Winter has come on Game of Thrones, and with it, a fair amount of self-deprecation. Although he has exited the show, actor Stephen Dillane recently admitted he has watched himself on the beloved HBO series and apparently wasn't a fan of his performance. Dillane spoke about the disservice he believes he gave his character below, and how he didn't realize what he was doing with Stannis Baratheon until it was too late:
I've flicked [the show] on [since leaving] to see if I could figure out what was going on, but I couldn't. Liam Cunningham [who plays Ser Davos Seaworth, Stannis' right-hand man] is so passionate about the show. He invests in it in a way I think is quite moving, but it wasn't my experience. I was entirely dependent on Liam to tell me what the scenes were about -- I didn't know what I was doing until we'd finished filming and it was too late. The damage had been done. I thought no one would believe in me and I was rather disheartened by the end. I felt I'd built the castle on non-existent foundations.
Yeesh, this must be why so many actors and actresses say they don't like to watch their work! While Stephen Dillane isn't too high on his own performance, he does give ample credit to actor Liam Cunningham for his passion while playing Ser Davos, as well as for coaching him through scenes so Dillane would not feel completely out of sorts while filming. Cunningham really did a great job of laying things out supposedly, as there was practically no indication to Game of Thrones fans like me who didn't catch that Dillane had no idea what was happening as they watched his scenes.
This isn't the first time Stephen Dillane has spoken out about Game of Thrones, as prior to his interview with The Times Dillane described his time in the series as "overwhelming." While he didn't say much about his personal performance, Dillane did remark that he had little understanding of what was going on while he was on the show and felt the whole thing overall was strange. While he apparently wasn't a fan of Game of Thrones or his experience acting in it, Dillane did remark that he did enjoy the money he made from the show, so at least he got something out of it.
Unfortunately, Stephen Dillane can't really do much about his portrayal now considering--and spoiler if you're really behind--Stannis Baratheon is deader than a doornail. That said, Game of Thrones doesn't appear to be his cup of tea, so we're guessing he won't stick around to figure out how the tale of Westeros reaches its end. Dillane also has very few fans of GoT criticizing his performance as Stannis, so we have to speculate he'll be able to shake off that regretful feeling and move on with his life eventually if he hasn't already.
There's no timetable for when exactly Game of Thrones will return to HBO, but 2019 appears to be a good guess. For more information regarding upcoming shows that are new or returning, be sure to head on over to both our fall premiere guide and midseason premiere guide to stay in the loop. For a look at some shows that weren't able to avoid cancellation in 2017, visit our cancellation guide.
