Making of Game of Thrones (2011) - full transcript
Delve behind the scenes of the HBO drama series 'Game of Thrones' in this special featuring interviews, clips from the show, and more.
I remember everything. I can see things that happened in the past.
I can see things happening now.
All over the world.
We have suffered at each other's hands.
We have lost people we love at each other's hands.
A good man does everything in his
power to better his family's position.
What good is power if you cannot protect the ones you love?
This isn't about noble houses.
This is about the living and the dead.
The same thing is coming for all of us.
The enemy is real.
It's always been real.
Dedman tracking and tracking.
It stands in our way.
We will defeat. The seven
kingdoms need a monarch who can inspire the people
who stand in the presence of the mother of.
I rule and loved by millions.
He needed to know the truth.
He's the son of Ray God. Gary.
He's the heir to the iron.
Before what I would Targaryen, so stocks or
lambesis centuries, our families fought against their common enemy.
We need to do the same. If we cannot survive.
Together, we will save this country from those who would destroy it.
When the long night comes again, I need to be ready.
Your host for this evening.
Right. Well, as of the late night protector of House
O'Brien, father of a tiny trouser dragon and score of
100 percent Irish.
Twenty three in me.
Conan O'Brien.
Remain seated. Thank you.
Thank you so much. Hello, Belfast.
How are you? Thank you.
This is every comedian's dream is to walk onstage to the Game of
Thrones theme because it's so doesn't match how I feel about myself inside
nerd. I hate myself.
Yes, I hate her.
I'm kind of Brian and welcome.
This is a real honor. I was chosen over 15 other American talk show
hosts, not because I'm the best, but because HBO said, look at him.
He probably lives in Belfast.
We can save on a hotel room.
True story, ladies and gentlemen, I'm Irish, and this is a true story.
Just last week, I had my first DNA test.
Never had one before.
Got the results back. My doctor called me
and he said, I've never seen this before.
Conan. You are.
And this is true. I swear to God.
You are one hundred percent Irish, not
ninety nine percent, not 98, not 97.
100 percent genetically pure Irish.
So I asked him to scientifically explain what that
means and he said, you're inbred you fucking idiot.
One hundred and thirty years of brothers
and sisters getting it on in Massachusetts.
We'll talk about the letters later.
Listen, this is a special night, a chance to get everyone together,
reminisce and say goodbye to what is considered one of the greatest
television shows of all time.
This is my first time in Belfast, and I love visiting Ireland.
I came here years ago and I drove from Kerry to Dublin.
We've ever done that drive and start and
Kerry and you drive across the countryside.
I had so many great adventures.
One of them was such an important moment to me.
I stopped at a gas station in the middle of the countryside.
It's the kind of gas station you only find in Ireland,
a cottage, just a little cottage in the woods, one pump.
And it was run by a very friendly old woman.
And this is true. She came out and she starts filling my
tank and she asked me what village my people were from already.
Yeah. Just fuckin dick.
Kit Harington could do with every word.
I'll settle this hash later.
Where was I? I met this old lady and she's
filling up the gas tank and she's filling it up.
And we had this great moment.
She's this little old lady.
She's filling up my gas tank.
She asked me where my people were from.
I tell her what village.
She starts to say, I know people in that village.
And then she says, You're not going to do.
I'm going to light a candle for you tonight in the church.
She started to get weepy.
I got weepy. We actually hugged.
I got back in the car.
Tears down my cheek.
I get back in the car and I started up when I drive.
Fifteen minutes later, my car grinds to a halt.
And I realize that old woman had
filled my diesel engine with unleaded gas.
In that moment, all I wanted to do was hike
back to that gas station and strangle that old bitch.
Just see the light leave arise, and I realize
it's the perfect Irish story, it has love.
It has tragedy.
It has revenge. All the themes we will be exploring tonight
as we celebrate the eight glorious seasons of Game of Thrones.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is exciting.
So excited to be in Belfast, this seat of Northern Ireland.
The real home of West Rose.
There's no better place to raise a glass to Game of
Thrones than in this amazing city that gave it life.
Tonight, we're celebrating with the people who made it all happen.
Our audience is entirely made up of the Game of Thrones cast and crew.
Give yourselves a hand. This is an amazing night.
You've earned this night. It's your night.
We've got some great surprises up our sleeves.
So let's get started. My first guests have the best credit
scores in West Drops because they always pay their debts.
The formidable house Lannister.
What legacy he made is what you passed on to your children.
Gloria, you're not your Honor.
It's the family name that lives on.
I would do things my family couldn't.
Matt. We fight and die or we submit and die, I know my choice.
Shane. Well, what they call me.
Oh, Sprague, man, without honor.
I want you to be forsaking one battle or another.
I understand the way this game is played.
Every time we deal with an enemy, we create two more.
Any fool with a bit of luck can find
himself born into power, but earning it for yourself.
That takes work.
I believe men of talent have a part to play in the war to come.
A toast to the proud Lannister children.
The dwarf, the cripple and the mother of madness.
Well, he had a plan.
He didn't kind of tell.
Nice to have you all here.
Welcome, Peter, you and I had dinner night before
last here in Belfast, alone, alone, romantic dinner.
We shared some wine, couple of glasses of wine at one point after,
I think your fourth glass, you claim to have improvised every speech
you've ever given on Game of Thrones.
Off the top of your head.
Care to elaborate? Did I say that?
I think you were joking.
I'm paying you a compliment, but I think one of
the greatest evolutions of any character in television history.
It's amazing.
Did you know that you were gonna
take that journey from the very beginning?
No, I mean, I met with Dave and Dan in Los Angeles
and I said a couple of things that I didn't want.
Yeah. Before I read anything.
Right. Did you really lay out things that you did not want?
Yes. I didn't want a very long beard.
But now I have a beard.
Right. And I didn't want pointy shoes.
So they gave them to Conemaugh.
Those. Those were your big demands.
Yeah. For this very important.
You only two only.
No. Yes. No long beard.
No one. Yes, exactly.
Because I think that speaks to a lot of other things.
Yeah. I only knew then.
I only knew up until the end of season four.
I think at that time or maybe a
little soon after that of killing Tywin.
My father. Yes. And I thought where it from where I
start to doing that was enough for me to sign on.
Yeah. That's a brilliant character arc.
Yeah. And then it went somewhere else.
Yes. In addition to that.
So that was even better.
What's amazing is that you two have this incredible onscreen.
Hatred for one another, and I'm sure it's more complex than that.
But your arch rivals in so many ways in real life.
Your best friends. Best friends.
Used to be used to be.
Season two and then renegotiate.
Season two. It all went south, went tits up.
Different. Yeah. You work with someone you know.
All right. Go south quick.
I did something with Lena, a show that never went anywhere.
Thank God I was a mad professor.
And I had cats and one of the cats was in a remote control car.
And it went and I just remember it was just I
don't want all your demands and that I don't remember.
No. Our point is it's always the same to.
Now, I had no cats and remote control cars, but
there was a cat and a remote control car.
And I don't remember anything about the pilot except for
Lena and the cat and the remote control car.
And you were the one that told Lena, I'm reading a script.
Yes. And there is a party doing an indie movie in L.A.
together. And I said.
This is this is some really mediocre
material, you should read it no can.
We can improvise around cats and
remote controls are really improvised.
It's like a really, like, free form improvised show.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. The first thing you do, Nicholaj, is you push.
A small boy out of a total, you know, 30 story window.
And cripple him for life. Yeah.
Yet. People root for you and like you.
Explain how that's possible.
Explain how you took that journey.
Well, it tells you about people, really.
Previous person. We've all done it.
Exactly. I yeah.
No, it's it's it's a mystery to me.
I mean, why would you forgive a guy who tries to kill an innocent boy?
No, I think he tries to saves his own children.
So in that way, it makes sense.
You really didn't have to push him out the window.
Now, he then gets superpowers, so.
Well, I mean, well, the show wouldn't we wouldn't have a show without.
Exactly. We should thank General.
Yeah. Yeah. Eight years of work for everyone here.
Yes. Everyone here shoved the boy, the Connelly.
Yes. Helped me, I have my methods.
But how did you prepare to play a unit?
I cut my testicles off your chest wearing them as cufflinks.
Really? No, I didn't have to do any method.
It's all pretty figuratively a eunuch anyway.
And I shaved my head. And that was a really just shave your head.
And got pointy shoes. Got the pointy shoes.
Luckily, I'm 20 feet.
So they fit like a glove.
Perfect. Yeah. Yeah.
I do have to say this compared to many of the other characters
have had to walk through hell and walk through fires in the show.
You've had it pretty easy. Yes.
You're always sipping wine.
Yes. You're always in a comfortable, warm location.
Yes. You're always.
You get to say some brilliant little speeches and you're always
dressed wearing like those pajamas they give you in first class.
Yes. You have the most comfortable roles
that you think gets that physically comfortable.
I have also many, many naked photographs of producers.
So I never have to do any bottle things.
I do all my own stunts, pour all my own wine.
I've noticed that. Yeah. Yeah.
And it's not as it rolled my own eyes.
Yeah. Yeah. You know, we have training.
We have rehearsals. But.
It's it's it's not easy.
I make it look easy. Yes, but it's actually I'm working with.
And lovely Lena and Paul here for all these years has been a
pleasure and I've learned so, Martin, the names come with George R.R.
