Game of Thrones star Iwan Rheon is set to delight fans of Jules Vernes by reading from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea on YouTube.
The Game of Thrones star is taking part in a series produced by Kraken Rum on the video-sharing channel, on a show cleverly titled ‘Krakenory’. Rheon, who rose to prominence as villain Ramsey Bolton, is one of a number of stars taking to camera to entertain people on the show. Previous episodes have included Libertines frontman Carl Barat and British actor Mark Strong.
Vernes’ 1870 novel is described by the Guardian as being ‘escapist fun’, whilst still retaining ‘literary and scientific significance’. It tells the story of Captain Nemo and his ship the Nautilus, which boasts several features later found on modern submarines, which were primitive at the time.
It explored several themes that fascinated Victorian audiences, including exile, the natural world, exploration and technology. The novel suggests that Nemo went into exile under the sea after his family slaughtered by a powerful imperialist nation. It is widely accepted to be the finest work Vernes completed during his literary career.
Rheon will be choosing an extract from another book too, Edgar Allen Poe’s A Descent into The Maelstrom, but he admitted to the Metro that he hasn’t had any bad experiences at sea himself.
“I’ve done a couple of jobs where I’ve spent some actual real-time on a boat, like when I was filming Riviera,” said the 34-year-old, who has also starred in Misfits and the 2019 release The Dirt.
“We were out on this yacht all day, it was amazing actually, we were just on it all day just going around the Mediterranean. It was a hard day! I mean I’ve been on a few ferries that were a bit shaky but I’ve never encountered any sea monsters!”
Rheon became one of the best-known faces on television for a short while as his character rose to prominence in HBO’s worldwide hit Game of Thrones. He starred in the acclaimed episode ‘Battle of the Bastards’ which won seven Emmys on its own. Rheon’s character in Game of Thrones was the villainous Ramsay Bolton, despised by many but oddly one of the British audience’s weirdest crushes, according to Gala Bingo. Game of Thrones was a huge hit in the UK, with his opposite number, the award-winning Jon Snow, played by Kit Harrington. He was also named as one of the most popular characters, but the appearance of Ramsay Bolton was a surprise, given how utterly despicable his character was.
The role categorized Rheon as a classic villain, a style he delivered with typical ease as Maximus the Mad in the 2017 Marvel TV show Inhumans. However, his appearance on Krakenory will help soften the sharp edges to his recent roles, as he looks to bring two classics to life for fans.
For more reading on the cast of Game of Thrones after the show’s conclusion, be sure to check out our review of Twin, starring Kristofer Hivju, better known as the Wildling Tormund Wolfsbane.
