Kristian Nairn, the towering actor who plays Hodor, studied music and drama at university in Ireland. Music was Nairn’s primary interest – he maintains a semi-professional role as a DJ – but drama was a natural path to follow. “I studied drama and music at university, though music was always my first love. Acting just comes naturally, to be honest,” Nairn says. “I’ve had some pretty interesting acting classes, but that’s all been retrospective, after getting onto Game of Thrones. I don’t think it’s necessary these days, but there’s definitely some interesting techniques you can pick up.”
After the occasional low-profile acting role, Nairn auditioned for the role of Hodor. Unfamiliar with George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire historical-fantasy books, Nairn was nevertheless impressed with the role; when he told his mother that he’d been offered the part, his decision was sealed. “My mother is a huge fan of the books,” Nairn says in his lilting Irish brogue. “I remember after the audition I told her, and she knew the character Hodor straight away. She said ‘Oh, my god those books are fantastic – it’s definitely going to be a massive show, so absolutely take the part!’”
Four years after taking on the part, and with the television series continuing to enthral, perplex and horrify audiences, Nairn confesses he still hasn’t read any of Martin’s books. Game of Thrones has its historical origins in the War of the Roses between the House of Lancaster and the House of York; Nairn admits his recollections of high school history study focus on World War Two rather than the great mediaeval battles. “I do know that Game of Thrones has some basis in historical events – I’ve heard George talk about that. But it’s not something that I’m hugely knowledgeable about, unfortunately,” Nairn says.
Nairn is, however, fiercely attracted to the fantasy aspect of the storyline. “I love fantasy – Lord of the Rings is one of my favourite films,” he says. “Though I probably love a bit more magic – I love the way that Game of Thrones hints at it, and you see the odd case of magic. But I think I like a few more unicorns, maybe some fairies flying around the place. But I like the way in Game of Thrones it’s hinted at, and you maybe see the odd flash, but it’s not sort of Dungeons and Dragons in your face.”
Upon getting the role George Martin offered Nairn the opportunity to discuss the character of Hodor, including Hodor’s history and motivation. “George has been very hands-on from the start,” Nairn says. “As soon as you’re cast, George sends you an email says if there’s anything you want to discuss about your character to ask him – he has an open door like that.”
Nairn is happy to take Hodor’s character as it comes. “I don’t really want to know – I don’t need to know what’s behind the door sometimes,” he says. “And I definitely don’t want to know what’s going to happen in the future. With a character like Hodor, who operates on the basis of pure reaction and pure emotions, it doesn’t pay to know too much about what’s going to happen, so that’s why I don’t read the books.”
One of the most striking attributes of Martin’s stories – that is, apart from the bloodythirsty and sexually charged behaviour of the protagonists – is the fluctuating morality of the main characters: Jaime Lannister has the occasional flash of humanity; his incestuous partner in family crime Cersei exhibits an almost endearing vulnerability. And even the late Ned Stark wasn’t immune to random acts of violence. But Hodor is, well, just Hodor.
“That’s one of the things I do like about Hodor – he is black or white,” Nairn says. “If black was evil, then Hodor’s very much white. I don’t think anyone has any doubt about that, and that’s why he stands out as one of the fans’ favourite characters. I didn’t really understand why he was so popular, but then when I started playing him I realised he was immensely loveable, especially against a background of twisted, difficult characters.”
This weekend Nairn will appear at Oz Comic-Con at Melbourne’s Exhibition Building in Carlton. Nairn is a graphic novel fan from way back. “I’m a huge Marvel fan – I love anything to do with Hulk or Thor or X-Men. I’m very big into superheroes”.
And while it might be expected that Game of Thrones fans would be prone to extreme fandom, Nairn says his experiences so far lead him to believe that the fans of the show are surprisingly balanced. “Unlike other areas of sci-fi, I think Game of Thrones is one of the most grown-up shows that’s even been on TV,” Nairn says. “And I think that keeps a certain type of fan away from it. People who love Game of Thrones tend to be very intelligent because you need to be in order to follow the storyline because it’s very complicated. In general, we’re very lucky to have the Game of Thrones fans – they’re awesome. They’re not Twilight or Harry Potter, if I can put it that way.”
BY PATRICK EMERY
