It seems like forever ago now, but when Game of Thrones began it was during the reign of King Robert Baratheon, who had deposed the Mad King to take the Iron Throne in Robert’s Rebellion.
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King Robert was played by Mark Addy before Robert died during a boar hunt thanks to the machinations of his wife, Cersei Lannister.
But Addy wasn’t the only actor on Game of Thrones who tried out for the role of Robert Baratheon. Conleth Hill, who now plays Varys, also tried out for the role.
“It is true, to be honest,” Hill tells the Huffington Post, “but I have to say that I came out of the meeting, which went all right, and looked who was in after me, saw who it was, and went, ‘Well, he’d be all right for it,’ and he was, and he got it. You know, that’s showbiz.”
It was after trying out for Robert Baratheon that Hill read lines for the role of Varys.
“I read for it, parts of the dungeon scene with Ned and the chest scene where he explains how he was made from sort of a slave to the security of Westeros,” Hill recalls, “and I think once I had already accepted the part, they said, ‘How do you feel about shaving your head?’”
And while King Robert is gone, Varys continues to me a major player in the Game of Thrones, and playing the role is an experience Hill says he’s found mostly quite enjoyable.
“I’ve been very lucky. Most Game of Thrones fans are well-mannered and courteous. I have no trouble taking photos with people if they want it. I think the weirdest one was someone came running toward me with their hand in my crotch area, saying, ‘I wanted to see if something’s really there’…They didn’t make contact, so it was OK. Yeah, like I’d be that method.”
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Game of Thrones returns to HBO in summer 2017.
