GMA Brandtalk
Tracking
Archives
'Game of Thrones' cast members on what they'll miss about the show, meeting the queen, and the final reading
Los Angeles — After a successful eight-year run, "Game of Thrones," the fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss is coming to an end.
Its eighth and final season will premiere on April 14, 2019 (April 15, Manila time).
Filmed in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Canada, Croatia, Iceland, Malta, Morocco, Scotland, Spain and the U.S.A., “Game of Thrones” is both a commercial and critical hit, having won 47 Primetime Emmy Awards, three Hugo Awards, a Peabody Award and five Golden Globe Award nominations, among others.
We recently interviewed some of the cast members of the award-winning show on the set in Belfast, in London, and also in New York where they revealed some of their memorable experiences on set, the bonding with the cast members, the emotional crying moments during the final readings, and a prequel spin-off that is being set in author George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” universe, among other things.
Below are excerpts of our conversations with Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen), Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister), Maisie Williams (Arya Stark), Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark), Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth), Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister) and Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont):
Emilia Clarke
What advice would you give to your younger self?
I’d advise my younger self to buckle up because it’s going to be an interesting ride. I think as a kid, I just always said I wanted to be an actor and I just felt very quickly at home in front of lots and lots of people on stage, weirdly. I was able to, at that young age, go into quite a Zen place, which I was completely unable to do with a smaller group of people and the nerves would take over.
There was something incredibly cathartic about being on stage that I found early on. And yeah, it just all fell into place and made sense.
But younger self advice…there’s a thousand things that I’d like to say but I’d like very much to not regret anything at all. I think that everything that happens is an experience that creates who you are, really.
You’re essentially— that’s all we are, a sum of our experiences, so even brain hemorrhages I saw as something kind of…I’ve never looked at them and thought "poor me." I’ve survived them so what can I take from this and how can I go from this and what can I do to help other people. Really, that’s always where it’s been. Yeah, it’s hard to think of what advice I would give. Eat less sweets. Have less fillings.
What is your relationship to tattoos and at what point in the show did you decide to get your dragons tattooed?
I was just really into the idea of having a tattoo; this is a good thing to have tattooed because the movie meant so much to me. I thought that’s just a good idea. I found Dr. Woo, the guy who did the tattoo and thought, that’s really cool.
Then it got so many compliments and I just love it so much that when we were all talking about “Game of Thrones” finishing, the whole cast, and mainly it came from creators Dave (Benioff) and Dan (Weiss), who said that we should all get a “Game of Thrones” tattoo like they did for “Lord of the Rings.”
We were, yeah, definitely, definitely. But then it kind of got me thinking, well if I’m going to get a tattoo, it better be dragons. So that’s when I decided it, but I knew that I was only going to get it done when we were completely picture-wrapped.
So that’s what I was waiting for. When the show had left me, when Daenerys had left me I knew I had to then replace that with some permanent marking on my body.
How much confidence have you gained through the show as a woman?
A huge amount of confidence. Daenerys has given me a huge amount of confidence, partly because we’re acting but when you have to stand up in front of 800 extras and say a fake language and try and convince them through the intonations of your voice that what you’re saying is empowering and there’s something in it and something that they can follow, you’ve got to grow some balls to do that because it’s daunting as anything.
I just think getting to play her has given me a huge amount of confidence. It definitely, especially with the brain hemorrhages, getting back to work and slotting myself from that fear-filled experience into a boy. It asks me to be as confident as possible, and that just rubs off. Also, knowing that you’re part of a show that people respect, that people value and that’s huge, that’s absolutely mental. That’s not me, I’m just saying someone else’s lines but it’s incredibly empowering.
To be able to play a woman who is downright badass does a lot for a young girl’s confidence in this industry for sure.
Kit Harington
When you woke up this morning, did it feel different now that the show finally wrapped?
The thing is, I woke up this morning not feeling like everything’s different because I’m going to Belfast, where we’ve got a premiere and then a bit down the line, hopefully we’ll get nominations and things, and we’ll be at ceremonies together.
There’s still a way to go before we say goodbye, to watch on TV, to follow it. I feel that almost this is the beginning. Last night’s (premiere) was the beginning of the process of a whole other section which is the people seeing it. I’ve said goodbye to it on set and the actual being with our family out there.
