Westeros.org Interviews... Michelle Fairley

[Titan]

Seriously, that was just the last question we were able to ask before time was up. :)

And yes, the Jon Snow thing... all is explained in the first couple of episodes. We'll see what people have to say about it.

it makes sense... Although most interviewers seem to add some parting words to their writeups to indicate how the interview ended. Thanks for clarifying, though! :)

[Eir]

Some possible insight:

Steiner posted a link to this great review of Season Three over in another thread, and it mentions this mysterious Jon-based reflection of Catelyn's:

With this many storylines whizzing by like arrows, some are bound to thud to earth rather than hit their mark. A second episode monologue by Catelyn Stark (Michelle Fairley), about her relationship with her late husband’s bastard Jon Snow (Kit Harington), is particularly head-scratching, almost tantamount to outright character assassination.

http://www.thedailyb...tarks-more.html

Also telling are some responses from an interview between Michelle and a contributor to WiC.net:

Q: So what can you tease for this season?

A: ...she basically spends some time on her own, and becomes reflective that, utterly, she is the reason that this tragedy is happening to her family.

Q: If Catelyn were to encounter Jon Snow, somehow, would anything be different between the two of them, do you feel? Could she bury the hatchet, or is there too much water under that bridge?

A: That’s a very interesting question. Because part of that is mentioned in season 3. And I think she… The whole thing about Jon Snow with Catelyn is he is the physical embodiment of infidelity. That’s the way she sees it...And unfortunately, she isn’t able to move on from that. And he is the manifestation of her dead husband’s sin. And her anger and hatred is misplaced, actually. And it’s channelled into Jon Snow. And I think… at this point, in season 3, given the opportunity she would try… she would do everything in her body to try and make amends with him. But I don’t know how successful she would be. It’s so ingrained. So ingrained. And she is human.

http://winteriscomin...mpstead-wright/

Michelle's response to the second question coupled with the first article's observation that something unexpected is going to come out of Catelyn this season regarding Jon leads me to believe that she's going to express remorse over Jon in some way. If this is true, let's see if it's over her own treatment of him, or simply over her role in him joining the NW, which separated him from Robb, something she might regret at this juncture, as Robb is in sore need of people upon whom he can rely and trust.

A little less than two weeks to go before we'll know for sure!

[Ty3009]

What happened to the other interviews that were supposed to be posted each day leading up to the premiere?

[The Anti-Targ]

Anyone who hates the bastard child (being the innocent party) as displacement hate that should be directed towards the person who actually acted unfaithful has plenty to feel guilty about, if they would only stop being so self absorbed.

Jon went off the nobly serve the Nights Watch and is loyal to his family unto death. Theon ends up betraying House Stark. Yet who did Catelyn treat more respectfully?

There's plenty for Catelyn to regret when it comes to her treatment of Jon.

[PatrickStormborn]

LOL there is literally nothing for her to apologise about. She doesn't hate Jon at all. She has absolutely no feelings towards him because he isn't her child.

She actually treats him about the same as Theon, and she certainly doesn't treat Theon "respectfully" after learning he had "killed" Bran and Rickon.

But anyone who has read the spoilers of the scene in question will know that it's absolute character assassination. It's not just feeling regret over Jon, it's genuinely out of character and just stupid writing.

Basically she tells Talisa that one time, when Jon had been ill, she had prayed to the gods for his recovery and swore that she would encourage Ned to legitimise him. But when he recovered, she couldn't bring herself to do it.

It's just ridiculous. NOBODY in Westeros would ever even consider that. It's an awful idea, especially in a world that still remembers the Blackfyre Rebellion. If Robb had gotten ill like Jon did and died, her children would get NOTHING.

It's embarassing for the show. And it's one of the reasons I'm not at all interested in Robb's scenes this year. I'm only here for Daenerys and King's Landing at this point, to be perfectly honest, which is sad because Catelyn is one of my favourite characters in the books.

[Ty3009]

LOL there is literally nothing for her to apologise about. She doesn't hate Jon at all. She has absolutely no feelings towards him because he isn't her child.

She actually treats him about the same as Theon, and she certainly doesn't treat Theon "respectfully" after learning he had "killed" Bran and Rickon.

But anyone who has read the spoilers of the scene in question will know that it's absolute character assassination. It's not just feeling regret over Jon, it's genuinely out of character and just stupid writing.

Basically she tells Talisa that one time, when Jon had been ill, she had prayed to the gods for his recovery and swore that she would encourage Ned to legitimise him. But when he recovered, she couldn't bring herself to do it.