Martin wrote you a letter about your character, what you know.
And he said the fuck you could tell people you didn't get a letter.
You wrote you you didn't get a letter.
Yeah. Letter. He wrote you a letter and he said you could have it.
Tell him you got letters.
Yeah. Thank you.
Well, I mean, it was in the form of an email.
Yeah. Which came out around the time you got your e-mail.
Everyone here was imagining a parchment in a rainbow.
We didn't think we got so.
But he wrote and he said that you could reveal what it said.
After the show was that.
What's it going to tell us what it said?
Oh, come on. He said, you're my favorite.
That's all. So that was big.
He said I was ultimately a good person.
Ultimately a good person. Yeah.
The Lannister Sir, as you can see, a very talkative bunch.
You love the gab, which meant learning a lot of.
Was this when they do the thing where I don't remember my landgrab.
That's not going to happen. It's a much classier outfit than that.
I know my line. Let's wait and see.
When you play the Game of Thrones, you win, you die.
I'm going to open your Lord from balls to
brains and see what stocks are made of.
Storms come. Go.
The big fish eats the little fish.
Come, my Lord. I don't know what that means.
No. No line.
No, that's not what I'm saying. I'm sorry.
This is what ruling is lying on a bed
of weeds, ripping them out by the roof.
One by one before they strangle you in your sleep.
Language can be a bit tricky.
Every last sparrow will die before that woman up there.
You remember her father used to say does not concern him.
So the opinions of a sheep.
I'm not entirely sure what you're suggesting.
I'm entirely sure. You're entirely sure what I'm suggesting.
We spoke a little beforehand, and you said that Peter admitted that
he cracks up a lot when he does scenes with you.
Yeah, but he just laughs at my bad acting and my my silliac.
You're laughing at him.
Yes. Well, he thinks he's in a play.
Wow, wow, wow.
Apparently, I got the reputation for being the diva on set.
And I think it's just because I'm an American.
Honestly, no. Get that reputation.
Somebody said that to me the other night.
Yeah. Is he the deal? They voted.
He's the DLC. They voted.
Yeah. And I know they voted.
I wasn't there for the vote, but the crew voted.
The crew voted. Yes.
No, I'm just not sure. Not lives of their
British and their lovely and Irish and their polite.
Right. Oh, sorry.
So sorry, I was talking amongst the actors.
Wow. Let's roll a clip.
That's a clip of you saying that same thing.
We just had it put together and edited.
Get me off the stage right now.
No, these. This.
Ladies and gentlemen, the sitar.
This is the best part.
This is the good stuff.
Why your character?
As much as he talks.
He fights. You must.
I mean, obviously, you love the speeches.
But do you love the fighting?
Do you love the battle scenes?
One of the things about this show is that everyone's had.
I mean, are the best at what they do.
So you have the stunt team that are just insanely good.
Right. And then you have the horse department that I mean.
And I think it's fun to do that stuff.
So I've learned so much over these years.
So, yes.
Well, I got booed and you got here.
Yeah. Well. Think about it.
About what you did, what you had.
I'm really a horrible person.
You really are the worst guy I've met in a while.
The iconic shame scene.
Yes. Yes. The legendary scene.
Very painful to watch.
Do do people.
And this would be an annoying byproduct of such as famous scene.
Do people shout shame at you in any
situation ever just to try and be funny?
Yes. When I had my daughter, I was in hospital.
And she had jaundice, so we had to put in this bed.
When you have your baby, you it takes a
while for your milk to come into your boobs.
And they were helping me get the milk.
And the nurse said, you know, I'll help you.
And she'd been really nice to me for days.
And I thought it was weird. She kept going.
Can I get you anything? I was like, no, it's fine.
And she as she was doing this, she went.
Shame. I'm so sorry.
I couldn't help myself.
I'm kind of naked with my.
It was. Yes. Yes.
So that's one of the worst.
It's horrifying.
That's just actually happened.
Kind of. You're from Northern Ireland.
What is this meant for your home?
The fact that the show his wife was born here and raised here
and really the life of this show has been Northern Ireland, Belfast.
Yeah, I am immensely proud.
I always knew the crews and everybody here were brilliant.
And I remember being in New York when I was in my twenties and
watching The Sopranos and going, I'd love to do a show for HBO.
That white noise at the beginning and then the logo and everything.
I just thought that's.
But I'd have to leave my entire family because we all sleep together.
And my home and just move all the way across the world to do this.
But if you wait long enough, they'll come to you.
So nine years later, they came and.
But I it's gone. Know, we were 10 years into our peace process
when we started this and we're still not fighting, which is brilliant, but
also what it's done for.
Like a travelogue for this place and how beautiful it
is, and it just fills me with a man's pride.
And it's the closest to Teria I get when I talk about it,
because it's very arbitrary that they came here and not Scotland and not
somewhere else, you know.
So we were just very lucky and eternally grateful.
You also have you have family that works on the show.
I do. You have a brother. Yeah, but there's a few of us,
Amelia's brother bands in the camera department and Rory's sister Sally's and
wardrobe. And my brother is a multi award winning sound man.
And there are other siblings.
We have noticed you have the best sound of any character.
That's correct. Always think we have a special guest to bring out now.
He drinks and drinks.
He drank and haw his way through season
one, all while enjoying a perfect marriage.
Please welcome Robert Baratheon and Mark Addy.
What's it like to be back and seeing everybody?
It's great to be back.
It is since I've been here.
Yeah. And seen these guys, you know, it's, uh, and these guys.
What an extraordinary thing.
Who knew? Way back then this year was gonna be what it's become.
It's, uh. It's amazing.
Did you think when your character was killed off?
Good luck to them getting getting by without me?
Yeah, whatever. Do you think this show will be
another maybe another season and then that's it?
Yeah, probably. It's.
I think, you know, it's I knew I
knew Robert was there for a limited time.
Right. And until that seat becomes vacant.
The game count really begin, you know.
Mm hmm. So does your death.
Your death is the catalyst for everything
that happens after we're kind of.
Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, it was a I knew I
knew it was a limited time for the character, but.
He was such a great character.
That it was a joy to do, you know?
And you got to sit in the the the the Iron Throne
in the show and you never did oh in the show.
You never did it on the on your throne.
Robert never sat on the Iron Throne.
It's really uncomfortable.
Don't worry, Kim. I think off camera you have all set.
Everyone here has sat on the Iron Throne, right?
Yes. You go sat on it when the lights are down.
People do all kinds of things.
All right. Yeah. You know, they do.
It's filthy. Yes.
They hose it down your death.
Settle down. Your death was supposed to be different.
They looked at the possibility of a wild bull goring.
Me or a stunt guy, but.
Turns out the clue is in the name Wild.
It's it's a tricky one to capture.
So it was easier to say.
He's just been going by ball.
Yeah. It was like something out of a high school play.
They come running in and say he got bored.
You won't believe what I thought.
Sorry. Freudian slip.
But I mean, with CGI, you have dragons flying around.
Come on. Yeah. But I've got to think I would have done something.
They could have rigged up a robot pig.
Well, we have someone we have to bring out.
Ron, we have one more special guest for the Lannister house.
He outlasted Robert Baratheon and by two episodes in season one.
Please welcome the head of the Stark House, Ned Stark.
Mr. Sean Bean.
Has it been a long time since you've seen everybody?
Yes. She's the first season she market.
You got you guys became very close.
Right. You and Mark your close pals.
Yes, I happen to know you are friends.
Isn't that true, Mr. Addy?
We knew each. We'd worked together before this and we were
we were at drama school at round about the same time.
So we were.
And that helps, you know, when you're playing characters
that have a history, travel a little bit history.
With your fellow actors is a bonus, I think was a
signal to everybody that watched the show where Ned Stark dies.
That this show can and will do anything because
it was just inconceivable that your character would die.
And when he died, there was a seismic wave, a shock.
And people thought if they can kill him, they can kill anybody.
Do you really fans what was the fan reaction to your death?
People that you would just meet on the street?
They were upset.
Some of them were really upset.
And there were there was some good ones on on on the Internet.
You know, some good reactions.
These guys in America just smashing their own push up.
It's funny, though, there are a lot of people that think even all
these years that you've been gone, that your character is still the moral
center of the show. Yeah.
Is really I think he's a good man and, you
know, he was passionate and strong and you quite a
normal guy, I suppose, compared to the rest.
And I think that was a kind of you know, I think that was a positive
and it was good to have that because without the good I mean, I'm not
saying he's perfect, but about Gaudi's, you can't the bad.
So he was a good foil for some
of these characters and they're immensely enjoyable scenes.
There's a story, Mark, about you and Sean had
a lot of trouble getting through a scene.
Well, a horse we did there wasn't there was a horse that
left every time I did, which I don't know what you mean.
The horse laughed every time.
Well, I. I'd have to laugh in the scene where I first
arrived and went to bed every time I went the whole.
That was also shown at a secret pocket
inside his tunic, that necessaries mobile phone cigarettes.
And we used to have decent chocolate on the craft service table.
But by the time I come out of makeup at all.
Gone. So when he knelt down on this chocolate fell was sick.
I knew where to go. Kit Kat.
Kit Kat said all the good stuff.
John, HBO didn't know.
If you're gonna be able to make it tonight.
So they they thought if he doesn't make it, we'll bring this out.
And this is something that HBO wanted to reunite you with.
I don't know. I'm told.
