It's been a long time coming, but it's less than a week to go until Game Of Thrones starts! We can confirm that it's definitely worth tuning in for - whether you're a fan of the books it's based on or a complete fantasy novice, you'll find something to grab your attention. The amazing cast includes Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy) and Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen - what a mouthful!), so along with a couple of other reporters we caught up with them to find out more about the show...

Emilia, this is one of your first roles - what a role to get!
Emilia: "I know, it's amazing. It's incredible. I couldn't have dreamed for a better role... I spent most of my life watching HBO series wishing at some point in my career I might be able to work with them and then having the opportunity so young is kind of awesome... You can't come out of drama school and think, 'It's all going to be amazing'. You have to expect to work in a bar for at least five years and be a waitress for maybe two! So it was a massive shock - a really good one though."

And Alfie, what was it like for you joining the show?
Alfie: "It's pretty cool! I was very, very happy. When I was doing all the auditions I didn't really ever think I was going to get it to be honest, so it was really great to be called back and when I got it I just hit the roof."

Emilia - for your first big role it's pretty full on with lots of nude scenes and sex scenes...
Emilia: "I love this question so much! Yeah, it was. You know, a young actress, it's not really your favourite thing, but you just kind of get so into the character you forget about it completely. HBO's tasteful, it's not like it's anything I'd be worried about, so it was absolutely fine. It's not really what I concentrated on."

Your character Daenerys is quite timid at the start - does she develop throughout the series?
Emilia: "There's going to be changes, definitely, but you have to watch the episodes to find out! But yeah, she doesn't stay timid forever at all."

The show has so much going on - romance, politics, fighting. What's your favourite part to play?
Alfie: "The fighting! I liked doing all the sword stuff, that was quite fun. And I didn't mind the nudity stuff. I quite enjoyed it! So that as well, it was great."

Did you have to do much combat training?
Alfie: "I didn't have to have a lot because my specialist weapon was a bow and arrow. I did about two days with the armoury guys."
Emilia: "He was a natural!"
Alfie: "Thanks! I really enjoyed that side of it. But I didn't have to do much training. Kit [Harington], who plays Jon Snow, he had to do quite a lot of sword training because he's up on 'The Wall' and that's basically what they do every day. I'm just kind of chilling in the castle."

Some of the characters in the show speak a different language, Dothraki. Can you speak it?
Emilia: "Completely, yeah, totally fluently! No, not really. It is a language and there's an incredible person who made up the entire language - it's got verbs, it's got everything. But it wasn't a matter of us learning that, it was more us mapping the English onto the Dothraki lines."
Alfie: "I can't really do the Dothraki because it was Emilia's whole field. But I will be learning, definitely."

The series is based on some very popular books - do you feel under pressure from fans?
Alfie: "I had someone come up to me the other day, an American guy who was like, 'Hey, well done man, really good'. I was like, 'What are you talking about?' and he's just like, 'Game Of Thrones, man'. So he'd obviously been following it. But that's the only kind of moment I've experienced so far."
Emilia: "You want to do the fans proud really because there are so many of them and it's such a popular book for a really good reason - it's an incredible read and there's so many of them that you want to do the best job you can. But I think that's what we've done. I think we've followed the book really, really well. So hopefully they'll just be really, really happy."

What do you think viewers get from this that they don't get from other fantasy shows or films?
Emilia: "It's a fantastic show for people who don't normally watch fantasy because the magic takes a back seat. It's definitely there and it progresses loads throughout the series but it's not in the forefront. It's a beautiful portrayal of well-rounded characters and a really intricate plot that you can follow and people you can relate to on a normal level. I think that's probably what separates it from all the other fantasy shows. And it's wicked!"

Some people have found it difficult to keep up with the book because of all the different names and characters - did you find that with the scripts?
Alfie: "Not really, because I'd read the book. When I was reading the book it was really hard to keep track of it and you found yourself going back through pages going, 'Hold on, did this happen?' I think reading the scripts, it was definitely easier because I had read the books, but there are so many characters in it that you have to keep sharp when reading it."
Emilia: "I think the way the script is written makes it much more accessible than the book itself because we're showing it to you as opposed to you having to follow it in words. And our amazing acting as well!"

How did it feel being on set for this show?
Emilia: "It felt like a film set. Not that I have any experience!"
Alfie: "It was great. I remember being in the castle on one of the first days and looking round and looking at the amount of extras and the effort they'd put into the set..."
Emilia: "The detail!"
Alfie: "...It was like nothing I'd ever seen. It was incredible. I think I went on to the set of Prince Of Persia and that was pretty epic, but other than that it was pretty, pretty incredible."

What was it like wearing the costumes?
Emilia: "For me it took much longer than most other people because [I wear a] wig... But it helps you get into character if you've got two hours in the chair getting yourself together. It allows you to separate yourself and just get stuck in."
Alfie: "Obviously you had to have a little bit of help putting on the whole get-up first of all but when you got into it I liked doing it all myself because it would be like the character getting up in the morning, putting on all your armour and going out for the day. So definitely that kind of helped me get into character. But thankfully I didn't have to put any wigs on or anything - I did have a bit of stubble but other than that I was OK."
Emilia: "Boys are so much luckier!"

The show is set in almost a different world - what was it like for you to get into that mindset?
Alfie: "It's very real. There's not really much magic or Dungeons & Dragons - it's all about the politics and it's about people creating allies and seeing who's going to go the furthest and making sure you're in with that person. I think once you get into the gear, that helps you get into it and believe it and be the character and be in these surroundings. Even though it's not a period piece it sort of felt like that - you had to be very regal and royal about it. But other than that it wasn't that hard."
Emilia: "I think the incredible amount of detail that went into the sets and the costumes - and also for the boys wearing armour, you don't have to try to change your physique, it does it for you! It's very kind of real in that sense."
Alfie: "The writing as well. It just makes it all so much easier for you and it makes it fun."

Was it good having such a great script to work with?
Alfie: "Yeah, it was great. I had the feeling that while [the writers] were doing the first series, as they got to know us as people they were writing for us as well, not just as the characters. They would take bits of your personality and put that in there as well, so in that respect it made it easier but it made it fun as well."

What elements of you did they put into the script?
Alfie: "Just that [my character is] a bit of a wrong'un! My character, he's kind of a good guy in the first bit but as the series goes on you get to see a darker side of him. Maybe they saw a darker side of me, I don't know. I don't think I have a dark side!"
Emilia: "No, he doesn't, he's a sweetie!"

The first episode ends with a shock - can we expect more surprises?
Emilia: "Definitely."
Alfie: "Definitely!"
Emilia: "Yeah, a huge amount. You have to keep watching!"

Game Of Thrones airs on Sunday at 9pm on HBO in the US and on Monday at 9pm on Sky Atlantic in the UK.

DS