It's just ridiculous. NOBODY in Westeros would ever even consider that. It's an awful idea, especially in a world that still remembers the Blackfyre Rebellion. If Robb had gotten ill like Jon did and died, her children would get NOTHING.

It's embarassing for the show. And it's one of the reasons I'm not at all interested in Robb's scenes this year. I'm only here for Daenerys and King's Landing at this point, to be perfectly honest, which is sad because Catelyn is one of my favourite characters in the books.

No feelings about Jon? There's pretty clear animosity in the books. "It should have been you" is probably directly responsible for the majority of the readership disliking Catelyn. D&D are probably attempting to soften her character a bit. It actually seems a bit more realistic to me that she would have regrets about her treatment of Jon.

As far as legitimizing him goes, I'll wait to see the scene for myself before passing judgment as to whether it's "character assassination" or not.

[winksiemop]

LOL there is literally nothing for her to apologise about. She doesn't hate Jon at all. She has absolutely no feelings towards him because he isn't her child.

She actually treats him about the same as Theon, and she certainly doesn't treat Theon "respectfully" after learning he had "killed" Bran and Rickon.

But anyone who has read the spoilers of the scene in question will know that it's absolute character assassination. It's not just feeling regret over Jon, it's genuinely out of character and just stupid writing.

Basically she tells Talisa that one time, when Jon had been ill, she had prayed to the gods for his recovery and swore that she would encourage Ned to legitimise him. But when he recovered, she couldn't bring herself to do it.

It's just ridiculous. NOBODY in Westeros would ever even consider that. It's an awful idea, especially in a world that still remembers the Blackfyre Rebellion. If Robb had gotten ill like Jon did and died, her children would get NOTHING.

It's embarassing for the show. And it's one of the reasons I'm not at all interested in Robb's scenes this year. I'm only here for Daenerys and King's Landing at this point, to be perfectly honest, which is sad because Catelyn is one of my favourite characters in the books.

While I'm not sure I'll enjoy the scene, just to be fair:

1) In TV land, Blackfyre Rebellion does not exist (thus far). Within the television story, it's not an inconsistent sentiment in that regard.

2) In the end, she never went through with it. She entertained the thought, much how I sometimes entertain the thought of terrible things, but I don't do them because I eventually reason that it's not a wise choice. That Catelyn never suggested Jon become one of Ned's heirs suggests she, too, eventually found reason.

Seems she's simply expressing doubt in a time of misery over something she no longer has any control over. If, when it comes time for Robb to name a heir, she agrees that it should be Jon, well, then that's a different story.

[Chaircat Meow]

LOL there is literally nothing for her to apologise about. She doesn't hate Jon at all. She has absolutely no feelings towards him because he isn't her child.

She actually treats him about the same as Theon, and she certainly doesn't treat Theon "respectfully" after learning he had "killed" Bran and Rickon.

But anyone who has read the spoilers of the scene in question will know that it's absolute character assassination. It's not just feeling regret over Jon, it's genuinely out of character and just stupid writing.

Basically she tells Talisa that one time, when Jon had been ill, she had prayed to the gods for his recovery and swore that she would encourage Ned to legitimise him. But when he recovered, she couldn't bring herself to do it.

It's just ridiculous. NOBODY in Westeros would ever even consider that. It's an awful idea, especially in a world that still remembers the Blackfyre Rebellion. If Robb had gotten ill like Jon did and died, her children would get NOTHING.

It's embarassing for the show. And it's one of the reasons I'm not at all interested in Robb's scenes this year. I'm only here for Daenerys and King's Landing at this point, to be perfectly honest, which is sad because Catelyn is one of my favourite characters in the books.

O my. I'm with you on this. This sounds really horrible.

[jons nissa]

LOL there is literally nothing for her to apologise about. She doesn't hate Jon at all. She has absolutely no feelings towards him because he isn't her child.

She actually treats him about the same as Theon, and she certainly doesn't treat Theon "respectfully" after learning he had "killed" Bran and Rickon.

But anyone who has read the spoilers of the scene in question will know that it's absolute character assassination. It's not just feeling regret over Jon, it's genuinely out of character and just stupid writing.

Basically she tells Talisa that one time, when Jon had been ill, she had prayed to the gods for his recovery and swore that she would encourage Ned to legitimise him. But when he recovered, she couldn't bring herself to do it.

