Any time there’s a TV show that becomes a sensation, particularly an HBO show, it seems like a matter of time before feature film casting agents start poaching that talent pool mercilessly.
Daenerys Targaryen herself, Emilia Clarke, for example, beat out some pretty stiff competition to play Sarah Connor in the upcoming “Terminator” rebootquel, which has got to lead to some interesting conversations whenever she’s hanging around the sinister Cersei Lannister, Lena Headey, who already played the role for the Fox “Terminator” series. Maisie Williams is starting to book film work between seasons, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is working non-stop these days, Aidan Gillen was just in the much-discussed Sundance title “Calvary,” and Richard Madden’s already kicked off a new series, “Klondike,” and wrapped work as Prince Charming in Kenneth Branagh’s “Cinderella,” keeping him busy since the Red Wedding occurred.
Kit Harington will appear in next year’s “Seventh Son,” the big Jeff Bridges magic and monsters movie that Legendary’s been working on for a while, and he’s a voice in “How To Train Your Dragon 2” this year, but his first real test as a post-“Game” movie star comes with the release of “Pompeii,” or, as I like to call it, “Volcano Titanic.”
When we sat down to talk about the disaster-romance, I had to broach the subject of “Game Of Thrones” a bit, and it seemed natural when talking about the physical builds that still occur on films, even with the reliance on more and more greenscreen environments. The Belfast stages where they shoot much of “Game Of Thrones” were the actual shipyard where the real Titanic was built and launched, and they are some of the biggest production spaces I’ve ever seen. I was there for “Your Highness,” and at that point, they were just starting to build for the “Game Of Thrones” shoot. We also talked a bit about the way anticipation seems to grow bigger and more vocal with each new season, and the way the fandom continues to grow.
“Game Of Thrones” returns on HBO on April 6, 2014.
“Pompeii” erupts in theaters everywhere on February 21, 2014.