"Oh s**t, it’s actually real?" – Bran’s actor originally thought his big Game of Thrones finale scene was fake

Game of Thrones
Image credit: HBO

We can argue about the Game of Thrones ending until the Three-Eyed Ravens come home, but not everyone was upset with the finale. Take Bran actor Isaac Hempstead-Wright, for example. Despite his character seeing all and knowing all, he was surprisingly taken aback when reading about his fate in the script – so much so that he thought it was all one big joke at first.

During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Hempstead-Wright – who has been on the show since he was 12 – outlined the moment where he found out Bran would be named King of the Six Kingdoms, explaining “When I got to the [Dragonpit scene] in the last episode and they’re like, ‘What about Bran?’ I had to get up and pace around the room.”

In fact, such is the tendency for the likes of Thrones and the MCU to produce fake scripts and include dummy endings, the Bran actor reckoned it was all a rib, revealing “I genuinely thought it was a joke script and that [showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss] sent everyone a script with their own character ends up on the Iron Throne. ‘Yeah, good one guys. Oh shit, it’s actually real?’”

But, maybe if Hempstead-Wright had his way, things in Game of Thrones season 8 could’ve taken a much more explosive turn. While he’s “happy” with how it all turned out for the Three-Eyed Raven (“I think he’ll be a really good king,” he teases), the actor “Kind of did want to die and get in one good death scene with an exploding head or something.”

Luckily for us, we’re sat here talking about Bran the Broken and not Bran with his Brains All Over The Wall – even if it still seems fairly unbelievable.

We took a stab at answering one of the Game of Thrones finale's most burning questions: Where is Drogon?

Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.

Latest in Fantasy Shows
Dexter Sol Ansell as Egg and Peter Claffey as Dunk in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
HBO boss says new Game of Thrones spin-off's battles "match" the mainline series at a "fraction of the price"
Abubakar Salim in House of the Dragon
House of the Dragon season 3's opening battle is "beastly", according to one of the show's stars
Jamie Campbell Bower in Stranger Things
The Rings of Power newcomer Jamie Campbell Bower has 'revealed' his season 3 character – but it could be a Sauron-style misdirect
Jamie Campbell Bower in Stranger Things 4
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 3 adds Stranger Things star and Eddie Marsan to cast
Jeff Goldblum in Kaos
Jeff Goldblum's fantasy series Kaos was Netflix's most-watched cancelled show of late 2024
The Wheel of Time season 3
The Wheel of Time showrunner teases future of the Amazon fantasy series beyond season 3: "My job is to do everything I can to get it to the end"
Latest in News
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Indy hanging onto a vine as in Raiders of the Lost Ark
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle PS5 release date reportedly set for April after ESRB leak
an ai chatbot plays a modded verion of pokemon red and jumps down a ledge to talk to an npc
An AI's mission to 'teach' itself Pokemon Red is going as well as you think - after escaping Cerulean City after tens of hours, it went right on back
Anthony Mackie in Captain America: Brave New World
Brave New World box office crosses milestone for Captain America movies, even though it still might not break even
Diego Luna as Cassian Andor
The first three episodes of the best Star Wars show are now available to watch for free ahead of the Andor season 2 premiere
Mio and Zoe holding a dragon during the trailer for Split Fiction.
Split Fiction blows It Takes Two out of the water by selling 1 million copies in 2 days, becoming Hazelight's fastest selling game ever
Death Stranding 2
Hideo Kojima says he'll "apologize beforehand" for Death Stranding 2 moments with Troy Baker's Higgs which are "so ridiculous" that "you'll probably throw the controller"