Speaker 1: This is Later with Lee Matthews, The Lee Matthews Podcast
Speaker 1: More what You Hear Weekday Afternoon's on the Drive.
Speaker 2: He's most known as Hodor and Game of Thrones a
Speaker 2: fan favorite. Christian Narren is also an author. His newest
Speaker 2: memoir is called Beyond the Throne. He's joining us now
Speaker 2: to talk about it, and Christian. Just reading about the
Speaker 2: memoir itself, I'm struck by the line from the Grateful
Speaker 2: Dead song, what a long, strange trip it's been.
Speaker 3: Wow, that is probably very accurate. Actually it does, I'm
Speaker 3: gonna tell you it does. Fila got from my side
Speaker 3: as well.
Speaker 2: You started out in Ireland when you were a young man,
Speaker 2: when Ireland was in a pretty tumultuous time.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I mean I think we're all very grateful
Speaker 3: that it's not quite that way now. I'm very proud
Speaker 3: of how it's changed. Actually, we obviously still have it
Speaker 3: cheese like every place, but yeah, I don't with Game
Speaker 3: of Thrones and stuff. It's just nice to have a
Speaker 3: spotlight shown on the country for a different reason.
Speaker 2: Mm hmm. Well, and I don't know that people realize
Speaker 2: how tumultuous it was because so many generations have passed
Speaker 2: since there was that religious strife between the people of
Speaker 2: Ireland and but at the same time, when you were
Speaker 2: living and growing up, did you personally experience any of
Speaker 2: any of the violence.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I don't say this as a sob story,
Speaker 3: my friend, because we all went through this in Belfast
Speaker 3: and Ireland. We all have a shared experience and a
Speaker 3: shared trauma, and some of us are very badly affected.
Speaker 3: Some of us got through it and in a lighter way,
Speaker 3: but it was a very dark time. And normalize being
Speaker 3: knocked off your feet by bomb blasts on a regular
Speaker 3: basis and obstantly been evacuated, seeing people being shocked, just
Speaker 3: that kind of thing where we all have this in
Speaker 3: our dna. I actually think it's where we have the
Speaker 3: Irish sense of humor from. We have this crazy sense.
Speaker 3: I'm telling you right now, he's traveled every country in
Speaker 3: the world. Basically, no one gets our sense of humor
Speaker 3: like we do because it's black people will get it.
Speaker 3: And I think we're being kind of cruel, But that's
Speaker 3: just how we coped, you know, the only way. That's
Speaker 3: why we have such a unique sense of humor. But
Speaker 3: I loved my country and I love on both sides
Speaker 3: of the border. I'm so proud to be from there.
Speaker 2: He's known as Hodor and Game of Thrones. His newest
Speaker 2: memoirs called Beyond the Throne his first memoir where he
Speaker 2: shares behind the scenes stories of the perils and triumphs
Speaker 2: of Game of Thrones. And if you're a fan, you'll
Speaker 2: love this. Christianairean is with us. Now, did you draw
Speaker 2: upon any of those experiences growing up in a tumultuous
Speaker 2: time in Ireland when you had to act out a
Speaker 2: tumultuous scene on Game of Thrones?
Speaker 3: Well, actually no, I'm going to say no, but not consciously.
Speaker 3: But obviously everything I do is probably going to be
Speaker 3: influenced by that, just like we all are. I really
Speaker 3: called more on my own sort of shyness and introversion
Speaker 3: for one of a better word, when I was a
Speaker 3: child and teenager even, and that's what I put into Holder,
Speaker 3: and that's what I put into those scenes. I was like,
Speaker 3: I would I have reacted when I didn't have the
Speaker 3: experiences I have. I was trying to put myself back
Speaker 3: to when it was more innocent and shy and really
Speaker 3: put myself in that position. I would I have reacted
Speaker 3: back then? And that's kind of what I poured in there,
Speaker 3: so I think you're actually right. I think those experiences
Speaker 3: did partly go into it.
Speaker 2: Christionnaireing Beyond the Throne is his memoir, And let's talk
Speaker 2: a little about about your growing up, because I don't
Speaker 2: know that there's anything long and strange about becoming an
Speaker 2: actor on a hit show like a Game of Thrones,
Speaker 2: but it is when you are not a trained actor,
Speaker 2: or which you were not.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was kind of more short and strange. I
Speaker 3: am trying now I should say, yes, of course, yeah,
Speaker 3: that's yeah. I kind of had I had the best
Speaker 3: on the job training, you know, which wasn't given to me.
Speaker 3: I took it assume that I was on this amazing
Speaker 3: set with these incredible actors from all over the world,
Speaker 3: and I would be insane not to try and learn
Speaker 3: from that. You know, these are the top of their game.
Speaker 3: So I just tried to be like a sponge. But yeah,
Speaker 3: I s it's bizarre, really maybe short and strange the
Speaker 3: way I got into it. I definitely wasn't passed.
Speaker 2: Christiannaire and Beyond the Throne is his memoir about his
Speaker 2: days and not only on Game of Thrones but growing
Speaker 2: up in Ireland and one of your adventures led you
Speaker 2: to DJing and a club. How did you get into that?
Speaker 3: Well, I was actually performing. It was probably the world's
Speaker 3: most unlikely drag artist at the time. The club in Belfast,
Speaker 3: and literally one night as DJ phoned in sick and
Speaker 3: I said, well, I have a last music collection and
Speaker 3: I know how to DJ because I went to me
Speaker 3: to college. I fell then and a Literally I must
Speaker 3: have done something right because since that night I've just
Speaker 3: been at DJ and I haven't stopped.
Speaker 2: DJA and has been since well for the past two decades.