It's just ridiculous. NOBODY in Westeros would ever even consider that. It's an awful idea, especially in a world that still remembers the Blackfyre Rebellion. If Robb had gotten ill like Jon did and died, her children would get NOTHING.

It's embarassing for the show. And it's one of the reasons I'm not at all interested in Robb's scenes this year. I'm only here for Daenerys and King's Landing at this point, to be perfectly honest, which is sad because Catelyn is one of my favourite characters in the books.

actually she had very strong feelings about jon. she didn't ignore him and make him feel like an unwelcome outsider because she wasn't thinking about him. it was precisely because she was thinking about him and his horrible resemblance to her cheatin' husband that was denied to her own sons.

not sure why you would mention how she thinks of theon after he "kills" her children in this conversation. but the fact that theon remains at winterfell when ned goes south and is not considered a threat to her says something about her thoughts about him vs. jon.

michelle's interview stating that her anger is misplaced is absolutely true and logical. and human. but if you are correct about your spoiler, then i, too, am scratching my head. that sounds like an awful scene and will be the final cut between book cat and show cat. it is probably setting up the will scene but surely that could have been done in a different way? like how it was done in the book? i am not a book purist nor am i a cat apologist but i am really confused over why her character had to be so radically altered. i would really like to have a chat with d & d to understand. i suppose they just wanted her to be liked more than book cat was.

the forum will blow up if the scene you've described happens.

[The Unborn]

Am I the only not to care about that scene ? As long as she objects when Robb wants to put him heir, I'm fine with it. Unless GRRM told them something that we're not privy to.

You people are really quick to judge.

[Abaddon]

Am I the only not to care about that scene ? As long as she objects when Robb wants to put him heir, I'm fine with it. Unless GRRM told them something that we're not privy to.

You people are really quick to judge.

Hear hear. Honestly, the drama around these parts recently is getting really thick.

[jons nissa]

Am I the only not to care about that scene ? As long as she objects when Robb wants to put him heir, I'm fine with it. Unless GRRM told them something that we're not privy to.

You people are really quick to judge.

i believe the fear about this set up is that cat's guilt will push her to accept robb's decision about jon later in the series instead of protesting as desperately as she did in the book.

Hear hear. Honestly, the drama around these parts recently is getting really thick.

i think the fact that her character has been so drastically altered is worthy of discussion. doesn't mean it's drama.

[Bran Swift]

'The books aren't so important anymore'? Oh dear. Probably the worst thing you could say in an interview with Westeros, the site with all the hardcore book fans. But at least she's honest. Let's not forget that she's an actor. A lot of actors focus on the script, because that's their primary work. You can't really begrudge them that.

But that sentence still hurts me :crying:

[The hairy bear]

Honestly, the drama around these parts recently is getting really thick.

This is a fan forum created with the purpose of discussing ASOIAF. If we can't complain here about changes that we consider detrimental to a character, where's can we do so?

Just as we signal out the things that we love about the show, we should we be able to criticize the one's we don't without being accused of being "dramatic", being unthankful for D&D's work, or stubborn "purists" (whatever that means).

[Abaddon]

i think the fact that her character has been so drastically altered is worthy of discussion. doesn't mean it's drama.

There's little "discussion", mostly it's just talk about how much it sucks. And all based off of one person's opinion, when nobody here has even seen it. Yeah, that's "drama".

[Abaddon]

This is a fan forum created with the purpose of discussing ASOIAF. If we can't complain here about changes that we consider detrimental to a character, where's can we do so?

Just as we signal out the things that we love about the show, we should we be able to criticize the one's we don't without being accused of being "dramatic", being unthankful for D&D's work, or stubborn "purists" (whatever that means).

I'm not stopping anyone. Just calling it like I see it. Have a problem with it? Skip my post.

[PatrickStormborn]

There's little "discussion", mostly it's just talk about how much it sucks. And all based off of one person's opinion, when nobody here has even seen it. Yeah, that's "drama".

My opinions are 100% based on the REPORTS, not someone's "opinion". I've heard what will happen in the scene, and it's just awful writing, regardless of whether you think ~Catelyn was mean to Jon~ or not (she wasn't).

Nobody in Westeros would ever think that legitimising Jon is a good idea. It's ridiculous, and it makes Catelyn look stupid. But more importantly, it makes the writers and showrunners look (even more) stupid.

