Young and wise, Dean-Charles Chapman arrived at Giffoni 2016 accompanied by his mother and sister, to attend a Meet the Stars event crowded with Game of Thrones fans coming from all over Italy. “Thank you for coming here. I love you” Thus spoke the English actor, who’s best-known for his portrayal of Tommen Baratheon in the latest three seasons of the multi-awarded series.
As for his character’s destiny, Chapman explained: “Of course, I would have preferred him not to die and I didn’t expect him to commit suicide. Tommen has always been surrounded by people who didn’t care for him and influenced his choices. In the end, though, it was he himself who decided his own life”. He went on recalling how he heard of ‘his’ death: “When the series authors summoned me, I realized that my time had come. ‘You know, everybody’s got to die...’ they said to me”.
Over the years the series has been repeatedly accused of being too violent and crowded with sex scenes. “It’s true, there’s a lot of sex and violence but they also belong to reality, therefore they are perfectly understandable. The only unreal thing of Game of Thrones is dragons”. The series, in fact, exhorts “not to be fooled by greed for power – he went on – and Tommen’s story, in particular is a spur for living our life without being afraid of the judgement of others”.
Talking about his character’s death, he took the chance to make a remark on teen depression, which often drives the youth to suicide: “What we can do, in our own small way, is to talk to those who are in trouble, smile and spread the love for life”, just like it happens here at Giffoni.
Chapman’s forthcoming destinations include Will, a miniseries about Shakespeare made in the USA, The Commuter by Jaume Collet-Serra, an action movie starring Liam Neeson and set for release in 2017, and Breathe, directed by Andy Serkis, where he portrays a man who tries to survive poliomyelitis. Tonight at Giffoni 2016 will be presented the preview screening of Fungus the Bogeyman, also featuring Chapman, a live action film TV produced by Imaginarium Studios Production for Sky Television, based on the children’s book of the same name by Raymond Briggs which will be released in Italy next September on SKY Cinema Family HD (channel 306).
