Can actor Tom Wlaschiha predict what will happen in Game Of Thrones?

That is the conclusion of Game Of Thrones actor Tom Wlaschiha, who likes the baddies in the hit HBO fantasy series

German actor Tom Wlaschiha (above) as the mysterious Jaqen H'ghar (left) in Game Of Thrones.
German actor Tom Wlaschiha (above) as the mysterious Jaqen H'ghar in Game Of Thrones. PHOTOS: HBO ASIA
German actor Tom Wlaschiha (above) as the mysterious Jaqen H'ghar (left) in Game Of Thrones.
German actor Tom Wlaschiha as the mysterious Jaqen H'ghar (above) in Game Of Thrones. PHOTOS: HBO ASIA

A girl asks Tom Wlaschiha - who plays the mysterious Jaqen H'ghar in blockbuster HBO fantasy series Game Of Thrones - "Will you be in season 8?"

But all he can offer is, "A man knows nothing", speaking in third person as his character would.

"That's my standard answer (to avoid giving away spoilers)," says Wlaschiha, 44, to local and regional media last Thursday. He was here as part of HBO Asia's 25th-anniversary celebrations in Singapore.

His character was not present in Season 7 of the award-winning series, which concluded in August this year, with the fate of Westeros and its inhabitants hanging in the balance.

Season 8 - the final season - is currently being filmed. The season is expected to premiere late next year or early 2019.

That said, the German actor has spent plenty of time on screen with Arya Stark, played by British actress Maisie Williams, whom he refers to in the series as "a girl" when addressing her.

He notes that throughout her journey on the series, she has had "different teacher characters and they've all been very important in making her what she is now".

The fan reactions have varied drastically over the seasons.

He says: "I found it very interesting that at the end of Season 2 when my face changed, I got a lot of reactions from fans saying, 'We want you to come back. We want you to teach Arya.'

"Then when I came back in Season 5 and I was beating her with the stick, the same fans said to me, 'How dare you? I hate you. I wish you'd never come back.'"

But he stands by his character's actions, saying: "In the end, it was successful, no? In the end, she went back to Westeros and she's quite an important player in the big endgame."

As for his favourite character - other than his own - he is quick to point out that he likes the bad guys, namely the heinous and villainous Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon) and Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson).

"I thought they were perfect, they were so evil - I always think bad guys are more fun," he says.

Later on in the interview, he deadpans that he has a private list of "people I'd like to kill".

"I haven't started working on it yet, but I might at some point."

Though he may be "the faceless man" in the series, the actor does gets recognised in public, even on his first trip to Singapore.

"I did get recognised a few times, which always amazes me," says Wlaschiha, who has already visited Little India, Chinatown and the Botanic Gardens and plans to take in Gardens by the Bay and Sentosa while he is here.

Fan encounters include people coming up to him and saying, "Valar Morghulis", the High Valyrian phrase from Game Of Thrones which means "all men must die".

"To which I respond, 'Valar Dohaeris' (all men must serve)... it makes people happy," he says.

Not only has he been touring Singapore, but he is trying local food as well. "I was very happy to find out that you cook a lot of spicy food because I love spicy stuff," he says.

He tried chilli crab, which he describes as "a bit of a surgical procedure" since he had to don an apron and gloves and use crab crackers.

He also had laksa and chicken rice "with lots of chilli", he says, rattling off a list of must-try Singaporean dishes.

As for who will sit on the Iron Throne in the end, "my personal theory is that no one will sit on the Iron Throne", he says.

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on December 04, 2017, with the headline Can actor Tom Wlaschiha predict what will happen in Game Of Thrones?. Subscribe