Game of Thrones' Tom Wlaschiha Says That A Man Knows Nothing

If you’re a fan of Game of Thrones, you’ll surely know about Jaqen H'ghar, one of the Faceless men, a guild of assasins. Jaqen H'ghar met Arya Stark at King’s  Landing and after their encounter gave her a coin to use if she ever decides to go to Braavos.  At the end of Season 4, Arya approached the captain of a boat, showed him the iron coin and told him that Jaqen had instructed her to say. He offered her a cabin aboard his boat to go back to his home in Braavos. After being dropped off at the House of Black and White, she began her training as “no one.” She trained and after some time left.

Jaqen H'ghar is played by Tom Wlaschiha, whom we got to interview in Singapore. The prolific actor shared a bit about his background and what he still looks forward to in Game of Thrones.

Tom Wlaschiha

Metro.Style: Compare your acting in television, films, and theater, how are they different and how are they the same for you?

Tom Wlaschiha: It’s different techniques so, I started out doing a lot of theaters in Germany. I love theater, this is where I am coming from basically. It’s a different technique in film, you have to find a form of what you’re playing, it allows you to do bigger things on stage than in front of the camera. But I also love camera acting because it’s more intimate, it’s more subtle—and if you’re playing a character that is quite far from you, personally, ‘cause the camera sees everything—and you have to be really convincing in doing that it’s not always easy.

M.S.: Did any of them prepare you for your stardom in Game of Thrones?

T.W.: I don’t know if I needed preparation, I’ve been doing this 20 years ago before Game of Thrones, I’ve always been lucky to make a living just from acting, so I didn’t have to do any jobs on the side. I consider myself very lucky but of course things have changed a bit since Game of Thrones, it made it much easier for me to get on a part—to be considered for other part, that’s one of the greatest gifts I got from Game of Thrones.

M.S.: Are you recognized outside?

T.W.: Surprisingly yes. I would never recognize myself without the wig. Just walking past on the street, there are so many fans apparently know what I look like in real life, so I do get recognized quite a lot, yeah.

M.S.:Can you tell us a little bit about what your favorite scene is?

T.W.: Some of my favorite scenes were, like, the last scene in season 2, where for the first time I changed my face—I really like that. When I gave Arya the coin and then she followed me and I suddenly changed my face. I also like the way we did it—the other actor and me, we had to wear the same clothes and the same wig and then we have to perform this little choreography so in the end they could blend it via CGI—that was fun. And the final scene on season 5 when I drank poison and dropped dead and the suddenly came back to life, I mean who doesn’t want that, that was so fun to do.

M.S.: Do you feel that the role (of Jaqen H'ghar) is training you for other kinds of roles? I mean because this is something you have (gone through over the years?)

T.W.: I don’t think I would take on other roles where I would speak on the third person any time soon. Every role is different. I’ve said that before, when looking for new projects, the only thing that matters is the script and the part. I’m happy to do any genre. I’m happy to do a comedy or fantasy or period drama as long as the character’s interesting.

When it comes to characters, I more prefer broken characters that encounter problems, going on a journey that is not easy. So most of the time, I find antagonists more interesting than the heroes.

M.S.: Can you tell us what’s going to happen to your character next season?

T.W.: Unfortunately a man knows nothing. (laughs) [Ed’s note: This is a reference to GOT.]

M.S.: Can you tell us a bit more about your future projects? Not just Game fo Thrones but other things you’re working on that we can look forward to?

T.W.: I just finished filming a new series for Sky Germany, called Das Boot, it's based on a classic German movie from the late ‘70s. It’s a World War II drama, submarine, warfare. We just filmed that in Czech Republic and France. It’ll air sometime later this year.

M.S.: What do you do to unwind when you have spare time and not working?

T.W.: I sleep it’s my favorite hobby. I do sports, but not religiously. There’s not like, one kind of sports that I prefer. I go to the gym and workout once in a while but generally I’m quite lazy.