We’re all focused on our own thing now: ‘Game of Thrones’ star

By Sugandha Rawal

New Delhi, Aug 24 (IANS) "Game of Thrones" -- a twisted tale about seven kingdoms entwined with sneaky ploys, nudity and bloodshed in a quest to claim the Iron Throne -- is gradually approaching its concluding episode. Irish child artiste Art Parkinson, who featured in the fantasy series as Rickon Stark, feels the team has already started to move on.

He says they have all signed up for different projects and are "pretty focused" on their own thing now.

Parkinson's character was killed off in season six of the series last year.

Asked if he is still in touch with the team of the globally popular show, Parkinson told IANS over phone from Ireland: "Yeah... You pop into them and stuff like that. But we have all got different projects that we are working on and we are pretty focused on our own thing."

Based on the novels by George R.R. Martin, "Game of Thrones" rose to popularity around the globe, including India, with a storyline that paints a whimsical world of dragons and White Walkers on one hand, and stays close to reality by showing how relationships cannot be trusted when it comes to ruling a kingdom.

The show brought actors like Emilia Clarke, Sophie Turner, Kit Harington, Lena Headey, Maisie Williams, Peter Dinklage, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Iwan Rheon into the spiral of fame. The final season will most likely air in 2018.

Rickon Stark's demise turned around the whole story of the House of Starks -- and paved the way for Ramsay Bolton's death.

Parkinson is not fretting about not making to the final season as an original cast member.

"It is one of those things where the writers know what they are doing so I wouldn't question that," said the 15-year-old.

Parkinson's acting resume includes projects like "Freakdog", "Dracula Untold", "San Andreas" and "Kubo and the Two Strings", which will find its way onto the Indian small screen on September 10 via Sony Le PLEX HD.

Now, he wants to do more challenging "emotional" roles and expand his range.

"I just shot a couple of feature films. I really enjoyed that so I am just trying to go on with that and work on emotional characters and things like that to expand my range," he said.

Is he looking for mature roles?

"Yes, definitely."

Being a child artiste in Hollywood is never easy, with juggling between your career and studies becoming the high point in life. Parkinson says his life is not at all glamourous, and he has devised a way to balance his studies with his acting career.

"I wouldn't say it is very glamourous to be honest. I don't live in Los Angeles or anything like that. I live here in Ireland, so I get a lot of time to do my work," he says.

Explaining his method, Parkinson said: "I have an onset tutor so I do three hours a day with the tutor. And because it is working one-on-one with him, I usually get a lot more done than I would in school."

Parkinson has a lot of interesting projects lined up. "The only thing I can tell you is that I have finished shooting three feature films for Christmas."

(Sugandha Rawal can be contacted at sugandha.r@ians.in)