AccessHollywood.com: First things first — do you know how to say your character’s name?
Tom Wlaschiha: (Laughs) Well, the decision was a bit up to me, actually.
Access: That’s hilarious.
Tom: Well, we discussed it. David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss], the producers, they asked me how I would pronounce it and I told them I’d say Jaqen (editor’s note: sounds like Jack-in) and they were fine with it.
Access: How great it was your call. There are so many characters in the books with names you’ve never heard spoken before.
Tom: I know, and written it looks a bit weird and you don’t really know how to pronounce it at first. And he’s a strange and mysterious character, so I thought his name might sound strange and mysterious as well.
Access: So at the beginning of Season 2, tell us about Jaqen – is he a good guy or a bad guy?
Tom: I think the great thing about Jaqen is he’s very [ambiguous] as a character, and you don’t really know… That’s what’s great about ‘Game of Thrones’ – all the characters are not portrayed in a cliche [way]. They’re not cliches, they’re all human. They have positive sides to them and negative sides, so certainly Jaqen… we don’t really know where he comes from or, if he has a secret agenda, what that is.
Access: How important is Jaqen to Arya’s story as we see her in Season 2?
Tom: At the beginning, Arya doesn’t trust him at all because he’s a convict, he’s being taken to The Wall as a prisoner and then something attracts her to him.
Access: Now your character is supposed to look a bit different. Tell me about the costume and of course, the hair…
Tom: They did an awesome job. I had to go to makeup and costume rehearsals a few times before we actually started shooting and both departments did such an incredible job in choosing costumes. Basically, I’m wearing several layers of — I don’t know what it is — it’s old rags, and stuff like torn shirts, but it’s really an incredible costume. And the wig? Well… I’ve read a lot of discussions on websites about the wig, because in the books it’s clearly two colors — the grey or white and red. A lot of people are very concerned that might look ridiculous in real life, but I think they did an incredible job – [the] makeup people. I thought it [looked] perfectly natural. The last time I had long hair, I was 24. That’s quite a while ago, so it felt good to have long hair again.
Access: And hopefully they washed those clothes.
Tom: I’m sure they did. If they didn’t, I wouldn’t really have cared because it helps to play the character, for me. I don’t think in medieval ages everything was clean.
Access: What was it like working with Maisie Williams (Arya)? She’s so talented.
Tom: She’s great. I mean, it’s incredible. Everything seems to come really natural with her. You don’t have the impression — I mean how old is she?… I think she’s 14 now and she’s totally cool and doesn’t seem to be nervous. [She] just does her stuff and delivers perfectly.
Access: And she’s around all these boys too, holding her own.
Tom: I think she likes that (laughs).
Access: The town you’re actually from, I’m going to butcher the name… Dohna?
Tom: Yeah, Dohna. That’s a very small place. It’s near Dresden.
Access: I read that it’s very old. Did growing up in a historic place make ‘GOT’ more interesting for you?
Tom: (Laughs) Well, the place that I grew up in, it certainly is quite old, it also was completely destroyed during the war. They’re rebuilding parts of it now, but I really like all kinds of historic films and books because it gives you the opportunity to really dive into another time period. I got to wear a wig and ride on horses and use weapons. Yeah, it’s a bit like a fairytale, and most of the time, you play characters that are very close to who you are in real life and this kind of book gives you totally different opportunities.
Access: How many books have you actually read?
Tom: I’ve read the first two books… I have to read a few other things in between, but I’ll definitely read 3, 4 and 5…. When I first saw the books, I thought, ‘Oh my God. 1,000 pages each, I’m never going to make it through,’ and then I think I made it through a book in 2 days, 3 days. It’s such a page turner. You just can’t put it away.
Access: As a man who speaks many languages, did you read it in your native language or…
Tom: No, no, no, I read it in English. If possible I like to read the books in the language they were written.
Access: That’s so fascinating that you speak so many languages.
Tom: But that was kind of the only thing that interested me in school. I grew up in East Germany, so we had to learn Russian in school… everybody hated it. I never thought it would come in handy…. And being an actor, I’ve been able to use it quite a bit.
Access: You said you went on the Internet. Do you visit the fan sites or is there a secret Tom Twitter account you use to do find out information?
Tom: No, I just did some research when I read the books and I wanted to find out more and I came upon all those fan sites and I just read a little bit. I didn’t want to be [too influenced] by anything… I wanted to get my own impression of the books and to have my own imagination and fantasies about the part.
Access: Has anyone who is a ‘GOT’ fan recognized you yet?
Tom: No, not so far, but I’ve been amazed… I moved to London half-a-year ago, and I’ve seen so many people read the books on the tube and on planes, it’s unbelievable. For a while, there didn’t seem to be other books around (laughs). I kept seeing people read ‘Game of Thrones.’ It’s amazing.
Access: So you recently finished a German comedy – what is it called?
Tom: The German comedy is called ‘Frisch Gepresst’ (laughs), which translates as ‘Freshly Squeezed.’ It’s a comedy about a girl, between two guys. Basically, she’s pregnant. She doesn’t really know who’s the father. It was a fun film to shoot. And it’s going to come out at the end of August in Germany.
Access: Do you have time to do other things now?
Tom: I’m going back to do a few days on ‘Rush’ with Ron Howard now… It’s very exciting
Access: What are you doing in his film?
Tom: I’m playing a race driver called Harald Ertl… a competitor of Niki Lauda.
Access: Boys toys, you get to drive some cars I would imagine?
Tom: I hope I will!
