When you work for a show that prides itself in relentlessly killing off its characters, actor Alfie Allen can count himself lucky he still has a job.
Allen plays Theon Greyjoy in Game of Thrones and is in New Zealand ahead of the launch of its sixth season.
Wannabe prince, playboy, traitor, submissive slave -- Theon Greyjoy, and alter-ego Reek, is perhaps one of television's most complex characters.
"In terms of content for an actor, you can't really ask for anything more than to play three different characters in one body," Allen says.
By his own admission, that's taken Allen to some dark places.
The brutal torture of his character for almost an entire season was both physically and mentally draining for Allen.
"It feels weird to even say this, but my torturer was one of the people who really got me through," Allen says.
That was Allen's good friend Iwan Rheon, who plays the somewhat terrifying and certainly psychotic Ramsay Bolton.
"To go to those really, really dark places, you have to keep it light in between. And that includes when you go off set," Allen says.
On screen, the ordeal left his character a broken man.
Though Allen has a fondness for his split personalities.
"Well with Reek, I got to do a lot with my eyes. And with Theon, he got to spend a lot of time outside, which was always nice," Allen says.
"I don't really have a preference, but Theon had more freedom. So I guess Theon slightly a little bit."
The last time we saw Theon, he was jumping off the walls of Winterfell with Sansa Stark.
"She's obviously still very angry with me, but I guess I feel indebted to the Starks, so I guess moving forward you will see how that relationship develops," Allen says.
And it seems we can, perhaps, expect more Theon than Reek in the immediate future.
"You're definitely going to see a bit more Greyjoy action in season six, without a doubt."
This is Allen's first trip to New Zealand, but he does have some local connections.
"I had an Au Pair, who looked after me when I was like five, so it will be nice to see her," he says.
The new season of Game of Thrones returns to Sky's SoHo channel next month.
Newshub.
