Richard Madden On ‘Cinderella,’ Dance Training & Playing A Character Named Kit

“Game of Thrones” alum Richard Madden is on his way to getting a happy ending in Disney’s “Cinderella.”

But the actor, who has played a few roles that ended unhappily ever after (Robb Stark in HBO’s “Thrones” and Romeo in “Romeo & Juliet” on the UK stage), didn’t sign up to play Cinderella’s Prince for the story’s well known outcome.

“I die in everything,” Richard laughed, when he spoke with Access Hollywood on Saturday at the junket for his new Disney film. “No, I did this because I loved the script and because I loved Kenneth Branagh [the director]. That’s what really kind of pulled me to it actually.

“I mean, it is nice to have a happy ending for a change,” he added, with a laugh.

To play the Prince to Lily James’ (“Downton Abbey”) Cinderella, Richard had to endure dance training for one of the film’s most magical moments – the ball.

“I’m not a naturally gifted dancer, so it was kind of three, four days a week [of] training for about two months before we started shooting the movie for me to kind of learn those dances,” he told Access.

Part of the training helped ensure the protection of Lily’s stunning (and rather full) blue Cinderella dress.

“They wouldn’t even let me near the dress for a couple of months so I didn’t destroy it,” Richard explained. “We went through a few practice dresses, and I killed them, so eventually we managed to kind of nail it at the end.”

Esteemed actor Derek Jacobi plays the Prince’s father in “Cinderella” – The King – and Richard enjoyed being able to bond with the star.

PHOTOS: Richard Madden: From ‘Game Of Thrones’ King In ‘Cinderella’s’ Prince

“It was my first time meeting him. I mean, I’ve loved his work for years and I couldn’t have been more over the moon that he was cast in that part and we had a really great relationship from day one. It was important to me that we built a good relationship between the Prince and his father — I think that was really important in kind of telling the story, especially because you get to see Cinderella with her parents so much. And Derek’s such a great actor, and we improvised quite a bit and we had a giggle on set and we had a sense of humor between us, which hopefully carries into the film. It wasn’t hard to look him in the eye and be able to tell the truth and act with him. It was easy and a pleasure.”

What wasn’t pleasurable were the hours Richard had to spend in a chair to temporarily get rid of his natural curls.

“[They] dyed it, chemically straightened it. I had to get that done all the time,” he said.

“We wanted to make it a bit different, so not my usual curly mop — something a bit more princely,” he said.

Richard’s Prince does have a name, and it’s one that should give fans of “Game of Thrones” a chuckle. It is Kit, which happens to be the name of his former HBO co-star, and real life pal Kit Harington (Jon Snow in “Thrones”).

“Well that made me laugh,” Richard told Access of his reaction to finding out his “Cinderella” character’s name. “I thought, ‘Oh God, people already kind of… get us mixed up even though we look quite different.’ You know, you kind of get your Robb Snow’s and your Jon Stark’s and, ‘Hey Kit!’ Or people ask me to sign something and I’ll be like, ‘That’s not me, that’s Jon Snow.”

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“Cinderella” hits theaters on March 13.

Jolie Lash

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