'Game of Thrones': Meet the New (and Young!) Ned Stark, Robert Aramayo

When he auditioned for the sixth season of Game of Thrones, British actor Robert Aramayo had no idea that he’d potentially be playing the coveted role of young Ned Stark. No, we really mean it: He had no idea he was auditioning to play the man who would grow up to become Sean Bean. “There were no names in the script,” the fresh-out-of-Juilliard actor tells Yahoo TV, laughing. “I was just playing a guy who was trying to save somebody; it was all extremely ambiguous.” As a self-confessed fan of the show, Aramayo does admit to having had suspicions about the character’s actual identity during the audition, but he was still shocked when he was told he’d be playing House Stark’s noble patriarch as a young warrior. “It was a wonderful part to sink my teeth into; the opportunity to take this man — who becomes the most moral man we’ve ever met — and portray him when he possesses naiveté and idealism and all the wonderful things that come with youth.”

Winning the role of young Ned was one thing; keeping it a secret from eagle-eyed, Internet-savvy fans demanded a whole separate skill set. “It seemed to go on for years,” Aramayo says of the intense speculation he endured after news of his casting was announced. “Keeping quiet was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do.” It got even harder after set photos leaked that showed Aramayo taking part in a big sword fight beneath the Tower of Joy, where Ned leads a small army of trusted soldiers to reclaim his kidnapped sister, Lyanna. Viewers saw that sequence — in which young Stark “defeated” expert swordsman Arthur Dayne in the least heroic way possible — in its completed form on the season’s third episode, “Oathbreaker,” and that means Aramayo is officially off the hook about having to keep his part a secret. Not that he’s about to spoil anything else, of course. Asked whether we’ll see what Ned discovers inside the Tower of Joy in an upcoming episode, Aramayo simply answers: “You’ll have to keep watching.” We’ll take that as a strong maybe…

Related: ‘Game of Thrones’ Recap: Old Business and the New

Yahoo TV: Your introduction to Game of Thrones is via an intense sword fight. Was that a difficult scene to prepare for?
Robert Aramayo: It was a challenge, but the stunt team worked with me and pushed me from from one stage to the next to get me to the right level. The part that was really fun is when it gets down to Ned versus Arthur Dayne. You realize at that point what’s going through Ned’s head: “This guy is taking out all my guys! I’m about to fight him on my own, and I’m probably going to die now.” [Laughs]

Yeah, the look on your face when Dayne disarms you is priceless. Ned knows he’s finished, but to his credit, he doesn’t run away.
No, he was never going to run away. In that moment, he’s just thinking, “That’s it! There’s nothing I can do now.” He just has to accept what follows next. I think it’s as surprising to him as it is to Arthur when Dayne gets stabbed through the neck. He respects this man so much — he’s a legendary fighter, and for him to die in this way is the most dishonorable death Ned can imagine.

This experience seems to forge the deeply moral, unfailingly honorable Ned that we meet in Season 1.
Yes! That’s very important to me, to be able to explore the origins beneath the moral, honorable Ned we know and love. It’s just exciting to see that.

Are you consciously trying to replicate any mannerisms from Sean Bean’s performance?
When I got the role, I watched the first season again a bunch of times and, specifically, his fight with Jaime Lannister. I tried to take certain things from Sean that I felt were very much tied to Ned, but also dial it back. Because it would be boring to do an impression of Ned Stark; you have to use the information you’ve got at your fingertips and create a character with it. I’m not that guy [that Sean plays]; we change constantly over time.

Do you have a dream of grabbing a beer with Sean Bean to discuss past and future Ned?
I don’t know, man! Having a beer with Sean Bean would be amazing, wouldn’t it? I certainly haven’t heard anything from him and don’t expect to. But I admire his work and admire him as a man and an actor. If he sees the show, I hope he sees some sort of semblance of the character that people loved him portraying.

Speaking purely as a Game of Thrones fan, who is your favorite character? I’m biased, but Ned has always been my favorite character. [Laughs] I aspire to a lot of the qualities in the character. Other than that, I love Daenerys — I think she’s awesome. I also love Tyrion and Jon Snow. To be honest, the quality of the show is so high, there isn’t a character you don’t enjoy. That’s the amazing thing about Game of Thrones.

Game of Thrones is your first big TV job, but you have a bunch of roles coming up, including the Discovery miniseries Harley and the Davidsons.
It’s very overwhelming because I just graduated from drama school and have the opportunity to work on these amazing projects. I’m excited for people to see them and experience these stories. Harley is a great series to work on; the story of how that company started is really surprising.

“Oathbreaker” only just aired, but are fans already recognizing you as young Ned on the street?
I’ve been working, so I haven’t gone through that experience yet! It’ll be weird if and when it happens. [Laughs]

Game of Thrones airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO.