For the last several weeks, HBO’s Game of Thrones has done everything it can to ensure that we know Jon Snow is dead. There have been comments from the network and actor Kit Harington, but most importantly, we’ve actually seen Jon Snow laid out on a slab in footage for Season 6. Now, other actors on the series are in on the Jon Snow is dead commentary, and one of them, Liam Cunningham, recently spoke out about messing with Kit Harington while he was trying to play dead for Game of Thrones. Here’s what the actor who plays Ser Davos had to say:
I flicked his beautiful [hair] a bit. You always have to have a bit of fun if somebody is dead in a scene. That’s a red rag to a bull for an actor. You do a little poking. You do things to annoy the actor. It’s your job. You have to utilize the opportunity. You have to get through the day.
The comments come from an interview with TV Line, which also mentions that Kit Harington was a good sport during these long corpse-oriented scenes--even when some of the actors were messing with him.
We already know how difficult it can be to play a dead character on Game of Thrones, thanks to stories from the actors who have already had to shoot a death scene for the fantasy drama. Both Jack Gleason and Mark Stanley, who played Joffrey and Grenn, have spoken out about how interminable shooting scenes as a corpse can be. So, the fact that Liam Cunningham made things that much harder for Harington while he was playing dead is both a vicious move and a really funny one.
If you’ve been keeping tabs on Game of Thrones Season 6, we already know about a specific scene that would have given Liam Cunningham ample opportunity to mess with Kit Harington. Following the events in the Season 5 finale of Game of Thrones, Jon Snow has been brought inside to presumably be given a funeral, but the members of the Night’s Watch are still divided. In a scene that features Ser Davos and others standing near Jon Snow’s body, we learn that Olly and the other faction of the Night’s Watch are ready to start a fight. The clip is a compelling one and seems to come from the first episode of the season. Filming this probably gave Liam Cunningham ample time to mess with the younger actor’s hair while he was trying to keep completely still.
Practical jokes are often played on set, and Liam Cunningham tells this story in a way that makes it seem as if messing with Kit Harington was just par for the course. But if Jon Snow comes back from the dead on the HBO drama and the tables are ever turned against Ser Davos, I’m guessing Kit Harington might decide to return the favor.
If you can’t wait to see Jon Snow as a corpse, you can catch new episodes of Game of Thrones starting on Sunday, April 24 at 9 p.m. ET. In addition, here’s what we know about the upcoming episodes.
