Whatever your thoughts about Season 6 of Game of Thrones, I believe we can all agree on one thing: eunuchs are one of the more un-mined character types on popular television shows and will probably never reach trope-dom. They number in less than the fingers on one hand, and centerstage is pretty much just the feisty Lord Varys, played with perfection by Conleth Hill. And I guess it’s a good thing, since some fans can react particularly insane when it comes to the characters they love. Hill had one such awkward encounter.
During the Game of Thrones panel at this year’s Comic-Con, Hill dropped a hilarious anecdote after moderator Chris Hardwick asked the cast if they ever had people yelling things at them, and it came complete with requisite rimshots of laughter after every other line.
Yeah, but nothing to do with the show. I once had a woman run at me, with her hand at my crotch level. But that was a great party. And she…I tried…“What are you doing?’ She said, “I just wanted to check for something.” [beat] I don’t speak to my mother anymore.
For shame! Celebrities are generally quite used to seeing bizarre behavior come from their fans, but it often has little to do with anyone’s crotch, or the crotch of any fictional characters. Yet this woman, whom I have to assume had put down at least some grain alcohol, decided to test that age-old “is he really a eunuch or is he just playing one on TV?” question with one of modern TV’s greatest bald guys. Now, I can’t say for certain that Hill is rocking all his parts, but I’ll continue blindly assuming.
Considering how many viewers are following Game of Thrones these days, it’s almost surprising that only one of the people who’s watched Varys talk his game for the past five years pulled this kind of a stunt. I believe it’s Cockam’s razor that states “More eunuchs on TV means more harassment via attempted junk-seizing.” (No apologies for that attempted joke.)
Hill was a comedic riot and drew a large chunk of the laughter during the panel. He’s just as comfortable on the stage as the screen, and though he doesn’t have a resume filled with comedies, it looks like it’s time he gets the lead in his own comedic series at some point. It was a rousing panel otherwise, with a great little audition tape sizzle reel and an Obama-themed anecdote. Nothing much about Season 6 or its new characters though, so it wasn’t all positive.
Game of Thrones will return to HBO for Season 6 at some point after the winter coming at the end of 2015, probably in April 2016.