It’s in stages, and realizing it’s in stages and each stage that ends, I let go of it a little bit. I’m terribly sad about it ending. It’s probably going to have…the words “Game of Thrones” are going to have the fondest feeling to me forever.
Yeah it’s emotional but I’m kind of…each time we celebrate it I feel a little bit of weight lifted and I just get to enjoy what we did.
You mentioned saying goodbye is never easy but would you do another demanding series like this?
I would. I think in the immediate future I don’t want to do — unless something really amazing, extra special that I can’t say no. If it turns up, it would be hard for me to sign something like a six-year deal on something where I stay within that world for a long arc.
Right now what I’m looking at is theater, limited series and movies because the idea of signing up to something long-running is quite hard. It’d be a mistake as well actually.
I’d have a strange relationship to it because of its vicinity in my life to “Game of Thrones.”
So unless something amazing comes up, probably not a long form drama in that way. But there’s a really interesting division at the moment between limited series and long running series, the way that TV’s developed. There’s a lot out there, which means I can do interesting long form drama just not too many recurring seasons right now.
Can you take us into the reading room where the cast reads the first episode of the final season?
So I sat where you are and David (Benioff) and Dan (Weiss) were here, and they stood up at the beginning and said some nice words. This room was packed to the edges with every HOD. Everyone was in this room for it and there were cameras filming it for the documentary, posterity and most people have read it but I made very clear to everyone when I walked up that ramp and went: don’t tell me that, tell me that, tell me that, tell me I haven’t read it.
David and Dan said they were looking at me to see what my reactions were through it and said they were priceless. But yeah, we had tears at the end pretty much.
Was there a standing ovation at the end?
Yes, there was a standing ovation and there were tears and I broke down. I just started sobbing and there were a lot of people who were exactly the same. I don’t know what it was. Just reading the words because every year we read end of season five, end of season six and this just said end of “Game of Thrones.” It was like yeah, I almost get teary thinking about it. It was like oh f— it’s done, it’s done.
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
Creator David Benioff was saying that you were quite a prankster and one day they called you up and they pretended that they were going to kill you on the show. Did you prank them back?
This is years ago, but I did this: There’d been a lot of talk about Jaime’s hair in the early seasons, his long golden locks.
Then once he lost his hand, I thought maybe he should have a haircut. Then I just felt why I don’t just pretend—this is five, six seasons ago—I sent them a picture where I had a buzz cut.
I said in a long actual letter where I was, I’ve taken control of my character and I want to be respected and my integrity as an artist is at stake. They believed me. So I didn’t hear anything and then I flew to Belfast.
In the car I got a call from the first AD in a panic. He was, do you have any hair? I said, are you alone? He said yes. But the thing is poor Kevin, who is the head of hair, had been frantically trying to build a wig with what he had, which you can’t do. I said ok, it’s just…did you really believe? He said, we all believed it. They also called my manager, HBO had started to talk about suing me and it had gotten out of control.
What will you miss most and least about “Game of Thrones”? Do you think your family will miss it too, or not at all?
I don’t think they’re going to miss it, at all. I’ve spent a lot of time away. My oldest daughter just started watching the show, so that’s interesting (laughs) and though all of her friends have seen it, so now she’s like I should watch this and I’m like, “Well, there’s so many other great shows to watch”
What am I going to miss the most? I’m going to miss the people. The people I work with, the crew and the other actors. They were very clever this season doing 12 weeks of night shoots in a go just to make sure that we’re not going to miss (laughs) that will break even the toughest, the biggest love of the show. No, I’m going to miss that.
I really enjoy being in Belfast. It’s a great place, so that whole experience. My point is just that I’m going to look back on this I know with so much love and joy and which is also why it’s so good that we end now because if we carried on for another two years, three years people would lose their minds because it’s as fun as it is to shoot. It’s also a really, really tough shoot.
Sophie Turner
Being a part of this “GoT” crew, how do you handle increasing fame? Do you read your critics? How do you handle them?
It’s strange, I don’t feel like I am famous. It’s this weird thing because both myself and Maisie (Williams), growing up, adolescence was on the show, and so when all these things are changing naturally when you are growing up and becoming an adult, it only made sense to us that this was changing too and our lives were changing. This was a natural evolution of a person.
