Barney Harris, the star behind The Wheel of Time's Matrim Cauthon, joked about Mat being in the company of "irritating" friends.
In an IGN First exclusive uploaded to YouTube, Harris shared more on his interpretation of the character. Mat is one of five young characters forced to leave his village with the Aes Sedai Moiraine (Rosamund Pike) in the upcoming series. Giving a brief overview of his character, Harris said, "Mat is probably seen as the sort of light relief of the books and of the series, but he's much more complicated." According to Harris, his light-hearted nature contrasts with the more serious nature of the rest of the group, leading him to find them quite irritating.
As Harris stated, there's more depth to Mat than the light relief he initially provides. He went on to explore Mat's psyche, stating, "I think his sort of inner monologue is very much like, 'I'm a bad person; I don’t deserve this.' Something to do with maybe the poverty that he has and the ideas of reincarnation and the stuff that you've done in a previous life coming into the fore. He sees himself as quite a bad person, but his actions are always good."
Harris was specifically referring to the revelation that Moiraine is seeking the Dragon Reborn. This figure, in the world's lore, is a man's soul destined to be reincarnated. As it happens, Mat and his young friends from Emond's Field are each a potential candidate for this reincarnated being. The complication, and the cause of Mat's concern, is that the Dragon was responsible for the Breaking of the World, a cataclysmic event in The Wheel of Time's history. Harris' comments suggest that Mat is gravely concerned about possibly being the Dragon Reborn, as they are said to be destined for either great good or further evil.
As for his close friends Rand and Perrin, Harris said they're close, yet not without their differences. "Mat's relationship with Rand is they've grown up together. They've known each other since they were kids, and they're sort of banterous with each other," he said. "I think I see him as sort of quite stubborn and quite serious all the time, which I find quite irritating. I think I find both of them irritating. I'm not really sure why I'm friends with either of them. But, you know, they're loyal and loving and good friends to me."
Unfortunately, news broke recently that Harris will not continue to portray Mat as of Season 2, with The Witcher star Dónal Finn taking over the role. No official reasoning for the change has yet been given.
The first three episodes of The Wheel of Time are set to hit Amazon Prime Video on Nov. 19.
Source: YouTube