Game of Thrones star Isaac Hempstead Wright has cracking new role playing animated boy, Eggs

‘I was cowering in the corner of the recording studio ... so  it’s a fairly authentic terrified performance from me’ says Isaac Hempstead Wright
Boxtroll: Isaac poses alongside his new character
Lucy Young
Louise Jury5 September 2014
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Game Of Thrones star Isaac Hempstead Wright steps up to play the leading role in his new film — but you’ll have to listen carefully to know it.

The 15-year-old, who plays Bran Stark in the hit HBO series, is the voice of Eggs, the main character in new animation The Boxtrolls.

Most of his voice work was recorded in London, but he took his first trip to America to record scenes with co-star Elle Fanning. He also recorded scenes opposite Sir Ben Kingsley, who plays the villain Snatcher, in Oxford.

Game of Thrones stars - off duty

1/16

Isaac admitted it was intimidating being screamed at by Sir Ben, who performed lying on a reclining chair to get the bullying voice he wanted. “It was one of the scariest experiences,” Isaac said.

“We were in this tiny cupboard of a recording studio and I was cowering in the corner with this huge chair taking up most of the space going through some pretty intense scenes.

“So it’s a fairly authentic terrified performance from me.”

The Gandhi star was otherwise “really nice” to him but Isaac admitted he called him Sir Ben throughout having heard of his reputation for propriety, adding: “And he never told us not to.”

Elle, 16, plays Winnie, a rich man’s daughter who realises the boxtrolls — box-like creatures who raise Eggs from a boy — are not monsters.

Isaac said: “It was fun doing scenes with someone else your own age. It really came alive then.”

The Boxtrolls is made by Laika, the American studio behind Oscar-nominated hits Coraline and ParaNorman.

Isaac said: “It’s quite a cool thing. You’re not the only actor really because the animators do the bulk of the acting. I love the zany madcap humour. It’s Monty Python-esque.”

He said the “nerd” in him loved the experience of seeing animators creating his character at the Laika studio in Oregon, adding: “It was exciting enough going to America, but having a tour of their magical studio on this all-expenses-paid trip was like I’d won some competition.”

Isaac, who lives in Faversham, Kent, says he intends to study physics at university and may not pursue an acting career — although he will make more Game Of Thrones. “It’s been a mad trip,” he said. “But acting is only one of my many interests. I love school and science, I also love piano and music. I’ll just have to see how it goes.”

The Boxtrolls is released next Friday. Special previews start this weekend.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in