Thank you. Thank you, everyone.
But you think of it so, yeah.
You like it. Bit younger, seven.
You know, I look at her as a severed head.
I think you do in person. What should I do with it?
She'd sell it on eBay is what you should do.
Yeah. You don't make quite a pretty penny for that.
You're not shown. Yeah.
All right, we're gonna move on to the Starks.
Ladies and gentlemen, we want to thank these people for being here.
Sean, stay up with us because we
want you to reunite with your children.
And as you'll see, how Stark has been very busy in your absence.
When he saw he's coming. And we protect ourselves.
Look after one another. We cannot fight a war amongst ourselves.
No Eltis is built by Killis.
So you better get used to looking at them.
I'm going to die.
Let it happen while there's still some left.
I was never able to be as good a lady as.
So I had to be something else.
I remember what it felt like to be burned and stuff.
A term under so much.
I'm tired of reading about the achievements of better men.
This isn't someone else's war zone.
My name is John Snow. Let's stop some.
I'm not your enemy. The dead are the enemy.
Please welcome Kit Harington, Maisie Williams
Sophie Turner, Isaac Hempstead Wright.
Sean, this is something that everybody wants to
see as you back with your family.
Good. Feels good. Is it is it moves or have
you kept in touch with anybody here or just.
This is the first time. Thanks.
Well, we did the movie. Do we know why haven't wait.
We did a movie together.
And where was it coming?
Canada. Yeah. Shit.
Sean. Are you aware that Maisie and Sophie
do impressions of you as Ned Stark?
Be aware of that. Right.
Ever get back to you now?
I think the crew are probably sick of hearing.
Yeah. People watching this DVD and God bless them.
I think they're gonna want to see this.
Can we see. Can you show us.
Can you sample? Well, it's just what we
just talked like this short time ago.
We're all set. We just talked a lot about John Snow.
Yeah. Yeah.
He said nice. Yeah.
Oh, yeah. Was this awkward watching Game of
Thrones the first time with your family?
You've said it was awkward. Why?
Well, the first series was really very raunchy and my family
was so proud of me and it was really lovely.
And it come over every Monday night and sit down and watch the show.
But the themes of the show are very embarrassing to watch with your auntie
on your uncle and your nan and your mom and your neighbor and
everyone in the room. And it was just really embarrassing.
And my mom would just keep filling up
my nan's glass with gin more and more.
Here she is. She's saying that.
Very embarrassing.
But, yeah, it's I feel like it's tamed down a little bit.
Now, the show's not quite so.
Yeah. Does Levas do this every last bit?
It's nice. Yeah, it's much nicer penises.
Less tense. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
That's almost what the HBO wants to use for the next one are the
unique things about Game of Thrones is that we've watched all of you, these
performers here grow as actors and also just grow.
We actually have some idea.
You did find pretty adorable footage.
Take a look. Oh. Oh.
Game of Thrones has been such an education.
I have become an adult on this show more than anything.
The friends I've made on this show, I will have for life
because I am in medieval times and not in 2009 anymore.
I've never done anything like this before.
Oh, not my first ever filming of anything.
I love getting me in costume, walking
about with a massive floating sword.
That's been the most fun thing, is
just pretending to be in this world.
I can't wait to see what it will be like.
Meir Maisie, best friends on set, we met in the auditions.
Not surprisingly, the economy anymore.
Father Censer. We get on really well in life.
I think we're going to be friends for a long time.
The most fun I had was working with Sophie.
She's my best friend. I mean, who else gets
to go to work with her best friend?
My favorite day on set would be the
day that I was reunited with Maisie.
I couldn't keep it together.
This has been not only a family to
me, but I've grown up with these people.
I've changed so much as a person gave me
three means my 20s to decade of my life.
Keep doing what you're doing. It's been a long enough.
Yeah, it's going to be doing this all the
time, not knowing that it's going to end.
We'll come back and we'll do it again.
So in bars.
What are you talking about here?
First of all, I mean, had you you like Jack?
Yeah, it's incredible.
I heard you.
I think if I shaved my beard off, I'm
just going to look like a disturbed child.
I still have a baby face as you got massive bags in my eyes.
That's what the show's done to me.
This was this was kid.
This was really your first time.
I'm doing any time.
Yeah, yeah.
It's my first first scene I ever had
on camera was with Peter in the pilot.
Yeah, I came a year out of drama school into into this show.
I did one job before, which is a play.
And then came into Game of Thrones, which
is sort of you know, you can't.
You can't. That's incredible.
You. As a first job.
And what's interesting is that we have as you
saw, we have we have other audition footage, please.
No, we don't have we don't have it.
We don't have your audition footage.
I'm told that you showed up and kind of rough shape.
Is that true? Yeah.
Yeah. You want to talk about that?
Continued that theme through.
No. Yeah. I had a black eye.
You had a black eye. Yeah. Addition, I got in a fight in McDonald's.
Do you remember what the fight was about in McDonald's?
This guy was like being a real prick to this girl that I was with.
We went shared a table and he started calling
like for no reason, stopped calling her a pig.
And like, start going. She's like, you know, glia and all this stuff.
And I was like, no, you can't say that.
Yeah. And I like I got up.
He said, Right, get up.
Come on out.
Went down last night.
Yeah. Like last night.
And this story for another time.
He'd been sitting down the whole time.
She got up and he was about six foot
high and I swung for him and completely missed.
And then he, like, clouds me.
But I think the black guy made me stand out in the audition.
So you owe that man.
Yeah. Yeah. That man saved you.
Yeah. Pretty much. In many ways.
Yeah. And he's here tonight.
It'd be great if we could bring him out.
But that's not going to happen.
It's amazing the way you two and you can see it.
You bonded instantly as friends.
And here we are nine years later.
And you're still bestie. Yeah.
Yeah. Still best days.
We met in the audition and we like we high five each other.
Got on with it, fighting after every tank.
We nailed it. But they're a nightmare on set.
Yeah, we are. Yeah. Are you.
What are you. What are they like on set.
We're just loud, loud and them noxious, obnoxious
and at least not hung over there.
I can't. Good,
Isaac. I mean, you were you were so
young and you look at that footage.
It's it's a whole movie you're looking
at, essentially, but there's a different way.
It's expensive and expensive.
Midwin, moving more incest.
What do you mean when you start out that young on a
show like this, the show becomes a massive part of your life.
It's become a massive part of everyone's life.
But this is a major part of your childhood.
Half of your life, you're pretty much like nine, nine years.
So I'm 19 now, so pretty much 50.
That is crazy.
Yeah. Do you remember that first day?
Yeah. I just remember it raining like all day and coming back.
I said I don't think I can do this.
No, I'm his age and he's like,
hey, I'm how this thing's going nowhere.
Get me out. I want to be on Alph.
Look it up, Kit in the package.
You're this kid and you're saying that you love wearing the
cloak and having a sword and that that's your favorite thing.
That's not true. All these years later is it's really not a lie.
I hate the cloak.
I like to sort the swords. Right.
Right. Cloaks just like the troll about the cloak.
Is that when you're in the scene and you sort
of and there's context, you feel relatively like cool.
But the minute you step off and you're in
a club, you just feel like such a dick.
Like if you take your out of context,
you're just an idiot wearing a furry cloak.
You know, I mean, it's no, I wear a cloak in my private life.
All around Los Angeles. I think it looks fantastic.
Yeah, I wouldn't sweat once.
You won't say what?
No, I'm not going to DVD extra.
If you fall trap set.
Now we're getting somewhere.
Now we're getting there.
No, kid, your character dies and everyone thinks you're gone.
Were you able to tell anybody here what the
real deal was, you had told these two?
But Sophie wrote me a letter.
You didn't. You didn't tell Sophie?
No. She wrote me a really heartfelt letter saying, I'm so sorry
that you're leaving the show and I love working with you and.
So I just like said, thank you.
And it just carried on.
Yeah, you tell me.
Yeah. Do you feel betrayed?
You wrote that beautiful letter.
He told you.
Told you. Because I would never say that to him normally.
Like it's a once in a lifetime.
You've been nice to me. He made a big
hoo ha over on his last day ever.
I had to give a speech.
He gave a speech. Gave a speech.
It was terrible. I came on set to go and say goodbye.
And he walks out and he's got tears streaming down his face.
Does he want to talk to best actor?
You're the greatest. You're the greatest tax ever met.
Save it for Ofcom.
What did your friends notice?
And they were saying, that's too bad.
You probably got to get a new job and
you're like, I think I'll be all right.
No slam. All right.
Well, it's time for another surprise guest.
We were lucky to get it because he lives only two blocks away.
Christian Narain, let's get him out here.
Christian, you're iconic character, amazing character, has one line that he says
over and over again, which can be a blessing and a curse.
As you can probably tell us all in your real life.
How much veel people yelling out hold or do you get that?
That doesn't happen that often.
I've definitely been in the supermarket at three AM.
I don't hear it from, like, four islands away.
Someone shutting her door from the frozen produce.
So that definitely happens.
You literally carried Isaac for six seasons.
And I've always I've thought about this before.
He got bigger and bigger and bigger.
Yeah. And it's something that anyone watching the show would think about, which
is he starts off as this little child and your big guy and
he what triples in weight size in the time that you have to carry him.
Did you dread seeing him go through this, Grosberg?
Because you literally had to carry on.
