When Michiel Huisman was cast on HBO’s Game of Thrones to replace Ed Skrein as Daario Naharis, I thought for sure he’d be wearing a long blond wig. Then we saw our first pictures of him and nope, they didn’t even try. What will viewers think of this? According to the actor, not much.
Speaking with Zap2It, Huisman didn’t think the change up would be a big deal:
Speaking of the look, were you and David and Dan ever concerned that viewers might not realize that this is the same character as Daario in Season 3?
Um, no, because … I don’t know. I think it’s just very cleverly written and very clear from the very first episode that I’m Daario. I think that’s not a concern.
Well yeah, I’m sure they’ll say your name, but seriously? Those of us on the internet have heard of the switch by now, and whether for or against it, we won’t be surprised when new Daario steps on screen. But everyone else?
That’s not a minor change by any means. I’m imagining the old soap opera-style voiceover, “The role of Daario Naharis will now be played by…”
Anyway, I’m sure it won’t be a big deal after the first few episodes but I’m still annoyed. The site also asked him if there was any consideration given to the character’s look in George R.R. Martin’s books.
The character of Daario looks very different in the books with his blue hair and gold-tipped mustachios. Since you guys were sort of starting over from what Ed did in Season 3, was there any discussion of having your Daario look more flamboyant?
No, there were never any discussions of that sort. I think, obviously, the show follows the books, but it’s not the books. It’s the show. So no, it was very clear that there was no way, I think. Daario in the books even has a blue beard — no. That character’s translated to the TV show. And I don’t think they ever considered a blue beard, just because he can be described in the book and you can have the image of the character and that’s one thing, but then when you see on a TV show this brutal guy [laughs], this tough guy with a blue beard, it might not work. You know what I mean?
He also mentioned in the interview there not being any time for him to research the books for the role. He said, “I got cast, and two months later I was on set. There was no way I was going to be able to prepare and read the books. There are so many ways to find out, if you want, to find out more than what’s written in the scripts. Just go online and research storylines that are in the books; that was very helpful.”
Huisman will also be featured in another fan-favorite series this April – BBC America’s Orphan Black. He’s playing Cal, a character romantically linked to lead-clone Sarah, though for some reason it’s still not listed on his IMDB page.
(via Winter Is Coming)
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