All men must die.
The slogan this year for “Games of Throne” made one actor check his work pulse.
Alfie Allen, who plays Theon Greyjoy on the HBO series, says the powers-that-be actually told him his character was on the offed list.
“First, no one truly knows if they will survive to the next week on ‘Game of Thrones,’ ” says the London native. “But there was a point at the end of the season where I kept asking producers, ‘Just please tell me. Am I gonna die?’ ”
The answer was … yes. (Insert scream here.)
“They wrote a script where I was killed by Bran,” Allen says. “I believed it and it was just so sad. Three or four weeks later, I went on holiday and finally figured out that it wasn’t going to happen, and then everyone told me it was a big joke.”
But this is no joke: Allen is coming to the big screen on Friday in “John Wick,” co-starring with Keanu Reeves.
“It’s a fun action movie with great drama,” says Allen who auditioned from the “Thrones” set. “I read for my part on Skype. It was my official audition in this age of technology. It was very quick.” Soon, he found himself on a set opposite Reeves, Willem Dafoe and John Leguizamo. The film centers on an ex-hitman who steps out of retirement to find the gangsters who wrecked his life.
Does this mean action scenes for Allen? “I’m on the receiving end of the action, which is as much as I can tell you about my character. I can tell you that I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie. I was a snowboarder when I was little. If I didn’t act, I was going to become a professional snowboarder and teach lessons.”
Allen grew up in the Hammersmith section of London with his older sister, future pop star Lily Allen. He did excel in snow sports, but a left knee injury ended any career aspirations. He switched his aspirations to acting and began his career starring in movies including “Atonement” and “The Other Boleyn Girl.”
He says that it didn’t surprise him that “Thrones” has such a worldwide fan base.
“I was recently in Chicago and the fans went crazy for my career. It’s good to meet the fans and gauge their reaction,” he said. “They’re dying to know what’s coming up next, but they don’t want to know at the same time.”
The fans’ No. 1 question: Has he read all the books?
“I stopped reading them halfway through the third book. I didn’t want to know. I didn’t want to make choices based on know what would happen. I didn’t want to think years ahead,” he says. “The books have its own thing going on.”
The “Thrones” fans are actually a respectful lot.
“I haven’t had any crazy fan encounters or marriage proposals,” he says with a laugh. “I just get, ‘Are you going to live to the next episode?’ ”