I did. Dreaded. And I had
many conversations with your sintered mother.
Helen, could you just not feed you?
That's it. It looks like a drink of water is not a drink of water.
I'm telling you right now, it's really heavy.
I don't really know why, because you're not
really just put on a little extra weight.
So whenever you would do that, Christine has literally
had to put up with my shit for life.
Yeah. When they leave it thinking SpongeBob songs and your.
That's actually how it all started.
He would be on my back and he
would be singing repeatedly solely to annoy me.
Spongebob songs your death on Game of Thrones.
It's one of the saddest I think I've seen on television.
And as I said, that is no small feat.
Can you explain what was going on?
What went into making that?
I mean, I guess it's been about two
weeks, two weeks in various different locations.
I think there were about seven different doors.
You know, there was a storm door.
You know, you have different types of waves,
really believe how many doors were destroyed.
And there is an entire caves that built in a studio.
Yeah. This was such an incredible scene to be part of.
And there was one part where I think there was eight
or nine people trying to stop me getting through the door.
I wanted to see the entire house that was moving when
I was ramming into the door of this high road.
Now, that was very emotional for you to Isaac, right?
Well, I know I was asleep for most of it
because I dunno about bits in the vision part.
So I go all the way.
I was just lying, walking in the little sled for about two weeks.
Wow. What an emotional story.
Well, this would not be a proper reunion of how
stark if we did include a few eccentric family friends.
Please welcome Liam Cunningham, John Bradley, Rory McCann.
I'm here. Mike Rowe.
Gentlemen, welcome.
We have so much to talk about here.
John, first of all, Game of Thrones, not a comedy,
but Sam brings so much levity to the show.
Is that something that. Did they pick you because you have
this this great you've got great comedy in your eyes.
Great comic timing.
Oh, that's very kind.
I think. I think that it's definitely
evolved over the course of the series.
And I think it's a huge testament to David and Dan's sensitivity as
writers and and people to collaborate with the fact that they can look
at an actor in the initial stages and start to
tailor their scripts to their kind of sets of skills.
For example, we were I don't know I don't know if it was in my
first episode, Episode four, and I don't know if the episode was run in
slightly short or something, but a couple of
weeks into shoot and we got a scene.
Me and Kit got a scene where there's a scene where they're talking
about girls and the scene where they establish that John's a virgin and
Sam wasn't having any of it.
And they were scribbling tables and.
And you could see that in the course of that two weeks, they'd
kind of got the measure of all blossoming relationship and and decided that
there was there was a kind of a comic energy between me
and Kit that they could harness for for Sam and John.
And once you once that starts to come through, you realize that you're
working with people who are not very good at writing, but they're
very good at kind of getting a measure of people.
You've said that there's some challenges
to doing these scenes with Kit.
You love Kit, but there's some there's some challenges there.
Well, there are some challenges to working with Kay.
Yeah. Judge Wells, please welcome challenges.
Well, the main challenge, if I'm going to go down the safe route here,
the main the main challenge of working with Kay, as far as I'm
concerned, is I think he's ruined all the
professional relationship for me in the future.
The fact that the fact that my the fact that the professional
relationship that I've enjoyed the most that I've got the most satisfaction
from and the one that the one that I've I felt has really made
me improve as an actor as well, just happens to be my first one.
And and I and I realize as I
go forward how extraordinary lucky I've been.
And I've probably never work with anybody that
closely again that I have that relationship with.
Having said that, I wouldn't mind working with some ugly people.
Oh, please, God, please, God.
That's my dream. But it's been I start
to realize now that we can move forward.
We've been very lucky and we've been very lucky
to work with a close friend for eight years.
And I rather, is in this game.
Rory, I want to talk to you about that.
Howard is such a fantastic character.
He is such an interesting, complicated, fun relationship with Arya.
Yeah. And you think of her almost as.
Do you think that Arya is your character's moral compass?
A little bit. No, I think the
hoedowns got his own fucking moral compass.
You know, he's got his own.
Say. I think they're sort of as annoyed them
for for a few seasons and then is
eventually he gets about respect, sees that she's a survivor.
We go on a good road trip and I find a bit of peace through that.
Yeah, we're still here.
It's a great evolution to watch.
Yeah, it's amazing. When I first started, I really was
that spear carrier behind my king and looking after Jofre.
I had no idea that there was going
to be such a story with this character.
I remember I mean, I did have a big speech in the first.
The first series on the sea cut, it said, we're
going to bring you in gently, and they did.
It was years later, but it just got more and more.
Which was great. And Maisie, you and
Rory became good friends in real life.
Yeah, we absolutely did.
Season four was a funny one because, Rory, there was a scene
where Rory had got bitten and Arya offers to have fun the
way the Rossing flash to make him better.
And I said in this script that Rory
was gone, that the hound was topless.
And so Rory had been on this crazy diet.
He'd quit drinking. Anyone that knows Rory knows that
that's a big deal and it's not unusual.
And he was like just.
He honestly was just grumpy because he
was eating just boiled eggs and chicken.
And the funniest and best thing about it is that when we came to
shoot that scene, they looked at the weather and said, yeah, you know,
it's a bit cold. Doesn't really make
sense that you'd have your shirt off.
So maybe you should just leave. And I've never been to the gym since.
And that's the truth. That was years ago.
Best you've ever loved you that.
I think he actually cracked open a bear on
set with celebrities that I never stop drinking.
And then that night, I saw you drinking a pint of gin and tonic.
Yeah. Liam, when he first approached, you weren't
excited about the Game of Thrones project initially.
Why? What was it about the project that gave you pause?
Well, my agent rang me and said, look, I
have this script in with Dragons and Shadow babies.
And I said, let me stop you there.
So I said, Dad, look, just just hang up.
We'll have a conversation about something.
I said, well, we'll wait a minute.
John says that it's HBO.
So I went, oh, OK.
And then they sent the script over
and the script was anything but dragons.
And it's a very, very expensive backdrop to an incredible story, as we
know of a power and legacy and family and paranoia and all those
wonderful things. And actually, at the the meeting I had
with the boys, they said, you don't do series.
And I said, no, I get bored easily.
And I said, boy. Why are you interested in this?
And I said, HBO, the script.
And I said, it's an hour and a half from my front door.
Yeah. So I didn't I didn't have to bring my family.
I didn't have to do any of that on this.
And the script, the scripts, as we know, are just gold.
So it wasn't a difficult decision.
I want to ask you, Rory, prior to Game of Thrones,
you're living in Iceland and you were struggling at the time.
What has this opportunity meant to you?
Two years ago, in a tent, literally in a tent, stealing
food, occasionally we've been sick our job sorting myself out.
But then suddenly, again driven down in a nice car.
And I'm one of the biggest and best show in the world.
Just shows how your fortunes change.
Amazing. Most to go back there.
And Pete paid my all my library fines.
No, John, no one pegged.
Sam is a survivor.
When he first appears on Game of Thrones, people are just.
Everyone has to be so on their toes.
They have to be, you know, such killers.
And no one thought that you were going to survive.
And I think that's part of the magic of your character, is that
you've managed to bob and weave and somehow improbably make you and
probably make your way through the whole affair.
Yeah. And I think that's.
That's a testament to one of the great
lessons that's learned through watching Game of Thrones.
I think Sam is such a figurehead of this lesson is that.
There's not just one set of skills
that's needed to survive on the outside.
It looks like you need a lot of physical prowess to survive.
You need to be a warrior. You need to
be able to handle yourself on the battlefield.
And I think that Sam is a great lesson to people, not
only in the show, but also watching the show that the.
There are any number of sets of skills that can get yourself through life
and you shouldn't look at other people and say, if I was like
that, I might survive. And I think that the fact that he's made it to the
end of the series just goes to show that if you have a belief in
yourself and you and you have a you have an iron will.
To apply what you love and what you're good
at, then you can get kind of anywhere, really.
And I think that that's it's it's it's an important lesson
to learn in life that you do have sets of skills.
And even if you don't see the importance of them yourself or the people
do, it's a little bit like when before I went into this show, there
was a lot of things I didn't like about myself.
You know, there was a lot of things that I used to go to bed and any
I used to think I wish I could wake up tomorrow and things about me be
different. And all that time I was thinking that those two guys.
They were looking for exactly me.
They were looking for an actor who knows what it's like to be bullied
because his weight and looking for an actor who knows what it's like
to be painfully shy and have grave doubts about
yourself and the stuff that they were looking for.
Not only did they see Worth in me when I couldn't see myself.
But they saw what I consider to be my failures as virtues.
And I think that that Sam's journey
throughout this whole thing as well.
He's learned it's not about what he's learned about himself.
It's what about what he's unlearn.
And there's a very valuable call within him.
And the narrative of the show told him that.
And though their faith in me has told me what is good about
myself, and I think that that's a parallel that's not lost on me.
You just mentioned Dan and David and said something incredibly sweet.
Liam, you've said before that you consider Dan and David sadists.
Yes, I know I haven't changed my opinion.
The terrible things that the actors whose
lives they were about to ruin.
Huh? They'd bring them over a nice dinner.
You know, get them all relaxed and tell them they were psyched.
Yeah, so they did it in a number of occasions, refused
to go for dinner with them for a long time.
Yeah. If if you ever got a cast made of your your head, that was.
You know, you're funny. I think I'm getting the joke.
Yeah. And France, we have to move on please.
