(Spoilers abound, obviously.)
This article was originally published April 1, 2019, and most recently updated May 20.
ON DROGO’S GENEROUS POUR:“I talked to some doctor friend about what would kill you.
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‘Would it be the gold penetrating the skull?
Cutting off the brain?
What would actually be the thing that kills you?’
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And I was thinking about how to play that.
In the end, when it happens, I just screamed.”
I was with my wife and was like, ‘I’ve never died before.’
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I have to do all these different looks to see this sickness get worse and worse.
I showed my wife, ‘What do you think about this, honey?’
I did the face and she goes, ‘Don’t do that face!’
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But I did the face and it was fing great!"
It’s awful what’s happening, and you start giggling and laughing.
When the head fell off, there were mistakes.
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It didn’t quite work out sometimes.
It was quite comic.
So it breaks the ice a bit."
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I found it remarkably graphic and emotional.
So every day we edged closer to the slaughter.
By the end of the week, you were getting emotional.
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But you have to remain [looking] fooled as well."
ON LOSING TO THE MOUNTAIN:“It was a gut punch.
I remember just telling [showrunners Dan Weiss and David Benioff], ‘You guys are so perverse….
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This is going to really f up my family when they see it.’
I think she’d be in utter awe [of Dany].
How wonderful to meet anybody with dragons.”
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I’m like, ‘Of course!’
This guy betrayed me, this guy is married to another woman, I was her handmaiden.
What should I do?
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She couldn’t think clearly."
It didn’t work out.
They did a close-up and were like, ‘That was really good.’
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I was like, ‘That [fear] was real!’
soHodor held the door.
It was both physically and emotionally intense."
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There’s something about him which is different than Joffrey.
Ramsay was kind of funny, and I think maybe that helps me in the real world.
But I think people know that I’m an actor.
ON GOING OUT WITH A BANG:“It was such an epic exit.
I was always suspicious that the Tyrells weren’t gonna make it to the end….
There was that moment of knowing before the explosion when Margaery, she knew.
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She wasn’t a casualty of her own incompetence.
The reason Cersei won is not really because Margaery lost, it was because of the High Sparrow.”
ON HER FAMOUS LAST WORDS:“It seemed to me to be absolutely right.
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It’s in the nature of this series, isn’t it?
That people are dispensed with quite often.”
ON HER LAST STROLL:“I was a bit emotional.
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‘I can go now, my work is done’without it being really dramatic.
It’s a life that’s been hundreds of years that’s come to an end now.”
I’ll always cherish it because it’s something no one will ever know but the two of us.
The Night King in ‘Game of Thrones’.HBO
And that’s a memory to hold onto."
MAISIE WILLIAMS ON DEFEATING DEATH:“It was so unbelievably exciting.
But I immediately thought that everybody would hate it; that Arya doesn’t deserve it.
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You gotta make it cool.
I wasn’t sure if she would be really scared or just a slight bit of scared.
We tried it several ways.
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He said, “It’s like someone removed her fear gene.”
And that was just… yeah, that was a really great bit of direction.”
You know the rest.
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ON HER LAST STAND:“I found it heartbreaking for a number of reasons.
So I thought either Grey Worm or Missandei, that one would be taken from another.
I honestly thought Grey Worm was gone in that episode.
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And I even had that thought: ‘Take me!’
She’s come through so much sh that she’s had to deal with her life.
As soon as it looks like they’re about to enjoy it, it all gets snatched away.
So I didn’t expect it and I had to lay down the script for a bit.”
The twins entered this world together, and they left this world together.
I think the biggest surprise is he came back for her.
Cersei realizes just how she loves him and just how much he loves her.
It’s the most authentic connection she’s ever had.
Ultimately they belong together….
It’s maybe the first time that Cersei has been at peace."
ON FIRST LEARNING DANY’S FATE: “I cried.
And I went for a walk.
I didn’t come back for five hours.
I’m like, ‘How am I going to do this?'”
Ultimately, Clarke adds, “I stand by Daenerys.
I stand by her!
I can’t not.”
Reporting by James Hibberd.
