When the news broke revealing Rose Leslie (formerly of Downton Abbey) had been cast in the role of Ygritte, I had made an effort—as I usually do with the casting announcements—to try and find a nice clip online of the actor, whether in a role or in an interview, but I had to do without for Ms. Leslie. Yesterday, however, Leicster Square TV released just the thing: an interview with the actress, filmed during a premiere of the Ewan MacGregor-Eve Green film, Perfect Sense.
And not just any interview… one from October 4th, nearly a week before the announcement, in which she spoke rather extensively about her involvement in HBO’s Game of Thrones.
I’ll note that there’s an implied spoiler in the interview, so if you haven’t read the books, I’d strongly suggest not watching the interview. We’ll provide a spoiler-free recap after the video:
Now, the spoiler-free recap: Leslie’s very excited to be a part of the project, having caught a few episodes of the first season after friends recommended it to her. She’s now working her way through the books, and is really hoping to get to do some physically demanding things. In fact, she’s already just started a training program for the role. It sounds like she’s reading A Clash of Kings presently, and mentions that she loved reading about Robert in the first book, and enjoys the sections north of the Wall in the second book. As to favorite characters to watch? Cersei, even though (or perhaps because) she’s “evil”.
She’ll be flying up to Iceland in “a couple of weeks”, which fits the information we have about the production setting up to start shooting in November. She knows very little of what she’ll be doing, and doesn’t know if she’ll be filming at all in or around Belfast.