You guys go back to your tables,
continue drinking heavily on HBO is dime.
All I have to say about my next guests is they have dragons.
I can see things happening now.
All over the world.
We have suffered at each other's hands.
We have lost people we love at each other's hands.
A good man does everything in his
power to better his family's position.
What good is power if you cannot protect the ones you love?
This isn't about noble houses.
This is about the living and the dead.
The same thing is coming for all of us.
The enemy is real.
It's always been real.
Dedman tracking and tracking.
It stands in our way.
We will defeat. The seven
kingdoms need a monarch who can inspire the people
who stand in the presence of the mother of.
I rule and loved by millions.
He needed to know the truth.
He's the son of Ray God. Gary.
He's the heir to the iron.
Before what I would Targaryen, so stocks or
lambesis centuries, our families fought against their common enemy.
We need to do the same. If we cannot survive.
Together, we will save this country from those who would destroy it.
When the long night comes again, I need to be ready.
Your host for this evening.
Right. Well, as of the late night protector of House
O'Brien, father of a tiny trouser dragon and score of
100 percent Irish.
Twenty three in me.
Conan O'Brien.
Remain seated. Thank you.
Thank you so much. Hello, Belfast.
How are you? Thank you.
This is every comedian's dream is to walk onstage to the Game of
Thrones theme because it's so doesn't match how I feel about myself inside
nerd. I hate myself.
Yes, I hate her.
I'm kind of Brian and welcome.
This is a real honor. I was chosen over 15 other American talk show
hosts, not because I'm the best, but because HBO said, look at him.
He probably lives in Belfast.
We can save on a hotel room.
True story, ladies and gentlemen, I'm Irish, and this is a true story.
Just last week, I had my first DNA test.
Never had one before.
Got the results back. My doctor called me
and he said, I've never seen this before.
Conan. You are.
And this is true. I swear to God.
You are one hundred percent Irish, not
ninety nine percent, not 98, not 97.
100 percent genetically pure Irish.
So I asked him to scientifically explain what that
means and he said, you're inbred you fucking idiot.
One hundred and thirty years of brothers
and sisters getting it on in Massachusetts.
We'll talk about the letters later.
Listen, this is a special night, a chance to get everyone together,
reminisce and say goodbye to what is considered one of the greatest
television shows of all time.
This is my first time in Belfast, and I love visiting Ireland.
I came here years ago and I drove from Kerry to Dublin.
We've ever done that drive and start and
Kerry and you drive across the countryside.
I had so many great adventures.
One of them was such an important moment to me.
I stopped at a gas station in the middle of the countryside.
It's the kind of gas station you only find in Ireland,
a cottage, just a little cottage in the woods, one pump.
And it was run by a very friendly old woman.
And this is true. She came out and she starts filling my
tank and she asked me what village my people were from already.
Yeah. Just fuckin dick.
Kit Harington could do with every word.
I'll settle this hash later.
Where was I? I met this old lady and she's
filling up the gas tank and she's filling it up.
And we had this great moment.
She's this little old lady.
She's filling up my gas tank.
She asked me where my people were from.
I tell her what village.
She starts to say, I know people in that village.
And then she says, You're not going to do.
I'm going to light a candle for you tonight in the church.
She started to get weepy.
I got weepy. We actually hugged.
I got back in the car.
Tears down my cheek.
I get back in the car and I started up when I drive.
Fifteen minutes later, my car grinds to a halt.
And I realize that old woman had
filled my diesel engine with unleaded gas.
In that moment, all I wanted to do was hike
back to that gas station and strangle that old bitch.
Just see the light leave arise, and I realize
it's the perfect Irish story, it has love.
It has tragedy.
It has revenge. All the themes we will be exploring tonight
as we celebrate the eight glorious seasons of Game of Thrones.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is exciting.
So excited to be in Belfast, this seat of Northern Ireland.
The real home of West Rose.
There's no better place to raise a glass to Game of
Thrones than in this amazing city that gave it life.
Tonight, we're celebrating with the people who made it all happen.
Our audience is entirely made up of the Game of Thrones cast and crew.
Give yourselves a hand. This is an amazing night.
You've earned this night. It's your night.
We've got some great surprises up our sleeves.
So let's get started. My first guests have the best credit
scores in West Drops because they always pay their debts.
The formidable house Lannister.
What legacy he made is what you passed on to your children.
Gloria, you're not your Honor.
It's the family name that lives on.
I would do things my family couldn't.
Matt. We fight and die or we submit and die, I know my choice.
Shane. Well, what they call me.
Oh, Sprague, man, without honor.
I want you to be forsaking one battle or another.
I understand the way this game is played.
Every time we deal with an enemy, we create two more.
Any fool with a bit of luck can find
himself born into power, but earning it for yourself.
That takes work.
I believe men of talent have a part to play in the war to come.
A toast to the proud Lannister children.
The dwarf, the cripple and the mother of madness.
Well, he had a plan.
He didn't kind of tell.
Nice to have you all here.
Welcome, Peter, you and I had dinner night before
last here in Belfast, alone, alone, romantic dinner.
We shared some wine, couple of glasses of wine at one point after,
I think your fourth glass, you claim to have improvised every speech
you've ever given on Game of Thrones.
Off the top of your head.
Care to elaborate? Did I say that?
I think you were joking.
I'm paying you a compliment, but I think one of
the greatest evolutions of any character in television history.
It's amazing.
Did you know that you were gonna
take that journey from the very beginning?
No, I mean, I met with Dave and Dan in Los Angeles
and I said a couple of things that I didn't want.
Yeah. Before I read anything.
Right. Did you really lay out things that you did not want?
Yes. I didn't want a very long beard.
But now I have a beard.
Right. And I didn't want pointy shoes.
So they gave them to Conemaugh.
Those. Those were your big demands.
Yeah. For this very important.
You only two only.
No. Yes. No long beard.
No one. Yes, exactly.
Because I think that speaks to a lot of other things.
Yeah. I only knew then.
I only knew up until the end of season four.
I think at that time or maybe a
little soon after that of killing Tywin.
My father. Yes. And I thought where it from where I
start to doing that was enough for me to sign on.
Yeah. That's a brilliant character arc.
Yeah. And then it went somewhere else.
Yes. In addition to that.
So that was even better.
What's amazing is that you two have this incredible onscreen.
Hatred for one another, and I'm sure it's more complex than that.
But your arch rivals in so many ways in real life.
Your best friends. Best friends.
Used to be used to be.
Season two and then renegotiate.
Season two. It all went south, went tits up.
Different. Yeah. You work with someone you know.
All right. Go south quick.
I did something with Lena, a show that never went anywhere.
Thank God I was a mad professor.
And I had cats and one of the cats was in a remote control car.
And it went and I just remember it was just I
don't want all your demands and that I don't remember.
No. Our point is it's always the same to.
Now, I had no cats and remote control cars, but
there was a cat and a remote control car.
And I don't remember anything about the pilot except for
Lena and the cat and the remote control car.
And you were the one that told Lena, I'm reading a script.
Yes. And there is a party doing an indie movie in L.A.
together. And I said.
This is this is some really mediocre
material, you should read it no can.
We can improvise around cats and
remote controls are really improvised.
It's like a really, like, free form improvised show.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. The first thing you do, Nicholaj, is you push.
A small boy out of a total, you know, 30 story window.
And cripple him for life. Yeah.
Yet. People root for you and like you.
Explain how that's possible.
Explain how you took that journey.
Well, it tells you about people, really.
Previous person. We've all done it.
Exactly. I yeah.
No, it's it's it's a mystery to me.
I mean, why would you forgive a guy who tries to kill an innocent boy?
No, I think he tries to saves his own children.
So in that way, it makes sense.
You really didn't have to push him out the window.
Now, he then gets superpowers, so.
Well, I mean, well, the show wouldn't we wouldn't have a show without.
Exactly. We should thank General.
Yeah. Yeah. Eight years of work for everyone here.
Yes. Everyone here shoved the boy, the Connelly.
Yes. Helped me, I have my methods.
But how did you prepare to play a unit?
I cut my testicles off your chest wearing them as cufflinks.
Really? No, I didn't have to do any method.
It's all pretty figuratively a eunuch anyway.
And I shaved my head. And that was a really just shave your head.
And got pointy shoes. Got the pointy shoes.
Luckily, I'm 20 feet.
So they fit like a glove.
Perfect. Yeah. Yeah.
I do have to say this compared to many of the other characters
have had to walk through hell and walk through fires in the show.
You've had it pretty easy. Yes.
You're always sipping wine.
Yes. You're always in a comfortable, warm location.
Yes. You're always.
You get to say some brilliant little speeches and you're always
dressed wearing like those pajamas they give you in first class.
Yes. You have the most comfortable roles
that you think gets that physically comfortable.
I have also many, many naked photographs of producers.
So I never have to do any bottle things.
I do all my own stunts, pour all my own wine.
I've noticed that. Yeah. Yeah.
And it's not as it rolled my own eyes.
Yeah. Yeah. You know, we have training.
We have rehearsals. But.
It's it's it's not easy.
I make it look easy. Yes, but it's actually I'm working with.
And lovely Lena and Paul here for all these years has been a
pleasure and I've learned so, Martin, the names come with George R.R.
Martin wrote you a letter about your character, what you know.
And he said the fuck you could tell people you didn't get a letter.
