Game of Thrones actor says show is only good for the leads

A GAME of Thrones cast member has claimed the hit series trades off its name, with poor pay, working conditions and a culture of secrecy.

Alexander Siddig says only the show’s lead actors have a manageable working life. Picture: Frederic J Brown

A GAME of Thrones actor has slammed the hit show, claiming the pay was poor and the schedule too demanding for anyone who wasn’t a main star.

Alexander Siddig, who played Doran Martell in season five, also accused those behind the program of not being transparent in their dealings with the cast or the public.

He said the popularity of the series meant HBO and co-creators Dan Weiss and David Benioff could get away with far more than anyone else.

“From an actor’s point of view, professionally you don’t want to be on a show like that for too long — unless you are one of the top leads who originated the show — because your schedule gets kind of messed up,” he told startrek.com in an outspoken interview.

“You don’t earn as much as you would if you were doing another show because they’re Game of Thrones, and they don’t have to pay anyone.”

The British actor, who is most famous for playing Dr Julian Bashir in Star Trek, said actors would be “praying they weren’t going to be killed.” Siddig was contracted to appear in at least four episodes of season six, but the creators changed their minds and killed him off in the first episode.

The British actor said the co-creators killed off his character, Doran Martell, early.

He claimed the cast weren’t paid well unless they were one of the stars. Pictured Emilia Clarke, Sophie Turner and Kit Harington. Picture: Frazer Harrison

“Why would they contract me for those four episodes?” he asked. “There was an enormous amount of fan excitement when I got named to be on the show, and everyone was like, ‘Oh my god, yes, Doran Martell. He’s going to be great as Doran Martell.’ That might have been the kiss of death. Maybe they didn’t want quite that much attention on that character.

“Maybe they thought, ‘Well, let’s prove that we’re going to stray from the books. We’re going to do something else, and he will be our first example of that’.

“Or maybe I just screwed up. Maybe I said the wrong thing to the wrong person.”

He accused HBO of “spin” and leaking its own material to increase the hype around the hit show.

“Game of Thrones is kind of the king of secrecy and spin and mystery and intrigue, as far as fans are concerned,” he said.

“There is an element of hype about it that makes it … the more secretive it is, the more special it is,” he said. “And certainly Game of Thrones plays that. They misinform the crowd and they give them tidbits to send them in wrong directions.

“So, for example, last season, I believe that the first few episodes were stolen and downloaded online, and everybody got to see them before the show actually aired, and everybody was furious at HBO and whatnot.

“I am almost positive that those four episodes were leaked by HBO themselves. So there is an enormous amount of spin going on. I can’t tell you that for sure; that’s just my opinion, but it’s games; everybody’s playing these games.”

Season seven of Games of Thrones is due to air mid-2017.