[jons nissa]

There's little "discussion", mostly it's just talk about how much it sucks. And all based off of one person's opinion, when nobody here has even seen it. Yeah, that's "drama".

actually my post doesn't say it sucks (i haven't seen it) but that it is a big change, why the change and it sounds like it could be awful since it will alter her character irrevocably. as for the drama, if you think this is drama, wait until the scene airs, if it is indeed as described.

but if you are correct about your spoiler, then i, too, am scratching my head. that sounds like an awful scene and will be the final cut between book cat and show cat. it is probably setting up the will scene but surely that could have been done in a different way? like how it was done in the book? i am not a book purist nor am i a cat apologist but i am really confused over why her character had to be so radically altered. i would really like to have a chat with d & d to understand.

[PatrickStormborn]

There's just no logical reason to change Cat so drastically. The hatred she receives in the fandom is vile, yes, but she also has a lot of passionate supporters (myself included). If they had kept her like she is in the book, she would probably be treated by the fandom similarly to Skyler White, Lori Grimes, etc (because the majority of the audience are misogynstic and stupid). But at least she would also have supporters. Instead, HBO Cat has been stripped of most of her personality, leaving quite an underwhelming character.

I'm struggling to think of ANY character that D&D have adapted exactly as they are in the book, but the changes made to Catelyn are definitely the worst.

[Ran]

As someone who has in fact watched the scene, I can say that my reaction was... "What the fuck?!" And I mean, literally, out loud. (Apparently Jace Lacob at the Daily Beast suggests his was "For fuck's sake!")

I don't know if I would call it "character assassination", as he does, but it's one more in a series of disappointing character choices for Catelyn. Right from the start, they've shoehorned her into the "mother" role, taking away her ambitions and hopes for her family and replacing it only with a desire to keep the family together. They've taken away many of her ideas and given them to others, reducing her agency. They took away her call for an end to vengeance and war, and just had her sit there silent. They didn't allow her to come to the notion of freeing Jaime, and instead Michelle Fairley notes that Catelyn was hoodwinked by Littlefinger and Tyrion -- so now she's a victim of of her naivete rather than being a desperate woman surrounded by tragedy making the only choice she can see toward recovering her family.

So this scene... let me lay out, very briefly, my issues:

Catelyn is making her votive figure. Talisa asks if she can help her make it. Catelyn says no, and explains only a mother can make them to protect her children.

See the problem, right from the get go? The Catelyn of the TV series sees herself as Jon Snow's mother. This means she is a very, very bad mother by her own lights. The Catelyn of the novels? She is not his mother. He is Ned's son, and that's it. She is neither his mother nor his step-mother. That's how it goes in Westeros, where inheritance and political alliances are all decided by marriages and descent. No one in Westeros thinks Catelyn is an unnatural person for refusing to play the part of mother when it's not expected of her. It's Ned who's acting outside of the norms of society, bringing his bastard in to his household and raising him as an equal to his trueborn children.

From there, it just makes it all kind of awful. Catelyn, the bad mother, proceeds to have prayed to the gods -- the gods she believes in -- that her step-child be killed. Would the Catelyn of the novels do that... ? Probably not. From what we see, she wanted him gone, but she's never wanted him dead. And would she ever have prayed for a child she considered herself mother to to die? Never, ever. But on the show? Yep!

And then, you know, he gets seriously ill, and she fears it's her fault, and she regrets it and tries to do what she can to have the gods save him. Which is fine, you know, as such things go. If the book Catelyn had by some craziness ended up in that situation, sure, she would have regretted it immensely because she failed at being a decent person. But of course, then she fails to live up to what she promises the gods -- a very human failing, also perfectly reasonable...

But now she thinks that because of this, all the disasters that have befallen her family may be the punishment of the gods for her breaking her promises. Now, this is her opinion, her subjective view. But I can't help but expect -- and groan at the idea -- that there will be viewers of the show who will take this facile explaination and decide that, yes, it's all Catelyn's fault.

The writers try rather earnestly to make her sympathetic with one hand, and in the process make her an easy mark for hatred. And all because they've chosen to deviate from the richer, more complex character in the novels, the one who is very much a person of her time and place and class. She's not just a mother, she's a lady, she's a noblewoman, she's a believer in the Seven, she's a figure whose person helped bind together two great families, who has borne and brought up the heirs to the North. She's a lot of things. She's not "just" a mother.

And this is a book spoiler...

And so, I can't wait for this version of Catelyn Stark to be put out of her misery, and mine. She is a simplified and sometimes clumsily handled version of the character, portrayed by a talented actress who has not been given the role that this could have been.