Game of Thrones: Newbies Are Coming – Alexander Siddig 

They may be few and far between, but every once and a while, a TV show comes along that impacts viewers in such a way that it becomes a cultural phenomenon. Spawning spin-offs, fan fiction, a cult following and conventions, a franchise is born.

is often regarded as the most culturally influential TV show of the 20th century,

, given both its record-breaking viewing figures and devoted fan base, might just be the 21st century equivalent. It’s quite singular therefore, that British actor Alexander Siddig has starred in both: after playing Doctor Bashir in

for seven years in the 90s, this season Siddig has joined the cast of

as Doran Martell, the Prince of Dorne. “I’m a genre TV kid. I’m part of the sci-fi/geek world, which is great, because geeks are taking over right now.”

 airing tonight, we caught up with Siddig to talk cult shows, Malcolm McDowell and why he’s only recently accepted that some might consider him an actor.

fans. It’s too early, I’ve only appeared in one scene and goodness knows how many more I’ll be in! I engage with

fans sometimes still, and a lot of them also watch

, so we talk about that a lot. [The shows] don’t compare.

was shot in Paramount Studios in Hollywood on a studio lot, 26 episodes a season. This is ten shows, shot all over the world, with 350 actors, none of whom, except for Peter perhaps, can boast about being the star of the show. Star Trek had seven stars, and they were treated like royalty. We were wheeled around; people brushed our teeth; they made our beds for us. Whereas with this, you’re on your own, you start at the bottom. That’s the life of an actor; you’re always starting again as a junior.

They treat us very well! They throw parties, they have open bars, they give you presents all the time, but they do that for everybody, there’s no special treatment. They don’t pat you on the back and feed your confidence. They expect you to act. There are two choices for an actor, you can either become a star, or you can be an actor, although a lot of people coincidently manage both, but you find the ones who want to be a star, generally aren’t thought of very highly as actors.

to be, in a way, quite a grounding first experience for an actor?

Yes, but I think at the same time it’s a total head fuck. It’s immeasurably disconcerting to be on the most popular show, you should at least start out doing a panto in a remote village somewhere! To come in at the top of the game, you really can only go down. I suppose that’s the most difficult hurdle for these kids, all of whom are brilliant! They’re all really good. I don’t have a problem with any of the actors [on this show], which is really unusual! [Laughs] I don’t think anyone should take it as “this is going to be my life forever!”

When I was spoke to Toby Sebastian (who plays Trystane Martel) he told me that you were a voice of reason for him when he would freak out about what might happen in the show…

He’s a kid; he gets to be like that. He’s brilliantly talented; he’s a brilliant musician as well. I’ve been around the block. You can’t wish yourself anywhere because you just don’t end up there. The career always has another plan for you.

– that alone was really exciting. It’s a very blank canvas that they give you; they don’t tell you much about the character, in fact they say “ best not to try and look him up on the internet because you’ll just get confused”. I had seen Pedro [Pascal] play the part of my brother, Oberyn. I liked his charisma – that Spanish, romantic, hotheaded personality. Mixing that with my interpretation of the character, which was a much more stately, pensive, smart man, was what made him such an interesting character to play.

Absolutely, I can only disappoint. I really don’t want to. The bar is high. The expectations are real. You don’t want to be the weakest link in

How is will we see your character’s storyline play out?

I’m wondering the same thing to be really honest with you! I’m not sure how it is going to play out. I’ve only done two weeks of filming, so I’ve only been given a tantalising glimpse of what the character is up to. In season five he’s really caught between a rock and a hard place, he’s in a very difficult situation. He doesn’t want to take his people to war; there’s a compelling reason why he should, one which his sister-in-law Ellaria points out; she’s obviously furious. There’s that big push from that side of the family and the Sand Snakes. That’s how we start. There’s this tension building and something’s going to blow. I honestly don’t know whether they’re going to stab me in the back, poison me (as they really want to do) or whether I’m somehow going to hold them at bay while I get my shit together, before just hurtling into war and losing hundreds of thousands of people.

How much did they tell you about the character and his future when you were auditioning?

They told me that he had gout, so he can’t walk. He’s constantly in pain. He can’t walk around in front of his people with strength and dignity, so he tends to hide away. All the usual

handicaps, everybody has a problem. Everybody seems to need protection, so I have DeObia.

When you left drama school you started working as a director. Is it true that you fell into acting accidentally?

I fell into acting back when there were no Arabs anywhere. There really weren’t. In 1990/1991, someone hired me to do a TV series because I was the only actor with an Arabic name in their mid twenties. The only other person at the audition was a mini cab driver who had answered an advert; he wasn’t an actor at all. That’s how desperate they were; they were putting ads in the papers. Acting paid in a way that directing never did. I always thought I was going to direct, I still thought I would until I was about 40, and I’m 50 now. I thought acting was just a temporary job and that eventually I’d get to do what I wanted to actually do. I wasn’t serious about acting. It was when I made a movie called

I realised and I was an actor; that was how people saw me. There was no point trying to swim upstream.

