‘GoT’ stars, ex-kid actor team up for motorcycle company saga
BUG Hall played Alfalfa in 1994’s “The Little Rascals.”
Filming “Harley and the Davidsons,” a miniseries about the origin of motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson, was memorable for the cast because of the strong bond formed among its main actors.
Starring in the show debuting on Oct. 2 (Discovery Channel, 8 p.m.) are an ex-child star, Bug Hall (Alfalfa from “The Little Rascals”), and two actors from the epic fantasy series, “Game of Thrones (GoT),” Robert “Rob” Aramayo (young Ned Stark) and Michiel Huisman (Daario Naharis).
“The most fun [thing] was getting to work with [them],” said Hall in a recent phone interview. “Rob is like my fourth brother now, and Michiel was like a brother to us, as well.”
Hall added that many decades from now, that’s what he’ll fondly recall the most: “I’m not probably going to remember specific details about how awesome the 80 motorcycles were…. What I’ll remember is the time I had with Rob and Michiel.”
Hall portrays Arthur Davidson, while Huisman plays his brother, Walter, and Aramayo their friend and business partner, Bill Harley.
Excerpts from the interview with Hall and Aramayo:
What would entice people to watch “Harley and the Davidsons?”
Bug Hall (BH): We have a series that’s appealing from a historical perspective. On the other hand, we’ve got this otherworldly slice of Americana, which appeals to a whole different type of crowd. On top of that, you’ve got this action-packed, racing-driven plot, which appeals to a younger audience and guys like me. So, you know, [it] kind of hits it from all angles.
What made you decide to pursue this project?
Robert Aramayo (RA): There were many things that were immediately appealing to me. The story amazed me. I couldn’t believe that this story could exist in this way at the time. It was about Bill and what he achieved with his life. He’s an amazing man, and his life’s work is quite impressive. I was keen to acknowledge his artistic and creative talent and the legacy he left behind—[and they’re] why I was involved in this project.
BH: Motorcycles. For me, it really started with that. I had been working on riding for the last couple of years, and I specifically told my people, no acting [in the meantime] because I wanted to focus on this. When I heard that [Discovery] was doing an origin story of Harley-Davidson, and that it was centered on the racing and the rivalry with [manufacturer] Indian, that truly appealed to me. The character of Arthur is so different from me. He’s very charismatic and can talk his way through anything.
How would you describe the mood while filming?
ROBERT Aramayo goofed around with costar pals.
BH: We had so many great days. One thing that Michiel keeps mentioning is that Rob’s ability to imitate people is spot-on perfect. He went to imitation mode with our director of photography. And he was always there to keep the mood light when things were getting rough.
RA: Yeah. And they were always there to get me into trouble. They’d do part of the impersonation, and I’d get really excited and start impersonating. Then, I’d get caught! But to reiterate, every single day on the shoot was full of laughter. That’s rare in any job.
Having worked on “GoT,” what lessons did you apply here?
RA: One thing that’s consistent in both projects was the people that surrounded it. The thing about “Game of Thrones” is that everybody who’s working on it is incredibly happy to be there, and the focus is always the story. They have an incredible stunt team, which I was thankful for. The directors, the actors, and everyone who’s on that show are in love with it. [In my case,] I just zipped in, then I was out. And it maintained its mysticism and romanticism for me, and I remain a huge fan.
The parallels are great. And I would say likewise the actors that I worked with on this, Bug and Michiel, we’ll be friends forever now. The main difference is that within “Harley,” I had more time with my character—his story had a longer development.
