Game of Thrones: Q&A with Alexander Siddig

Alexander Siddig plays Oberyn Martell's brother Doran Martell.

Alexander Siddig in Game of Thrones. Courtesy HBO

Alexander Siddig is a familiar face to fans of TV sci-fi, after starring as Dr Julian Bashir in all seven season of Star Trek: Deep Space 9 in the 1990s.

Now the Sudan-born British actor is switching to fantasy, after landing the role of Doran Martell, the Prince of Dorne, a new character who is introduced in the fifth season of Game of Thrones.

Who is Doran and how does he fit into the bigger picture?

Doran is Oberyn Martell’s brother. Oberyn arrived in King’s Landing at the beginning of season four and he got into a fight championing Peter ­Dinklage’s character, Tyrion.

He made a major miscalculation at the end of that fight – he had clearly beaten his opponent, but decided to strut around and pose, and the opponent wasn’t dead, so the tides turned. I’ve obviously received the news that my brother’s dead and I’m devastated.There’s quite a healthy appetite for revenge.

What sort of revenge?

I am torn – I don’t know whether we are really capable of going to war on that scale. This is probably the biggest competition that we could face. The Lannisters are probably the wealthiest family out there, the ones there who could marshal the most resources. It would be the longest, most protracted war of any war. I suspect we can hold our own in Dorne – but we’ve been independent and peaceful for such a long time that I hesitate and this causes a problem.

What sort of place is Dorne?

If you can imagine that old Coleridge poem, Dorne is Xanadu. It’s the most luscious, most luxurious, amazing, beautiful place you can imagine, filled with people who seem to have no care; who are sensuous and honest. Women are equal to men and the rivers flow with milk and honey. This is the first problem that they’ve really encountered in a very long time. The Dornish are a warrior people but only out of necessity. You just don’t last more than two minutes in this world if you’re not good at combat. I have my bodyguard, Areo, who is up for kicking all kinds of ass if I need him to.

What’s it’s been like joining an established show in a major role?

It's great. It's obviously been nerve-racking because you really don't want to be the weakest link on Game of Thrones. It's all very well being a character in a bad TV show that you don't like and you're not very good, because no one's going to see it, so who cares?

But everybody will see you play this role. So it’s a bit of a pressure to get it right.