It's been a tumultuous week for Sean Bean, both on and off the screen. On Sunday, HBO aired the penultimate episode of the first season of "Game of Thrones," the 10-part series based on the novels by George R.R. Martin; the episode ended with a shocking event involving Bean's character of Eddard "Ned" Stark, a lord who'd been imprisoned for daring to (rightly) question the legitimacy of a newly-ascended teenage king.
And the same night the episode aired in the United States, Bean himself was attacked outside a bar in London, suffering a bruised face and a cut on his arm. (Bean was treated inside the bar did not go to the hospital.)
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For the British-born actor until now best known as Boromir in "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," the one-two punch came on the heels of a Critics Choice Television Award Best Drama Series nomination for "Game of Thrones," a violent and engrossing tale of brutality and duplicity in a mythical landscape. And it made him the object of numerous conversations just as Emmy voters were perusing their ballots, which can't hurt -- though to be fair, he's a real longshot in a crowded field.
This conversation took place before the bar altercation and before last Sunday's show. As a viewer rather than a reader of "Game of Thrones," I asked a couple of questions (which I've omitted here) that immediately betrayed my ignorance of the impending twist to Bean -- who gently gave non-answers that avoided any spoilers.
(Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
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Ned Stark had the look of a hero when the series started, but over the course of the season he was betrayed, imprisoned …
He's a strong and loyal man, but he's not used to an environment where he's surrounded by backstabbers. And he can't operate like the snakes around him, it's not within his character.
That’s partly his downfall, isn't it? He won't make alliances, because it's very much against his nature. It's ground down his loyalty, his principles, his morality.
The last honest man in that particular environment?
Yeah, yeah, certainly. He's not perfect, but he's a guy who sticks by his principles and is loyal to his king and to the realm, even when the king has kind of lost it and is always drunk and whoring and hunting.
Were you familiar with the books when the project came to you?
No, I wasn't. And I didn’t realize they had such a huge following. I got a script and read that first, and then I read the book. It's a great read, but that didn’t have any influence in taking the role on. I'd worked with David Benioff before on "Troy," and [co-creator DB] Weiss is a very nice guy.