Your uncle is Malcolm McDowell, did his career influence you to go into film?

Definitely! Although I would never have admitted it, he never took be for a whisky and said, “Look, Sid, what are you going to do? You should act.” It was a surprise to him that I was in a film. But the fact that he was there acting, demythologised it for me. It was never a complicated or weird or extreme thing to do. And of course his agent, I could walk into their office and say “Hi, I’m Malcolm’s nephew, I’ve just been given a job, please can you do this contract for me?” Which is how I got an agent without trying to get an agent. So he was a huge influence, in a weird way.

Having working in TV over the years, have you noticed a big shift recently? Everyone’s saying that TV is taking over film.

There’s a massive shift, a tectonic shift. Everyone’s fleeing to TV because people have the stamina to watch 24-hour movies. They’ll watch five hours on the trot. You tell someone to come and see a play that will take up five hours of their day and they’re not interested, but when it comes to

, they won’t intend to watch five hours in one go, but they’ll end up doing so without realising. We love to binge when we get a chance. It’s down to there being an increase in money and talent for television – amazing new writers and producers coming into the business. The onset of video on demand, various digital download formats and that whole digital revolution, it’s the perfect storm for creating a world where TV is just ideal. Economics don’t work out very well to do that for film, you can’t release film just via VOD, you can’t just put it online. For some reason the financials are still impossibly high on a movie, and reasonably low on a TV show, so you can make ten hours of TV for the same price as one movie, even

. It will change. Film will morph, as it has to, it’s a brilliant form of short story telling, that’s what it will become, it till become the short story way of telling stuff.

Do you feel that the respect people in the acting community have for television is changing?

Oh yeah, it’s changing. It’s not changed, but it’s changing. The old school die-hard actors in Hollywood I like “I don’t do TV”, and their agents are going “You’re crazy. TV is the new black, it’s the sexy thing.” I’m a TV kid, I’m a genre TV kid, I’m a geek. I’m in the sci-fi, geek world, which is great, because geeks are taking over the world right now. They really are, everywhere. They’re cool, it’s never been seen before. People who read comics were thought of as a little bit weird, and now Marvel is this multi-billion dollar company owned by Disney.

Are there any discussions about the film industry that you’re particularly interested in? Are there any changes you want to see happen?

I think the changes that are happening are very exciting: the deconstruction of the studio oligarchy is almost completely inevitable. Traditional network television is on its way out, so there is no tyranny of scheduling and broadcasting times, advertising revenue and 47-minute long shows. You will be able to download a TV season and each show is an indeterminate length, you can have a show that’s three minutes or one that’s two hours. TV will become more chapter-based and less episode-based, it will become more like novels. Movies will continue to find their niche, TV will be this rambling thing like water running down a hill. We’re going to wriggle out of this horrible structure which is either owned by the BBC or Sky or whoever. Those guys are going to have to start thinking about their futures. Actors, directors, producers and everyone else, their creativity will be set free.

Game of Thrones airs Mondays, 9pm, on Sky Atlantic. Stay tuned to Hunger TV for more exclusive GOT content.

Don’t forget to read our interviews with Game of Thrones newbies DeObia Oparei, Jessica Henwick and Toby Sebastian.

We learn why cats aren’t always the easiest co-stars.

This week’s short explores the annual Tickle the Ivories Festival in Liverpool

View our Facebook page View our Twitter page Vistit our Instagram profile View our YouTube channel Visit us on Vimeo

Rebel Wilson owes her acting career to malaria. No, really.

 talks dream roles and celebrity hacking with Matt Diehl.

Cate Blanchett Speaks of “many” relationships with women

One From The Archives: The Interview – Hayley Atwell

We kick off the 2015 edition of the festival with our special Cannes preview.

Here’s what happened when Colin Morgan came to our studios…

Talking humans versus robots with Colin Morgan.

Game of Thrones: Newbies Are Coming – DeObia Oparei

We meet the actor who’s just joined our favourite show as Areo Hotah.

Ahead of tonight’s episode, Nathalie Emmanuel shares her most memorable onset mishap.

Installation artist Christopher Lutterodt-Quarcoo shares his latest visual project 

Hayley Atwell tells us why female action heroes are more than fodder for male fantasies.

Geoff Andrew, co-curator of the Robert Siodmak season at the BFI picks his top five Siodmak films.

director discusses youth, politics and her latest film.

Go behind the scenes of Colin Morgan’s Hunger TV shoot.

Scouted through street casting, the Cesar nominated actress tells us about performing in her first film.

One From The Archives: I Dare You: Russell Tovey

Bank Holiday Mix: Gorgon City Hunger Mix

Dirty Live: Everything Everything – Don’t Try