My other friends, going from school to University, it just felt like, I go to “Game of Thrones” and “X-Men” and it was just a different form of that, and so it doesn’t really feel like I am that famous.
But I don’t really read the critics, what they have to say, because I know what it can do to your mental health and I know that, a lot of people write reviews or criticize you and they don’t really think you are a person. They just see you as an object that everyone owns and they can do with you whatever they want with. So I just try not to read it because I like keeping the things I value to myself and they can judge the movies or me or whatever they want, but as long as I am secure and happy within myself, I just don’t need to look at it.
I heard Queen Elizabeth was on the set. How was it meeting her?
Oh yeah she came. I was there when Queen Elizabeth came to the set and it was amazing. It was Maisie (Williams), Lena (Headey), myself and Conleth (Hill). It was in the Throne Room that she came in and met us.
Did she sit on the throne?
No, we asked her to sit on it and she said no. Because she is actually not allowed to sit on any other throne, anything deemed a throne other than her own, which is quite interesting, kind of baller.
So yeah, we did ask her but she just politely said, (imitates the Queen) “no thank you.” It was wonderful. It was so cool to have the real Queen in there and you get the gravitas of that situation and that was really amazing. It was just so cool. I got goosebumps.
Maisie Williams
You were only 12 when you started the show. Now you are 21. Do you regret not having a normal childhood?
I don’t really know how I would have been had I not been on this show, but I don’t know anything else. I guess it does really intrigue me, the thought of not being famous and how that would be different. But I don’t feel regret about it.
I have had one of the most incredible experiences and I have just learned so much about life from doing this show and from working at such a young age. It’s just been life-changing in so many ways and I don’t regret it at all.
There are definitely things along the way like growing up in the public eye that have been very difficult and really strange, but it doesn’t outweigh the most incredible ten years of my life. I am really grateful to have had this opportunity.
I am so excited for the doors that are opened for me now and I just think that in the last six months in particular, having finished the show, everyone always said to me when you finish this you are going to be 21 and you are going to have your whole life ahead of you and you can do whatever you want.
Now that I am here, I really am just asking myself that question of what do you want now, because it is very exciting and to think of all the different possibilities.
You have been working in Belfast for eight years. So how was it?
I really liked Belfast, I got on really well there and it changed so much over the years that we were there. The city changed hugely and it was really lovely to see that.
I feel like “Game of Thrones” has such a huge impact on Belfast and we loved the crew. We loved the people there and it was such a joy going back every year. I am glad that the movie industry is taking off there, because I would love to work on something else in that city.
What was your favorite activity there?
Well they have a lot of good bars. There’s a place called “Made in Belfast” which has really great dinners and it was very close to our hotel. It was proper Irish food so that was really lovely. It was something that you couldn’t get in London, so every year going back, it was a bit of a ritual to go to that restaurant
Lena Headey
_2019_04_09_15_11_03.jpg)
I would like to praise you for one of the best scenes of the entire series — when you walked through the crowd and you get all this abuse and you were totally naked. How do you find the courage and the power to do something like that?
Well, I wasn’t naked. I was in a bikini kind of situation because I know all these people it’s been years and that’s a weird situation.
In acting, I like to be able to be where I need to be emotionally and being naked for that moment would have detracted for me. I’d have felt very aware. So, we had the wonderful effects who did the nudity and I was just there to do the emotional, physical walk and it was three days, so it was quite an intense shoot that one.
The women on “Game of Thrones” have always been these iconic, fabulous strong women. Can you talk about the female aspect of the show and what those relationships have meant to you to be watching the others grow up?
It’s been one of my favorite aspects of it is seeing pictures of Maisie and Sophie when they first started on Instagram or something like that and I can’t believe that’s how we all looked back.
It felt like that, just felt like a finger snap these eight years. I see those girls who have become not just brilliant actresses but like advocates and spokespeople for things that really matter. I admire that we are using this insane opportunity that we’ve had and the visibility we’ve gained to do something important. So, that’s pretty fabulous.
Do you think the strong women characters in the show are being admired?
