The world fell in love with Michiel Huisman as Daenerys’ lover Daario in Game Of Thrones and now it's set to fall in love with him again in The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society.
The Dutch actor stars opposite Lily James as Dawsey Adams, a pig farmer on the British Isle who is a member of the unique book club during the Nazi occupation.
While maintaining his land, despite the oppressive interference of the German invaders, Dawsey also plays caregiver to a young girl. Michiel says his own position as a father helped guide his performance.
“I'm a father, our daughter is ten years old, and so it helped,” he told GLAMOUR. “Whenever you have to play a character like Dawsey Adams that is taking care of a kid, who was six or seven years old at the time of shooting, it makes me personally easier to relate.
“She was so amazing, a fantastic kid and so professional.”
Working with children can be challenging for some actors, but Michiel admits that he struggled more with the farm animals that Dawsey was an expert in rearing.
“The challenge was that this character is a pig farmer from the island of Guernsey, who has a natural way and an intuitive way with animals, especially with his pigs,” he explained.
“That was more challenging for me. The pigs didn't really believe my natural instinct.”
He did get a chance to prove how much he learned about the four-legged animals when he arranged a special celebration for his daughter’s birthday.
“After we finished shooting, for our daughter's birthday party we went to this rescue farm where they rescue pigs, and they retire and have a great life, and teach you how to massage a pig,” Michiel recalled. “I was thinking, you know, I'm a step ahead of everyone else here so I'll get this pig to relax really quickly because I played a pig farmer.
“If you manage to really get the pig to relax, you would know that they really did a great job if they fart!”
Pig stories aside, one of the biggest takeaways from the movies is how men can be allies towards women as his character Dawsey shows continual support to all the women around him. GLAMOUR asked Michiel Huisman how men can do that in real life.
“By being an ally,” he said. “By treating each other with respect.”
The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society is in cinemas now.