Speaker 2: So you're still actively doing that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, three three decades. I'm coming up to three, almost
Speaker 3: thirty years. Yep.
Speaker 2: What is it about DJing that that makes you happy?
Speaker 3: Well, it's the crowd really. I mean we get gratification,
Speaker 3: instant reaction, which you don't really get as an actor
Speaker 3: unless you didn't theater. That's a huge high. But the
Speaker 3: crowd can affect me as much as I affect them,
Speaker 3: you know, as they're not having a great night or
Speaker 3: there's a weird mood. I love that though. I love
Speaker 3: the whole emotional roller coaster of it all. It's very dramatic,
Speaker 3: you know.
Speaker 2: I'm from Game of Thrones as whole door, but he's
Speaker 2: also had appearances on the appearance Robin Hood Rebellion, Mythical
Speaker 2: The God Slayer, and television shows like The Rookie Christian Naire.
Speaker 2: And is with us. Of the co stars that you
Speaker 2: were working with on Game of Thrones, which one do
Speaker 2: you think taught you the most.
Speaker 3: The most? That's interesting. Normally I say here because he
Speaker 3: would be the one I was with most, but I
Speaker 3: guess if we're going for taught, I would say Ron
Speaker 3: Donald No, Ron Donalkey and Donald Sumpter Bosom. Yeah, there
Speaker 3: was sort of older actors. Ron played a sell he
Speaker 3: was the arms master in winter Fell, and Donald tays
Speaker 3: like the old sort of doctor meister Lewin. They had
Speaker 3: just such old skill acting techniques. I'm just wonderful to watch.
Speaker 3: Every take was different, Like we also were always encouraged
Speaker 3: to for editing sake, try to do something very similar
Speaker 3: slightly different, but for another take you'll do something slightly different.
Speaker 3: They would give it slightly different performance, and it was
Speaker 3: really wonderful to watch. It was almost like watching live theater.
Speaker 3: So I'll definitely give it to one of those two.
Speaker 2: Speaking of which you were you were always filming in
Speaker 2: very gothic locations where the weather wasn't always very favorable.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean that's home for me though. Yeah, some
Speaker 3: of the things were like five miles from my house.
Speaker 3: Oh okay, yeah, I live in western els Man, So yeah,
Speaker 3: that was I'm kind of used to that. But it
Speaker 3: wasn't like at some at some stages, especially the night shoots,
Speaker 3: and then went through that. That was. That was rough.
Speaker 2: Kristin Naron is with us hod Or from Game of
Speaker 2: Thrones and his memoir is out. It's called Beyond the Throne.
Speaker 2: You know, you're still a pretty young guy. A lot
Speaker 2: of people usually wait till they're about ready to retire
Speaker 2: to write a memoir.
Speaker 3: What inspired you, Well, that's when I learned the difference
Speaker 3: in a photobiography and a memoir. I didn't know before
Speaker 3: this because I was like, my Lef's not over, I
Speaker 3: can't write this. But then this is just the first
Speaker 3: part of my life. I say it as and I
Speaker 3: do actually plan to write another one because I forgot
Speaker 3: half the stuff and you're like, oh, okay, I forgot
Speaker 3: about that, And I don't feel that right reached my
Speaker 3: final destination yet, so I'm still very much working and
Speaker 3: seeing what happens. So I am interested to see if
Speaker 3: I can write another book, but I definitely planned to.
Speaker 2: Was there a friend or relative that encouraged you, Oh,
Speaker 2: you want to write a book?
Speaker 3: Mm hmmm, I don't know. Really. My mom was very behind. Obviously.
Speaker 3: I talked quite a lot about her in the book,
Speaker 3: and I had to get her. I wanted to be
Speaker 3: respectful and express permission to talk about all that stuff.
Speaker 3: But yeah, I don't think it really suck any my
Speaker 3: family's opinions out side.
Speaker 2: Of that, Christianaire, yeah, uh, Beyond and your moms, I
Speaker 2: imagine she was very supportive all through your childhood and
Speaker 2: your choices of career and and choices of of how
Speaker 2: you were going to spend your time.
Speaker 3: Yeah, even when she didn't always agree with the mom,
Speaker 3: she always backed me up. And she still does so
Speaker 3: this very day.
Speaker 2: I'm very lucky Beyond the Throne his first memoir, Christiannaire,
Speaker 2: and is with us. And let's talk about some of
Speaker 2: the projects you've got coming. The Game of Thrones is
Speaker 2: not where it ends.
Speaker 3: Oh well, I've got a lot of comic cons coming up.
Speaker 3: I've been working on a lot of them. In new music,
Speaker 3: I've been writing some poetry, working on some more writing
Speaker 3: as well, and there's a few projects with I'm not
Speaker 3: allowed to talk about amount of the Typical Actors book.
Speaker 3: We all do the actor thing, you know. I'm that's
Speaker 3: so boring, but that's yeah to any time coming up.
Speaker 3: I'm very excited.
Speaker 2: I imagine you're a big hit at comic cons.
Speaker 3: It's fun. Man. I never expect any of this, but yeah,
Speaker 3: I'm always very busy at comic cons, and i always
Speaker 3: try to be very respectful to my fans, like saying
Speaker 3: my fans, you know, it's weird. I love them and
Speaker 3: the fact that they spend their money and they come
Speaker 3: out and they're so kind. It means the world to me.
Speaker 2: Beyond the Throne Christian Narren is the writer of the
Speaker 2: memoir you know as Hodor on Game of Thrones. We
Speaker 2: thank you for joining us and for bringing us this book.
Speaker 3: Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to Later with Lee Matthews, the Lee
Speaker 1: Matthews Podcast, and remember to listen to The Drive Live
Speaker 1: weekday afternoons from five to seven and iHeartMedia Presentation