Sean Bean played the role of Eddard ‘Ned’ Stark in the first nine episodes of Game of Thrones after which his character was killed off. Well, Sean has played many characters in popular movies and series and has been killed off – ‘Boromir’ as an instance in ‘Lord of the Rings’.
Jokes apart, the actor recently appeared in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, discussed his upcoming TV series, and even discussed his potential appearance in a special Game of Thrones featurette. Read on.
Upon being asked if he’s still in touch with the cast members in the show currently, Sean answered:
“Nobody, nobody at all! I’ve only seen them on a couple of occasions. Last time, was about four weeks ago in Belfast. Conan O’Brien did this thing. It was the last episode, so we all got together. It was good! It’s funny with work; you don’t really keep in touch. You do so many types of jobs in that part of the world. It’s just like whenever I see old friends or even old drama school friends, it’s just the same, we pick up where we left off last time.”
Conan O’Brien had hosted an interview of the cast members back in 2016 after the sixth season aired. We guess this would be done for the final season as well, featuring Sean Bean as well. Elaborating on Conan’s Game of Thrones special, Sean revealed:
“Yes, it was for season eight, the last one. So they decided to get all the characters together for a bit for this big show in Belfast and he kind of hosted the evening.”
Moreover, this was also teased by Sophie Turner during New York Comic-Con. According to her Sean surprised her when he returned to the sets for a “behind the scenes thing. She burst into tears seeing him. She said,“I wasn’t expecting that!”
Upon being asked why Ned Stark is still acknowledged by the fans even if he died back in season one, Sean replied:
“Yes. He’s mentioned a lot. He still seems to have a presence on the show. It’s something I was really proud of, a really top-notch job. It’s either that or Boromir. It used to be Boromir, but now it’s Stark.
Well, I think there are very few good people in Game of Thrones. He was a principled man, he was fair. He was a family man and he was also a warrior. He was well-respected by his family and the people he looked over. He applied that to his life in general, to his family, to everything he did. He came to realize being fair and being moral … you’re not going to survive by doing that.
But he didn’t change. That’s what I admired about him. He stuck to his guns. He meant it. He meant his fairness and his good qualities. But I think once he went down south, he didn’t really have much of a chance because, to them, backstabbing and treachery was a way of life. He was too honest, really.”
Upon being asked which of the surviving characters should finally sit on the Iron Throne, Sean replied:
“Well, there aren’t that many left, is there?”
Talking about what he does he like more – playing a protagonist or an antagonist? Sean replied, especially taking into account his experience of playing the role of Ned Stark:
“Playing Ned Stark was good because he had a bit of a rough edge to him as well. He was a good man, but he was strong, a hard guy. And Jacopo is a hard guy, but he’s the opposite of Ned Stark. He’s treacherous. He seems to take pleasure in causing anguish to members of his own family, not to mention the people that he governs. But it’s always satisfying to play a meaty, juicy bad guy.”
Finally, upon being asked if he would like to appear in any of the HBO announced spin-off/prequel shows of Game of Thrones, Sean replied:
“I don’t know how we can be. I don’t know how anyone can be, since they’re going backwards, I’d be younger. Now, we all look a little bit older.”
So, what were your thoughts on Sean’s interview with the Hollywood Reporter? Talk to us in the comments section.
