In the game of Comic Con, you win or you die. And I won. I felt like Bran as I scaled the levels of the Hardrock Hotel San Diego, drawing closer to the building’s rooftop pinnacle and the premiere event of the evening. Along the way, I encountered a BASTARD, who happened to be dining across the great hall with a ruthless HORSE LORD, a vicious QUEEN and some other broken things. We reached the top of the tower–Summit Entertainment’s Comic Con soiree–where the BASTARD introduced me to his mates: a brunette KHALEESI and a scruffy KINGSLAYER.
When you meet celebrities, be it at Comic Con or any other of the myriad Hollywood events, you learn to expect an air of superiority or a parading of status. I was thrilled to find out the actors who bring us a taste of Westeros each Sunday are incredibly down to earth and only now coming to understand how much we love them (“we” meaning the 4,000 Game of Thrones panel attendees and the 2,000 fans waiting outside its doors).
Emilia Clarke is a kind and genuinely striking young woman, as gracious as she is beautiful. We spoke about Daenerys, the challenges of the Dothraki language and our comicly contrasting heights: mine a 6′0″ and hers a 5′3″ sans heels. Kit Harington is a charming British theatre actor, gradually adjusting to the “bizarre” world that is Hollywood. And Nicolaj Coster-Waldau is a far cry from his Kingslayer counterpart. The Denmark native is warm and personable; and it just so happens that he recognized me from my Game of Thrones for Dummies series. An added bonus to the evening’s events!
After this weekend, I’ve come to appreciate who these people are, both on and off screen, and can vouch for the fact that the show’s ever-growing fanbase is not unjustified. These talented actors are the real McCoy, and they’re here to stay. I can’t wait to see what lies ahead for them and for the show that has launched them into the limelight.