Fans are not going to be able to handle the Game Of Thrones finale.
Even Jon Snow wasn’t tough enough for it!
EW went behind the scenes for a cover story literally spanning years — which included speaking to actors at the table read of the last episode.
Photo: Stark Reunion You Didn’t Expect
Of course, almost all had already read the script and knew what was about to go down.
Sophie Turner said of her first reading:
“Afterwards I felt numb, and I had to take a walk for hours.”
Emilia Clarke said:
“Genuinely the effect it had on me was profound. That sounds insanely pretentious, but I’m an actor, so I’m allowed one pretentious adjective per season.”
But Kit Harington didn’t have a story about his first time reading it. Because he’d refused.
“I walked in saying, ‘Don’t tell me, I don’t want to know.’ What’s the point of reading it to myself in my own head when I can listen to people do it and find out with my friends?”
That’s apparently what he did. And according to witnesses he wept.
Twice.
He revealed:
“The second time was the very end. Every season, you read at the end of the last script ‘End of Season 1’ or ‘End of Season 2.’ This read ‘End of Game of Thrones.’
There’s more in the massive finale report. Here are the highlights:
WHO??
Reporter James Hibberd says his set visit was shocking to him:
“Several actors are performing, and I’m stunned: There are characters in the finale that I did not expect.”
WHUT?? Who shows up that we wouldn’t expect?
WAR
It was widely reported the final battle sequence took twice as long to film as The Battle Of The Bastards, clocking in at 55 night shoots. This is incorrect. It actually took FAR longer.
Director Miguel Sapochnik (who also helmed Bastards) also spent several weeks after filming indoor shots, which presumably included green screen.
Peter Dinklage said of the fight:
“It’s brutal. It makes the Battle of the Bastards look like a theme park.”
SAY FREEZE!
And here it is, the first official season 8 photo:
[Image via Adriana M. Barraza/WENN/Game Of Thrones/YouTube.]
