I quite like his piece to Sansa the other night: “You loved your family. Avenge them.” It was a pep talk. She knows it's a dangerous game she's getting into. And I think he meant it when he said they could turn around and go back.



HBO: Do you have a sense of what Littlefinger feels for Sansa? Is it purely mentor/protégé? Or something more?



Aidan Gillen: He does genuinely care about her and for her. There's always been a lot of talk about the nature of that relationship, how creepy or not creepy that might be. I don't think there's too much more to it than the fact that she is the daughter of Catelyn Stark, which explains why he's quite obsessed with her. But it's with her well-being as much anything else. Littlefinger is not grooming Sansa, though he is mentoring her. And it's been quite satisfying to see her really bloom in that way and emerge as a player. She's probably playing him as much as he's playing her.



HBO: Does he have any paternal feelings for Robin Arryn?



Aidan Gillen: Yes. But also, Robin Arryn could be a means to an end – you saw what happened to Lysa Arryn. To be shameless enough to talk to Robin about taking charge of his life when days before, Littlefinger pushed Robin's mother out the Moon Door – it’s not just shameless, it's almost psychopathic that he can be as warm and loving to someone having just killed his mother.



HBO: Littlefinger tells Sansa about the tourney at Harrenhal, and now, he is lord of Harrenhal. Is he living the life he thinks he deserves?



Aidan Gillen: I do think he's at the point where he wants to be now, but it really is a long game. Not just month to month, it's years ahead. He's smart enough to realize that the journey is the part where you feel alive. That's encapsulated in his “Chaos is a ladder” speech. “The climb is all there is.” I understand that. And he's coming from nothing. If he ever ended up where he started, he’d have a long, long way to fall -- but that's not going to happen anyway.



HBO: So what do you think motivates Littlefinger? Is it about being in power, or manipulating those who are?



Aidan Gillen: I don't see his ultimate goal as ultimate power, as in sitting on the throne and ruling. I think that's maybe too boring and too dangerous. There's an obvious overriding drive because of his rejection as a youngster by Catelyn and his humiliation at the hands of Brandon Stark. He never wants to be put in that position again. It's a pretty human trait and not difficult to identify, but Littlefinger pushes it to such an extreme.



The playing of the game is a big part of what makes him tick. He does enjoy it, the manipulation, seeing his plans come to fruition. He very seldom if ever fails, and Littlefinger would have a B plan and C plan, and they would have interlinking alternatives, circles within circles. But I believe there's also some humanity to him. It hasn't always been nastiness. For instance, those first scenes with Ned Stark, he says, “Distrusting me was the wisest thing you've done…" It's funny but it’s true. He's not lying.



HBO: Do you think Littlefinger ever has a down day? How would he spend it?



Aidan Gillen: Like just chilling out, "I don’t have any plans"? Not many. Probably reading. Falconry. Calligraphy. There are still the books to be done – the brothel business is still running away in the background. I don't know if Olyvar is doing the accounts.



Think Fast



HBO: Which would be your ideal pet: Dragon, direwolf or Ser Pounce?

Aidan Gillen: Ser Pounce. Littlefinger is a bit catlike. He'd have more of a feline nature than a canine, or what’s the word for dragon? Dragon-ine?



HBO: Which region would you most want to live?

Aidan Gillen: Somewhere warmer... Dorne. Good wine, balmy climate. Mediterranean-style diet.



HBO: You're invited to a GOT wedding. Do you go?



Aidan Gillen: Yes, I'd take precautions and try to keep it together until a good later on in the night and then let my guard down completely. I do that at most weddings.