’d say ‘good morning number two’. He even had some big signs made for his trailer saying that he was really number one and this upstart should have been number two.”
He continued, “We had a great time. Sometimes you can only be as good as the person you are working with. What the other person is giving you and we got on really really well together. And I won. I’m going to call him, don’t worry.”
The veteran actor often mocks Hopkins for hailing from South Wales, which he considers inferior to North Wales. Such rivalries often result in lifelong friendships.
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