Through six seasons of Game of Thrones, so many actors and actresses have become engrained with the characters they're portraying, and the thought of others in the same parts becomes almost unthinkable. So try this one on. In Season 1, Mark Addy donned a crown and drank the drink as Robert Baratheon, King of the Seven Kingdoms, but it turns out another familiar actor had initially tried landing the role himself. And that actor is Conleth Hill, better known as the eunuch Lord Varys. Here's how Hill explained it.
It is true, to be honest, 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.
If you're doing double-takes to try and wrap your hair-optimal head around this one, you're not alone. Perhaps it's because Robert Barantheon's death came so early, or because we've seen Conleth Hill playing Lord Varys for six straight seasons, but the thought of those two actors switching roles boggles the mind. Yeah, I know it didn't say Mark Addy could have played Varys, but all of my daydreaming has to follow Freaky Friday logic.
One has to assume that no part of Conleth Hill is regretting the producers' decision to go with Mark Addy for the role of Robert Baratheon. That gig would have been over a long time ago for him, instead of one that he can look forward to returning to again and again, even with changes from the source material. Until, possibly, he doesn't get to anymore. With only two seasons left, the Game of Thrones end cycle will leave a lot of bodies on the ground, but hopefully Varys can whisper his way out of any dangerous situations in the future.
As Conleth Hill told the Huffington Post, he believes it was after he got the role that his new employers approached him about shaving his head. Perhaps it's that hair detail that makes it hardest of all to picture Hill as Robert Baratheon. Let's use our imaginations.
Not too bad, actually. Maybe he can find his inner Fu Manchu in Season 7 or Season 8.
With Lord Varys still very much alive and Robert Baratheon still very much not, Game of Thrones will return to HBO and rabid fans at some point in the middle of 2017 for Season 7. To see what will be hitting the small screen earlier than that, check out our midseason premiere schedule.