It has changed things. It’s been a real kick starter for great roles for women in television. It didn’t start off like that for “Game of Thrones.” Everyone was like it’s terribly misogynistic and blah, blah, blah and actually through great writing it’s changed opinion, which is also very cool to be a part of something like that.
What plans do you have when this show ends?
Rob a few banks. (laughs) I’m going make a film that I’m producing that I bought the rights to. A beautiful book three year ago, so that will be in production this year and it’s something that I deeply love. I am very excited to do, so that’s the next plan for the next bit of future. The title of the book is “H is for Hawk.”
Gwendoline Christie
_2019_04_09_15_09_17.jpg)
What are you going to miss about your journey here?
It’s been such a long time hasn’t it? I’ve been involved with the show for seven years, seven seasons— I joined in the second season. The show when I auditioned, there had been two episodes on in the UK, but I didn’t watch those. I read the books and read all of Brienne’s storyline and I read the books to see what it was.
Then when I saw the show, I was really surprised. I was surprised and excited by the way in which the elements had been taken from the books and put together because I remember thinking, this is such good writing that if the creatives are smart this could be brilliant because it transcends the fantasy genre.
It was a story of real depth when it came to human relationships. Often the much darker side of humanity, which we see, the curtain has been drawn back these days on that, I feel.
So for me, over the years I was very surprised at the response to Brienne of Tarth. I didn’t feel, it would have been about eight years ago, I didn’t know that there was room in our media and our society for an unconventional woman like that to be celebrated.
Because she’s a female character that is described as being ugly, whatever that means, as being larger than average, of being unusually strong, of being incredibly skilled at sword fighting, and isn’t cute or sexy or have any of the conventional attributes that women are supposed to have in order to be appealing.
But what I found particularly beautiful about the character is her real vulnerability and that you saw a very clear picture. You have over the seasons with the writing, the vulnerability in that woman. And of her trepidation of moving forward into relationships with people, into relationships with men and women, about the way in which she goes about her business, about asserting herself and about having a point of view and an opinion.
So I’ve enjoyed the writing over the years. I feel hugely honored and privileged, I really, really do to have played a character that…I didn’t know whether the show would be successful or not and to some extent it didn’t really matter to me. What mattered to me was playing a character that was outside of the conventions of society.
I knew that if I watched that show and having read those books I identified part of myself in her and I felt recognized, I felt seen. That’s what’s so important in the world, is that we have to as human beings, see ourselves in the stories that we’re told. Because it’s only that, that can move us forward in our understanding of what it is to be human. It’s only that, that I think electrifies us when we watch a drama.
I recognize that, that’s human. It can be something, a facile detail, a tiny detail or it can be something more profound but that is what connects us. That’s why I am so proud to be in the show because I think that the characters in the show have real shades of humanity which are surprising, often shocking, often disheartening, often awful but maybe if we can come away from that and reflect on what it is to be human and what it is to have a more powerful and productive relationship with our fellow man.
These days in our lives now, media, it’s safe to say it didn’t dominate our lives growing up. It wasn’t the major part of our lives that it is now. We all feel, at least I do, a little bit at sea at how to connect with my fellow man because this technology’s such a huge part of my life. So a lot of people are gaining inspiration from entertainment. This is extremely entertaining this show but it’s very informative. That’s what this final season does as well, is that it takes a surprising step towards the depth of human behavior. I hope people get something from that.
Iain Glen
What will you miss the most?
I’ll miss my friends; I’ll miss the comradeship of it. I don’t know how many — someone will know, it’ll be a Trivial Pursuit question — how many actors in “Game of Thrones” were in the pilot and every single season subsequently? I don’t know what it is, I think it’s 13. So it’s very unusual.
Your life as an actor is very ephemeral and you get used to that kind of slightly superficial nature of things. You get involved with people very quickly and then you have to say goodbye and you’re put in with a different bunch of people. That suits an actor’s slightly flibbertigibbet nature. So it’s very unusual to come do something and come back to it. You really grow; your feelings for each other evolve over time. So it’s friendship really. But I know it will always cast a wonderful shadow and it’ll be with us, everyone who was involved, for really the rest of our careers I’m sure. I don’t begrudge it for a second. — LA, GMA News
