Last month, it was announced that Gotham would bringing out a big gun: the infamous ecoterrorist, Ra’s Al Ghul. And they found him in Game of Thrones‘ Alexander Siddig, making him the first actor of Arab descent to play the character in live-action.
Is he a demon, a saint, or a ghost?
It seems that Siddig has already filmed two episodes. Speaking to Digital Spy, he revealed that his take on the Demon’s Head will initially be very ambiguous. This is mostly due to the fact that he does not know where the character will go. Siddig says:
“I really tried to be as ambiguous as possible. I’ve only done two episodes and as an actor in episodic television, I don’t know what the next script is, so I’m confronted with finding a way to play something really dark in a more ambiguous way. So I really tried to get him so ambiguous that he’s almost liquid – that was the way I thought about it. You’re really not sure if he’s good or bad – no-one knows whether he’s a demon or a saint, or a ghost, that’s a line from the script.“
Overall, the character himself has always been a little ambiguous. Despite his extreme methods, his intentions have always been noble. It seems the right choice to go for this character. He then expressed his fascination with the character and the fun he has playing.
Pronounciation?
The article ends addressing the hotly debated pronounciation of his name. Batman: The Animated Series made it a point to pronounce it with an “-sh” end to it. Liam Neeson’s turn in Batman Begins uses utilizes the “-z” ending. It seems Siddig decided to go the route of the Animated Series saying, “I looked at it and thought, ‘I’ll call him Raish’ – I just really liked the Aramaic element, that was kind of cool and added an ancient aspect to the character, which I believe is true anyway.”
What do you think? Ready for Gotham‘s interpretation of the leader of the League of Assassins? Let me know.