You wrote you you didn't get a letter.
Yeah. Letter. He wrote you a letter and he said you could have it.
Tell him you got letters.
Yeah. Thank you.
Well, I mean, it was in the form of an email.
Yeah. Which came out around the time you got your e-mail.
Everyone here was imagining a parchment in a rainbow.
We didn't think we got so.
But he wrote and he said that you could reveal what it said.
After the show was that.
What's it going to tell us what it said?
Oh, come on. He said, you're my favorite.
That's all. So that was big.
He said I was ultimately a good person.
Ultimately a good person. Yeah.
The Lannister Sir, as you can see, a very talkative bunch.
You love the gab, which meant learning a lot of.
Was this when they do the thing where I don't remember my landgrab.
That's not going to happen. It's a much classier outfit than that.
I know my line. Let's wait and see.
When you play the Game of Thrones, you win, you die.
I'm going to open your Lord from balls to
brains and see what stocks are made of.
Storms come. Go.
The big fish eats the little fish.
Come, my Lord. I don't know what that means.
No. No line.
No, that's not what I'm saying. I'm sorry.
This is what ruling is lying on a bed
of weeds, ripping them out by the roof.
One by one before they strangle you in your sleep.
Language can be a bit tricky.
Every last sparrow will die before that woman up there.
You remember her father used to say does not concern him.
So the opinions of a sheep.
I'm not entirely sure what you're suggesting.
I'm entirely sure. You're entirely sure what I'm suggesting.
We spoke a little beforehand, and you said that Peter admitted that
he cracks up a lot when he does scenes with you.
Yeah, but he just laughs at my bad acting and my my silliac.
You're laughing at him.
Yes. Well, he thinks he's in a play.
Wow, wow, wow.
Apparently, I got the reputation for being the diva on set.
And I think it's just because I'm an American.
Honestly, no. Get that reputation.
Somebody said that to me the other night.
Yeah. Is he the deal? They voted.
He's the DLC. They voted.
Yeah. And I know they voted.
I wasn't there for the vote, but the crew voted.
The crew voted. Yes.
No, I'm just not sure. Not lives of their
British and their lovely and Irish and their polite.
Right. Oh, sorry.
So sorry, I was talking amongst the actors.
Wow. Let's roll a clip.
That's a clip of you saying that same thing.
We just had it put together and edited.
Get me off the stage right now.
No, these. This.
Ladies and gentlemen, the sitar.
This is the best part.
This is the good stuff.
Why your character?
As much as he talks.
He fights. You must.
I mean, obviously, you love the speeches.
But do you love the fighting?
Do you love the battle scenes?
One of the things about this show is that everyone's had.
I mean, are the best at what they do.
So you have the stunt team that are just insanely good.
Right. And then you have the horse department that I mean.
And I think it's fun to do that stuff.
So I've learned so much over these years.
So, yes.
Well, I got booed and you got here.
Yeah. Well. Think about it.
About what you did, what you had.
I'm really a horrible person.
You really are the worst guy I've met in a while.
The iconic shame scene.
Yes. Yes. The legendary scene.
Very painful to watch.
Do do people.
And this would be an annoying byproduct of such as famous scene.
Do people shout shame at you in any
situation ever just to try and be funny?
Yes. When I had my daughter, I was in hospital.
And she had jaundice, so we had to put in this bed.
When you have your baby, you it takes a
while for your milk to come into your boobs.
And they were helping me get the milk.
And the nurse said, you know, I'll help you.
And she'd been really nice to me for days.
And I thought it was weird. She kept going.
Can I get you anything? I was like, no, it's fine.
And she as she was doing this, she went.
Shame. I'm so sorry.
I couldn't help myself.
I'm kind of naked with my.
It was. Yes. Yes.
So that's one of the worst.
It's horrifying.
That's just actually happened.
Kind of. You're from Northern Ireland.
What is this meant for your home?
The fact that the show his wife was born here and raised here
and really the life of this show has been Northern Ireland, Belfast.
Yeah, I am immensely proud.
I always knew the crews and everybody here were brilliant.
And I remember being in New York when I was in my twenties and
watching The Sopranos and going, I'd love to do a show for HBO.
That white noise at the beginning and then the logo and everything.
I just thought that's.
But I'd have to leave my entire family because we all sleep together.
And my home and just move all the way across the world to do this.
But if you wait long enough, they'll come to you.
So nine years later, they came and.
But I it's gone. Know, we were 10 years into our peace process
when we started this and we're still not fighting, which is brilliant, but
also what it's done for.
Like a travelogue for this place and how beautiful it
is, and it just fills me with a man's pride.
And it's the closest to Teria I get when I talk about it,
because it's very arbitrary that they came here and not Scotland and not
somewhere else, you know.
So we were just very lucky and eternally grateful.
You also have you have family that works on the show.
I do. You have a brother. Yeah, but there's a few of us,
Amelia's brother bands in the camera department and Rory's sister Sally's and
wardrobe. And my brother is a multi award winning sound man.
And there are other siblings.
We have noticed you have the best sound of any character.
That's correct. Always think we have a special guest to bring out now.
He drinks and drinks.
He drank and haw his way through season
one, all while enjoying a perfect marriage.
Please welcome Robert Baratheon and Mark Addy.
What's it like to be back and seeing everybody?
It's great to be back.
It is since I've been here.
Yeah. And seen these guys, you know, it's, uh, and these guys.
What an extraordinary thing.
Who knew? Way back then this year was gonna be what it's become.
It's, uh. It's amazing.
Did you think when your character was killed off?
Good luck to them getting getting by without me?
Yeah, whatever. Do you think this show will be
another maybe another season and then that's it?
Yeah, probably. It's.
I think, you know, it's I knew I
knew Robert was there for a limited time.
Right. And until that seat becomes vacant.
The game count really begin, you know.
Mm hmm. So does your death.
Your death is the catalyst for everything
that happens after we're kind of.
Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, it was a I knew I
knew it was a limited time for the character, but.
He was such a great character.
That it was a joy to do, you know?
And you got to sit in the the the the Iron Throne
in the show and you never did oh in the show.
You never did it on the on your throne.
Robert never sat on the Iron Throne.
It's really uncomfortable.
Don't worry, Kim. I think off camera you have all set.
Everyone here has sat on the Iron Throne, right?
Yes. You go sat on it when the lights are down.
People do all kinds of things.
All right. Yeah. You know, they do.
It's filthy. Yes.
They hose it down your death.
Settle down. Your death was supposed to be different.
They looked at the possibility of a wild bull goring.
Me or a stunt guy, but.
Turns out the clue is in the name Wild.
It's it's a tricky one to capture.
So it was easier to say.
He's just been going by ball.
Yeah. It was like something out of a high school play.
They come running in and say he got bored.
You won't believe what I thought.
Sorry. Freudian slip.
But I mean, with CGI, you have dragons flying around.
Come on. Yeah. But I've got to think I would have done something.
They could have rigged up a robot pig.
Well, we have someone we have to bring out.
Ron, we have one more special guest for the Lannister house.
He outlasted Robert Baratheon and by two episodes in season one.
Please welcome the head of the Stark House, Ned Stark.
Mr. Sean Bean.
Has it been a long time since you've seen everybody?
Yes. She's the first season she market.
You got you guys became very close.
Right. You and Mark your close pals.
Yes, I happen to know you are friends.
Isn't that true, Mr. Addy?
We knew each. We'd worked together before this and we were
we were at drama school at round about the same time.
So we were.
And that helps, you know, when you're playing characters
that have a history, travel a little bit history.
With your fellow actors is a bonus, I think was a
signal to everybody that watched the show where Ned Stark dies.
That this show can and will do anything because
it was just inconceivable that your character would die.
And when he died, there was a seismic wave, a shock.
And people thought if they can kill him, they can kill anybody.
Do you really fans what was the fan reaction to your death?
People that you would just meet on the street?
They were upset.
Some of them were really upset.
And there were there was some good ones on on on the Internet.
You know, some good reactions.
These guys in America just smashing their own push up.
It's funny, though, there are a lot of people that think even all
these years that you've been gone, that your character is still the moral
center of the show. Yeah.
Is really I think he's a good man and, you
know, he was passionate and strong and you quite a
normal guy, I suppose, compared to the rest.
And I think that was a kind of you know, I think that was a positive
and it was good to have that because without the good I mean, I'm not
saying he's perfect, but about Gaudi's, you can't the bad.
So he was a good foil for some
of these characters and they're immensely enjoyable scenes.
There's a story, Mark, about you and Sean had
a lot of trouble getting through a scene.
Well, a horse we did there wasn't there was a horse that
left every time I did, which I don't know what you mean.
The horse laughed every time.
Well, I. I'd have to laugh in the scene where I first
arrived and went to bed every time I went the whole.
That was also shown at a secret pocket
inside his tunic, that necessaries mobile phone cigarettes.
And we used to have decent chocolate on the craft service table.
But by the time I come out of makeup at all.
Gone. So when he knelt down on this chocolate fell was sick.
I knew where to go. Kit Kat.
Kit Kat said all the good stuff.
John, HBO didn't know.
If you're gonna be able to make it tonight.
So they they thought if he doesn't make it, we'll bring this out.
And this is something that HBO wanted to reunite you with.
I don't know. I'm told.
Thank you. Thank you, everyone.
But you think of it so, yeah.
You like it. Bit younger, seven.
