Actor Toby Osmond shares his experience playing the new Dornish prince in the Game Of Thrones season 8 finale…
Contains plot details for theGame Of Thronesseason eight finale.
When you play the game of thrones, you either win or you die.
I may sound like a twat but the casting was for one charismatic man and four powerful men.
There was a bit of toing and froing before the audition.
At one point they said it might not be a scripted role, it might be adlibbing instead.
Of course I want to go for it.
The audition was in London with Kate Bone, a lovely casting director who works with Nina Gold.
We hadnt received a script beforehand, for obvious reasons.
Youre in a war council and youre discussing the defence of a city.
In my mind I was already trying to work out who I would be playing.
She said, Youre Dornish and your captains and commanders are around you.
One of your captains says something and you disagree with him and put him down.
So its all quite melodramatic, over-the-top acting.
I said, No he did not but Im happy to do that.
I opt for a sort of Spanglish, without going full Manuel fromFawlty Towers.
I just go off on one.
Ive done podcasts before and they cant shut me up!
And I felt the casting director and I were getting on well and having a good old laugh.
And you think, Here we go.
At least its nice to be called in for it.
A week later, about 6.30PM, I get a missed call from my agent.
Now what was I calling about…
He follows that up with, It looks like youre going to Seville, old boy.
Im like, What!?
He says, Whats that show,Game Of Thrones?
At that stage only about 20 per cent of what that actually meant made it in.
As an actor you think, Itll probably fall through.
Theyll probably find someone else.
Maybe theyve contacted the wrong agent.
I obviously say, Sure.
By the time I got the final details for the fitting it was in two days time.
It was proper star treatment for my trip to Belfast.
When I was in that car it suddenly started to hit me.
You drive up to those studios, this huge, sprawling complex in hangar-sized buildings.
And once Im inside I see Kings Landing.
On film and television sets actors are never allowed to walk around on their own.
My sense of direction is shocking.
As soon as the driver drops me off I manage to go the wrong way.
Its really sunny and there are Dothraki walking around and these insane sets, props and costumes are everywhere.
So Im just trying to walk in the right direction.
Theres lots of costumes and Im here for a fitting.
So I say, Hi.
The guy behind the desk says, Can I help you?
and I explain Im here for the fitting.
He says, Are you background?
and I say, No.
Well I hope not!
[Laughs] He says, Are you Toby Osmond?
Im so sorry Mr Osmond!
I thought it was a bit too detailed!
So I may well have engineered it so Im in that bit of the documentary.
But the costume guy was fabulous.
This is really it!
What else is there?
I suddenly realised the trailer theyd given me was next to Peter Dinklages.
I gave it a Hey and got a Hey back, which was so cool.
I sat down myself desperate to remain cool and pretended to read my own book,Don Quixote.
Then I had to get the plane back to normality.
And he was at the bar, so I thought, Hes an actor!
The screen industry is so changeable and anything can shift at any time.
Up until a few days on set, part of me didnt really believe it was happening.
I even pinched myself a couple of times while we were filming.
We had eight days shooting with one day off in the middle.
And the amount of A-listers in that 10-minute finale scene is nuts.
The charismatic man and thank the Many-Faced God thats not how Im officially billed!
became the Prince of Dorne, head of House Martell.
Im the younger brother of Oberyn Martell, the Red Viper himself.
The scene was different than the audition.
Its a council of the leaders of Westeros in that beautiful set of the dragon pit.
We actually discuss who should sit on the Iron Throne and then we all vote on it.
That amphitheatre is so impressive and we were sitting in that horseshoe of wooden thrones.
In the same scene are 100 Unsullied and I dont know how they do it.
Theyre all in leather armour, standing with spears and shields in the hot sun of Seville.
The shoot was in May but it was very hot.
They somehow maintain those straight lines in this blazing heat all day long.
There are two actors in particular whose careers Ive followed who appear inGame Of Thrones.
One is Indira Varma who plays Ellaria Sand the mother of the sand snakes and Oberyns missus.
Like me shes got curly black hair.
Hes a really fantastic actor, I saw him at the Almeida in the Chekhov playUncle Vanya.
Tobias was on set, Indira sadly wasnt.
Kit Harrington was also on set and I had longer hair at the time almost Kit-length hair.
To leave you had to drive out of this fortress, which has steel gates.
When you open those thered be 50-odd screaming Spanish teenagers all shouting Keeeeet.
With the darkened windows of the car they catch a silhouette and be throwing themselves in the road.
So when Kit finally came to the set I said, Lovely to meet you.
All your fans thought I was you.
He was really welcoming, as everyone was, and they didnt have to be.
On day three of my shoot I was sitting next to Gemma Whelan, who plays Yara Greyjoy.
Shes a lovely person.
I know some pretty big celebs who would kill to sit in the chairs youre sitting in.
And were like, Weve got no idea!
yo dont tell anyone!
[Laughs] Because of the tight security we didnt know what episode it was.
Im like, Thank you!
Itwasa crazy time to be on set!
It was the last week they were shooting in Spain because it was the final week of principal photography.
I only put my foot in my mouth one time.
One of the few actors I hadnt really spoken to was Gwendoline Christie, who plays Brienne of Tarth.
I thought it would be great just to grab even just a five-second chat with her and say hello.
Then I said, I saw you in the Groucho Club in Soho a year or two ago.
But I didnt know you then so I didnt say hi.
And I knew I had.
Thankfully she wasnt nasty about it, she said, OK then and headed off.
That was me being an idiot.
They got them up and said a few heartfelt, very well thought-out words and people were in tears.
We were like fans who had won a competition compared to this lot!
But it was such a fantastic moment to be a part of.
I was like, That could be taken either way but Im taking it as a compliment.
Thank you very much Dan.
And although wed already had the official wrap party, there was another celebration for the final night.
Our return trip was a chartered flight for cast and crew.
It wasnt me, theyd have left me there!
There was a practical joke on the flight as we were taking off.
So over the tannoy came, Is there a Peter Dinkle-aish?
And theres a moment of silence.
And then everyone pisses themselves laughing.
It sounds super cheesy but I honestly felt honoured and excited and went through a huge list of emotions.
So it felt like I was carrying a torch and added to the emotions of the whole experience.
Im here for the long haul.
Little did I know…
Readmore about Game Of Thrones season eight here.
