It would be fair to say that, during the entire run of HBO's fantasy mega-hit Game of Thrones, the show always managed to bring up a lot of feelings for fans. For every character we loved and wanted to watch succeed, there were at least 10 other we wanted to watch die horribly...or at least punch in the face. Unfortunately, some fans took that desire a bit too far, and had strong urges to take the feelings they had about the characters out on the innocent actors who played them.
This was found to be true for an unlikely candidate in the Game of Thrones hate wars, when Dean-Charles Chapman, who played Tommen Baratheon, came across a fan who recognized him as the ill-fated 19th ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, and did not have a very positive reaction to his presence. As Chapman tells it:
He was like, ‘I really hate you. I want to punch you in the face’ And my mates were like, ‘Whoa whoa whoa.'
Ooooooh, boy. Well, at least this guy was willing to be very up front about his hatred of Dean-Charles Chapman and didn't decide to make a surprise attack. While Chapman didn't relay to Variety where he was when he was recognized or how long this encounter took, at least it sounds like he and his friends were able to get out of the situation without any fists flying. This is a very good thing, but, really, aren't you shocked that anyone would have had this kind of reaction to the guy who played Tommen in the first place?
Out of all the truly reprehensible characters on Game of Thrones over eight seasons, Tommen really doesn't even rate. His mother, Cersei, and brother, the former King Joffrey (who was murdered quite early into his reign because he was such a psychotic asshole) were about 80 million times worse. And characters like Jaime, The Hound, Littlefinger, Theon Greyjoy and Ramsay Bolton absolutely did way more horrid things that could lead a fan to want to punch their respective actors.
Hell, I think most fans could even understand someone wanting to wallop Emilia Clarke after Dany's terrible deeds in the final season, but what did Tommen ever really do? Was this guy pissed that Tommen, apparently, didn't do anything to protect Ser Pounce before diving out of a window in the Red Keep?
Man, I know that Game of Thrones fans are notoriously hard to please, but this is ridiculous.
Of course, it is also possible that this overly intense fan mistook Dean-Charles Chapman for Jack Gleeson, who played his dangerous older brother, Joffrey. As mentioned above, that character is totally punchable.
Dean-Charles Chapman's time on Game of Thrones ended when Season 6 did, but you can always revisit Tommen on HBO. For more of Chapman, he can be seen in the upcoming WWI epic 1917, but for more of what you can watch on the small screen soon, check out our 2020 TV premiere guide!