You know, I look at her as a severed head.
I think you do in person. What should I do with it?
She'd sell it on eBay is what you should do.
Yeah. You don't make quite a pretty penny for that.
You're not shown. Yeah.
All right, we're gonna move on to the Starks.
Ladies and gentlemen, we want to thank these people for being here.
Sean, stay up with us because we
want you to reunite with your children.
And as you'll see, how Stark has been very busy in your absence.
When he saw he's coming. And we protect ourselves.
Look after one another. We cannot fight a war amongst ourselves.
No Eltis is built by Killis.
So you better get used to looking at them.
I'm going to die.
Let it happen while there's still some left.
I was never able to be as good a lady as.
So I had to be something else.
I remember what it felt like to be burned and stuff.
A term under so much.
I'm tired of reading about the achievements of better men.
This isn't someone else's war zone.
My name is John Snow. Let's stop some.
I'm not your enemy. The dead are the enemy.
Please welcome Kit Harington, Maisie Williams
Sophie Turner, Isaac Hempstead Wright.
Sean, this is something that everybody wants to
see as you back with your family.
Good. Feels good. Is it is it moves or have
you kept in touch with anybody here or just.
This is the first time. Thanks.
Well, we did the movie. Do we know why haven't wait.
We did a movie together.
And where was it coming?
Canada. Yeah. Shit.
Sean. Are you aware that Maisie and Sophie
do impressions of you as Ned Stark?
Be aware of that. Right.
Ever get back to you now?
I think the crew are probably sick of hearing.
Yeah. People watching this DVD and God bless them.
I think they're gonna want to see this.
Can we see. Can you show us.
Can you sample? Well, it's just what we
just talked like this short time ago.
We're all set. We just talked a lot about John Snow.
Yeah. Yeah.
He said nice. Yeah.
Oh, yeah. Was this awkward watching Game of
Thrones the first time with your family?
You've said it was awkward. Why?
Well, the first series was really very raunchy and my family
was so proud of me and it was really lovely.
And it come over every Monday night and sit down and watch the show.
But the themes of the show are very embarrassing to watch with your auntie
on your uncle and your nan and your mom and your neighbor and
everyone in the room. And it was just really embarrassing.
And my mom would just keep filling up
my nan's glass with gin more and more.
Here she is. She's saying that.
Very embarrassing.
But, yeah, it's I feel like it's tamed down a little bit.
Now, the show's not quite so.
Yeah. Does Levas do this every last bit?
It's nice. Yeah, it's much nicer penises.
Less tense. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
That's almost what the HBO wants to use for the next one are the
unique things about Game of Thrones is that we've watched all of you, these
performers here grow as actors and also just grow.
We actually have some idea.
You did find pretty adorable footage.
Take a look. Oh. Oh.
Game of Thrones has been such an education.
I have become an adult on this show more than anything.
The friends I've made on this show, I will have for life
because I am in medieval times and not in 2009 anymore.
I've never done anything like this before.
Oh, not my first ever filming of anything.
I love getting me in costume, walking
about with a massive floating sword.
That's been the most fun thing, is
just pretending to be in this world.
I can't wait to see what it will be like.
Meir Maisie, best friends on set, we met in the auditions.
Not surprisingly, the economy anymore.
Father Censer. We get on really well in life.
I think we're going to be friends for a long time.
The most fun I had was working with Sophie.
She's my best friend. I mean, who else gets
to go to work with her best friend?
My favorite day on set would be the
day that I was reunited with Maisie.
I couldn't keep it together.
This has been not only a family to
me, but I've grown up with these people.
I've changed so much as a person gave me
three means my 20s to decade of my life.
Keep doing what you're doing. It's been a long enough.
Yeah, it's going to be doing this all the
time, not knowing that it's going to end.
We'll come back and we'll do it again.
So in bars.
What are you talking about here?
First of all, I mean, had you you like Jack?
Yeah, it's incredible.
I heard you.
I think if I shaved my beard off, I'm
just going to look like a disturbed child.
I still have a baby face as you got massive bags in my eyes.
That's what the show's done to me.
This was this was kid.
This was really your first time.
I'm doing any time.
Yeah, yeah.
It's my first first scene I ever had
on camera was with Peter in the pilot.
Yeah, I came a year out of drama school into into this show.
I did one job before, which is a play.
And then came into Game of Thrones, which
is sort of you know, you can't.
You can't. That's incredible.
You. As a first job.
And what's interesting is that we have as you
saw, we have we have other audition footage, please.
No, we don't have we don't have it.
We don't have your audition footage.
I'm told that you showed up and kind of rough shape.
Is that true? Yeah.
Yeah. You want to talk about that?
Continued that theme through.
No. Yeah. I had a black eye.
You had a black eye. Yeah. Addition, I got in a fight in McDonald's.
Do you remember what the fight was about in McDonald's?
This guy was like being a real prick to this girl that I was with.
We went shared a table and he started calling
like for no reason, stopped calling her a pig.
And like, start going. She's like, you know, glia and all this stuff.
And I was like, no, you can't say that.
Yeah. And I like I got up.
He said, Right, get up.
Come on out.
Went down last night.
Yeah. Like last night.
And this story for another time.
He'd been sitting down the whole time.
She got up and he was about six foot
high and I swung for him and completely missed.
And then he, like, clouds me.
But I think the black guy made me stand out in the audition.
So you owe that man.
Yeah. Yeah. That man saved you.
Yeah. Pretty much. In many ways.
Yeah. And he's here tonight.
It'd be great if we could bring him out.
But that's not going to happen.
It's amazing the way you two and you can see it.
You bonded instantly as friends.
And here we are nine years later.
And you're still bestie. Yeah.
Yeah. Still best days.
We met in the audition and we like we high five each other.
Got on with it, fighting after every tank.
We nailed it. But they're a nightmare on set.
Yeah, we are. Yeah. Are you.
What are you. What are they like on set.
We're just loud, loud and them noxious, obnoxious
and at least not hung over there.
I can't. Good,
Isaac. I mean, you were you were so
young and you look at that footage.
It's it's a whole movie you're looking
at, essentially, but there's a different way.
It's expensive and expensive.
Midwin, moving more incest.
What do you mean when you start out that young on a
show like this, the show becomes a massive part of your life.
It's become a massive part of everyone's life.
But this is a major part of your childhood.
Half of your life, you're pretty much like nine, nine years.
So I'm 19 now, so pretty much 50.
That is crazy.
Yeah. Do you remember that first day?
Yeah. I just remember it raining like all day and coming back.
I said I don't think I can do this.
No, I'm his age and he's like,
hey, I'm how this thing's going nowhere.
Get me out. I want to be on Alph.
Look it up, Kit in the package.
You're this kid and you're saying that you love wearing the
cloak and having a sword and that that's your favorite thing.
That's not true. All these years later is it's really not a lie.
I hate the cloak.
I like to sort the swords. Right.
Right. Cloaks just like the troll about the cloak.
Is that when you're in the scene and you sort
of and there's context, you feel relatively like cool.
But the minute you step off and you're in
a club, you just feel like such a dick.
Like if you take your out of context,
you're just an idiot wearing a furry cloak.
You know, I mean, it's no, I wear a cloak in my private life.
All around Los Angeles. I think it looks fantastic.
Yeah, I wouldn't sweat once.
You won't say what?
No, I'm not going to DVD extra.
If you fall trap set.
Now we're getting somewhere.
Now we're getting there.
No, kid, your character dies and everyone thinks you're gone.
Were you able to tell anybody here what the
real deal was, you had told these two?
But Sophie wrote me a letter.
You didn't. You didn't tell Sophie?
No. She wrote me a really heartfelt letter saying, I'm so sorry
that you're leaving the show and I love working with you and.
So I just like said, thank you.
And it just carried on.
Yeah, you tell me.
Yeah. Do you feel betrayed?
You wrote that beautiful letter.
He told you.
Told you. Because I would never say that to him normally.
Like it's a once in a lifetime.
You've been nice to me. He made a big
hoo ha over on his last day ever.
I had to give a speech.
He gave a speech. Gave a speech.
It was terrible. I came on set to go and say goodbye.
And he walks out and he's got tears streaming down his face.
Does he want to talk to best actor?
You're the greatest. You're the greatest tax ever met.
Save it for Ofcom.
What did your friends notice?
And they were saying, that's too bad.
You probably got to get a new job and
you're like, I think I'll be all right.
No slam. All right.
Well, it's time for another surprise guest.
We were lucky to get it because he lives only two blocks away.
Christian Narain, let's get him out here.
Christian, you're iconic character, amazing character, has one line that he says
over and over again, which can be a blessing and a curse.
As you can probably tell us all in your real life.
How much veel people yelling out hold or do you get that?
That doesn't happen that often.
I've definitely been in the supermarket at three AM.
I don't hear it from, like, four islands away.
Someone shutting her door from the frozen produce.
So that definitely happens.
You literally carried Isaac for six seasons.
And I've always I've thought about this before.
He got bigger and bigger and bigger.
Yeah. And it's something that anyone watching the show would think about, which
is he starts off as this little child and your big guy and
he what triples in weight size in the time that you have to carry him.
Did you dread seeing him go through this, Grosberg?
Because you literally had to carry on.
I did. Dreaded. And I had
many conversations with your sintered mother.
Helen, could you just not feed you?
That's it. It looks like a drink of water is not a drink of water.
