Back in July, we chatted to Aidan Gillen about playing Petyr Baelish on Game Of Thrones.
Season 7 finale spoilers ahead…
Warning: contains major spoilers for theGame Of Thronesseason seven finale.
There was poetic justice in the choice of weapon used in his execution.
A man whod caused such harm to the Starks couldnt be allowed to divide and conquer the wolf pack.
In many ways, Littlefinger was dead the moment he walked back into Winterfell.
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Why had Littlefinger wanted the young Bran dead in season one?
He probably didnt, not really.
Ambition, however, trumps sentiment in Littlefingers world.
So he engineered the hit, implicated the royal family, stood back and watched.
Jon Arryns death kick-started the major action ofGame Of Thronesseason one.
That was what brought Ned Stark to the capital, and ultimately to his own execution.
What goes around comes around.
That kind of happens naturally if youre put in a different grouping with other people.
The fact that Littlefingers journey became so entwined with Sansas wasnt something I anticipated at the start.
Within that, Ive always tried to show a kind of warm side.
Which moments in particular when he shows warmth do you mean?
Probably in conversations with Sansa.
So its really with her.
I think theres a lot of that but notpureambition, mostly ambition but not pure, no.
Are putting those little sides to him in a conversation that you could have with the writers?
In hiring whatever actors they hire, people will bring whatever theyre good at.
Its nice to have your own strong ideas of what a person should look like, act like.
They do give you a certain amount of freedom.
I dont think anyone goes crazy with it.
It might givethemmore freedom.
I dont want to overplay that because it really is them and George Martin.
Tell us about Littlefingers accent, which has been an obsession of many fans of the show.
Its changed over the years, some suggest as a way of adapting to his environment.
What have you been going for?
I think a little bit more has been made of that than it warrants, you know?
And yeah, it has, it has changed with him.
I have done that intentionally, but its not radical.
So yeah, I dont have that much more to say about it than that.
Does that say something about peoples obsession with the tiny details on the show?
Thats not a tiny detail, its not tiny.
I think theres other detail people are obsessed with, and thats not a bad thing.
Do you have to do any particular physical training for the role?
Not forGame Of Thrones.
To be honest actually, the costume Ive had has been so tight-fitting, yeah I do.
Aiden Gillen, thank you very much!
Game of Thrones Season 7 is available now on Digital Download
