Richard Madden knows how lucky he is that “Game of Thrones” executive producers David Benioff and Dan Weiss didn’t follow George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” books exactly for Season 2 of the HBO hit.

If they had, he would not have been in it. His character, Robb Stark, would not be arguing with his mother, defeating the Lannisters in battle or, maybe most importantly, meeting the woman of his dreams.

“It was a huge compliment for me that David and Dan kind of believed in what I was doing enough to allow that to happen and me to run with it,” Madden, 26, told me last week during a phone interview. “It’s allowed me to do scenes that no one has seen because they weren’t in the books. So I was very thankful and very pleased.”

In the latest episode, “Garden of Bones,” Robb’s army wins another battle and afterward he meets Talisa (Oona Chaplin), a healer helping the injured on the battlefield. It isn’t clear if Talisa is meant to be Jeyne, a character from the books, but one thing is certain: She has cast a spell over Robb.

“She’s a breath of fresh air, kind of light in this darkness. He’s never met or seen anyone like her before,” he said.

The romance gave the Scottish actor another chance to interpret Robb in his own way, and to play emotions he hasn’t had a chance to explore with the character. This being “Game of Thrones,” it also gave him a chance to ditch Robb’s heavy costumes of leather, furs and armor.

“Umm, without spoiling it, I think you’re going to see Robb wearing less armor than normal,” Madden said, laughing. “How’s that?”

I’m sure fans will be happy to hear it. Madden and I talked more about Robb’s evolution, working with Michelle Fairley (who plays his mother, Lady Catelyn), and whether Robb’s honor could lead to trouble like it did for his father, Ned Stark.

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The three strapping lads from Game of Thrones, HBO’s mega-awesome adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, visited Miami yesterday to reflect on their roles and announce the show has been renewed for a third season.

Richard Madden (Robb Stark), Kit Harington (Jon Snow), and Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy) met up with Cultist for a spell, where we found out that in the upcoming season of Game of Thrones, you can expect to see Lord Theon Greyjoy in ladies’ clothes. Well, kind of.

Allen did tell us that he would have liked to play the role of Arya, and that he was excited to say the deviously manipulative line “Try smiling with your lips closed” to an on-screen lover with unfortunate dental aesthetics.

“When I read that line I was just like, I couldn’t wait to deliver it,” he said in a lovely London accent, tapping on his pack of Parliaments. About the scene as a whole, in which his character roughly ravishes an ingenuous naked girl on a boat, he added, “Is it uncomfortable? Noooo!”

Allen said it takes roughly five months to film a season of Game of Thrones. Allen, Harington and Madden spent most of their time last summer filming in Iceland.

Harington told us none of his scenes in the show’s second season were shot in a studio. In Iceland, “It was minus 30 degrees [Celsius] most of the time,” said Harington. That’s roughly -22 F, for you Americans.

And sadly, the guys didn’t get to do much other than work in Iceland. “We did see the Northern Lights, which were really beautiful. But we didn’t go sightseeing, because we were seeing all the sights while driving from one filming location to another.”

Miami, of course, offers far more comfortable climes. But their visit is mostly for work, so the nice weather may be lost on them. Still, Allen said he’s gotten out to Soho Beach House in Miami Beach, and planned on checking out the Delano on Tuesday.

“I like to party. Do you like to party? Do you wanna party tonight?” said Allen, with a totally straight face. (Um, yes. Yes we do.)

Richard Madden, however, would rather Skype with his family while he’s away.

“I’m not shy of a party,” he said, adding, “I don’t get to see my family very often. I miss out on birthdays and weddings, and as an actor, if you want to engage in the studio, sometimes you have to sacrifice those things unless you get really good at Skype.”

Madden and Harington both said they share some of their characters’ qualities, or at least try to. Of course, if you played the righteous Robb Stark and the heroic Jon Snow on screen, you’d probably want to be like them too.

“I’d like to say that as a person I’d do the same things Jon did,” said Harington, about his character’s need to save and avenge people. Madden said, “I think Robb lives by certain rules, and I try to live by certain rules.”

Madden added, “Sometimes I get taken over by the character…. So you gotta make sure you have a beer at the bar,” to maintain the lines between acting and reality.

Allen made clear he loves his character’s devious nature — he’s neither a hero nor a villain, even more so in the show than in the books. However, he’s open to trying different things.

“I’d love to play a female role,” he said. “Why not? Just give it a go. I’d also love to get into that comedy side of things. I think as an actor you can’t be too picky about stuff, you just got to get on with it.”

All three of the guys admitted they try to stay away from Internet commentary and fan’s reactions — the good and the bad — to their characters, to avoid people’s opinions from influencing their performance.

(source)