I'm telling you right now, it's really heavy.
I don't really know why, because you're not
really just put on a little extra weight.
So whenever you would do that, Christine has literally
had to put up with my shit for life.
Yeah. When they leave it thinking SpongeBob songs and your.
That's actually how it all started.
He would be on my back and he
would be singing repeatedly solely to annoy me.
Spongebob songs your death on Game of Thrones.
It's one of the saddest I think I've seen on television.
And as I said, that is no small feat.
Can you explain what was going on?
What went into making that?
I mean, I guess it's been about two
weeks, two weeks in various different locations.
I think there were about seven different doors.
You know, there was a storm door.
You know, you have different types of waves,
really believe how many doors were destroyed.
And there is an entire caves that built in a studio.
Yeah. This was such an incredible scene to be part of.
And there was one part where I think there was eight
or nine people trying to stop me getting through the door.
I wanted to see the entire house that was moving when
I was ramming into the door of this high road.
Now, that was very emotional for you to Isaac, right?
Well, I know I was asleep for most of it
because I dunno about bits in the vision part.
So I go all the way.
I was just lying, walking in the little sled for about two weeks.
Wow. What an emotional story.
Well, this would not be a proper reunion of how
stark if we did include a few eccentric family friends.
Please welcome Liam Cunningham, John Bradley, Rory McCann.
I'm here. Mike Rowe.
Gentlemen, welcome.
We have so much to talk about here.
John, first of all, Game of Thrones, not a comedy,
but Sam brings so much levity to the show.
Is that something that. Did they pick you because you have
this this great you've got great comedy in your eyes.
Great comic timing.
Oh, that's very kind.
I think. I think that it's definitely
evolved over the course of the series.
And I think it's a huge testament to David and Dan's sensitivity as
writers and and people to collaborate with the fact that they can look
at an actor in the initial stages and start to
tailor their scripts to their kind of sets of skills.
For example, we were I don't know I don't know if it was in my
first episode, Episode four, and I don't know if the episode was run in
slightly short or something, but a couple of
weeks into shoot and we got a scene.
Me and Kit got a scene where there's a scene where they're talking
about girls and the scene where they establish that John's a virgin and
Sam wasn't having any of it.
And they were scribbling tables and.
And you could see that in the course of that two weeks, they'd
kind of got the measure of all blossoming relationship and and decided that
there was there was a kind of a comic energy between me
and Kit that they could harness for for Sam and John.
And once you once that starts to come through, you realize that you're
working with people who are not very good at writing, but they're
very good at kind of getting a measure of people.
You've said that there's some challenges
to doing these scenes with Kit.
You love Kit, but there's some there's some challenges there.
Well, there are some challenges to working with Kay.
Yeah. Judge Wells, please welcome challenges.
Well, the main challenge, if I'm going to go down the safe route here,
the main the main challenge of working with Kay, as far as I'm
concerned, is I think he's ruined all the
professional relationship for me in the future.
The fact that the fact that my the fact that the professional
relationship that I've enjoyed the most that I've got the most satisfaction
from and the one that the one that I've I felt has really made
me improve as an actor as well, just happens to be my first one.
And and I and I realize as I
go forward how extraordinary lucky I've been.
And I've probably never work with anybody that
closely again that I have that relationship with.
Having said that, I wouldn't mind working with some ugly people.
Oh, please, God, please, God.
That's my dream. But it's been I start
to realize now that we can move forward.
We've been very lucky and we've been very lucky
to work with a close friend for eight years.
And I rather, is in this game.
Rory, I want to talk to you about that.
Howard is such a fantastic character.
He is such an interesting, complicated, fun relationship with Arya.
Yeah. And you think of her almost as.
Do you think that Arya is your character's moral compass?
A little bit. No, I think the
hoedowns got his own fucking moral compass.
You know, he's got his own.
Say. I think they're sort of as annoyed them
for for a few seasons and then is
eventually he gets about respect, sees that she's a survivor.
We go on a good road trip and I find a bit of peace through that.
Yeah, we're still here.
It's a great evolution to watch.
Yeah, it's amazing. When I first started, I really was
that spear carrier behind my king and looking after Jofre.
I had no idea that there was going
to be such a story with this character.
I remember I mean, I did have a big speech in the first.
The first series on the sea cut, it said, we're
going to bring you in gently, and they did.
It was years later, but it just got more and more.
Which was great. And Maisie, you and
Rory became good friends in real life.
Yeah, we absolutely did.
Season four was a funny one because, Rory, there was a scene
where Rory had got bitten and Arya offers to have fun the
way the Rossing flash to make him better.
And I said in this script that Rory
was gone, that the hound was topless.
And so Rory had been on this crazy diet.
He'd quit drinking. Anyone that knows Rory knows that
that's a big deal and it's not unusual.
And he was like just.
He honestly was just grumpy because he
was eating just boiled eggs and chicken.
And the funniest and best thing about it is that when we came to
shoot that scene, they looked at the weather and said, yeah, you know,
it's a bit cold. Doesn't really make
sense that you'd have your shirt off.
So maybe you should just leave. And I've never been to the gym since.
And that's the truth. That was years ago.
Best you've ever loved you that.
I think he actually cracked open a bear on
set with celebrities that I never stop drinking.
And then that night, I saw you drinking a pint of gin and tonic.
Yeah. Liam, when he first approached, you weren't
excited about the Game of Thrones project initially.
Why? What was it about the project that gave you pause?
Well, my agent rang me and said, look, I
have this script in with Dragons and Shadow babies.
And I said, let me stop you there.
So I said, Dad, look, just just hang up.
We'll have a conversation about something.
I said, well, we'll wait a minute.
John says that it's HBO.
So I went, oh, OK.
And then they sent the script over
and the script was anything but dragons.
And it's a very, very expensive backdrop to an incredible story, as we
know of a power and legacy and family and paranoia and all those
wonderful things. And actually, at the the meeting I had
with the boys, they said, you don't do series.
And I said, no, I get bored easily.
And I said, boy. Why are you interested in this?
And I said, HBO, the script.
And I said, it's an hour and a half from my front door.
Yeah. So I didn't I didn't have to bring my family.
I didn't have to do any of that on this.
And the script, the scripts, as we know, are just gold.
So it wasn't a difficult decision.
I want to ask you, Rory, prior to Game of Thrones,
you're living in Iceland and you were struggling at the time.
What has this opportunity meant to you?
Two years ago, in a tent, literally in a tent, stealing
food, occasionally we've been sick our job sorting myself out.
But then suddenly, again driven down in a nice car.
And I'm one of the biggest and best show in the world.
Just shows how your fortunes change.
Amazing. Most to go back there.
And Pete paid my all my library fines.
No, John, no one pegged.
Sam is a survivor.
When he first appears on Game of Thrones, people are just.
Everyone has to be so on their toes.
They have to be, you know, such killers.
And no one thought that you were going to survive.
And I think that's part of the magic of your character, is that
you've managed to bob and weave and somehow improbably make you and
probably make your way through the whole affair.
Yeah. And I think that's.
That's a testament to one of the great
lessons that's learned through watching Game of Thrones.
I think Sam is such a figurehead of this lesson is that.
There's not just one set of skills
that's needed to survive on the outside.
It looks like you need a lot of physical prowess to survive.
You need to be a warrior. You need to
be able to handle yourself on the battlefield.
And I think that Sam is a great lesson to people, not
only in the show, but also watching the show that the.
There are any number of sets of skills that can get yourself through life
and you shouldn't look at other people and say, if I was like
that, I might survive. And I think that the fact that he's made it to the
end of the series just goes to show that if you have a belief in
yourself and you and you have a you have an iron will.
To apply what you love and what you're good
at, then you can get kind of anywhere, really.
And I think that that's it's it's it's an important lesson
to learn in life that you do have sets of skills.
And even if you don't see the importance of them yourself or the people
do, it's a little bit like when before I went into this show, there
was a lot of things I didn't like about myself.
You know, there was a lot of things that I used to go to bed and any
I used to think I wish I could wake up tomorrow and things about me be
different. And all that time I was thinking that those two guys.
They were looking for exactly me.
They were looking for an actor who knows what it's like to be bullied
because his weight and looking for an actor who knows what it's like
to be painfully shy and have grave doubts about
yourself and the stuff that they were looking for.
Not only did they see Worth in me when I couldn't see myself.
But they saw what I consider to be my failures as virtues.
And I think that that Sam's journey
throughout this whole thing as well.
He's learned it's not about what he's learned about himself.
It's what about what he's unlearn.
And there's a very valuable call within him.
And the narrative of the show told him that.
And though their faith in me has told me what is good about
myself, and I think that that's a parallel that's not lost on me.
You just mentioned Dan and David and said something incredibly sweet.
Liam, you've said before that you consider Dan and David sadists.
Yes, I know I haven't changed my opinion.
The terrible things that the actors whose
lives they were about to ruin.
Huh? They'd bring them over a nice dinner.
You know, get them all relaxed and tell them they were psyched.
Yeah, so they did it in a number of occasions, refused
to go for dinner with them for a long time.
Yeah. If if you ever got a cast made of your your head, that was.
You know, you're funny. I think I'm getting the joke.
Yeah. And France, we have to move on please.
You guys go back to your tables,
continue drinking heavily on HBO is dime.
All I have to say about my next guests is they have dragons.