‘Game of Thrones’ Creator George R.R. Martin Turned Down Season 8 Cameo

Game of Thrones is finally coming to an end this summer, likely breaking the hearts of fans around the world with its conclusion. The cast and crew have promised plenty of action, emotion, dragons, and much more, but there is one thing we now know the final season won’t contain: A cameo from the creator of the franchise.

George R.R. Martin, writer of the A Song of Ice and Fire series, was reportedly offered a cameo in the final episodes of Game of Thrones by showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss, but he recently revealed to EW that he chose to turn it down. Why? Well, Martin explained that he’s busy working on a certain Winds of Winter that fans have been begging for him to finish for years now, and the trip to Belfast from New Mexico would’ve taken him away from his work for too long.

“David and Dan invited me to a cameo in one of the final episodes, which I was tempted to do,” Martin said. “But I didn’t think just for the sake of a cameo I could take the time to return to Belfast.”

It’s hard to believe that a show so full of celebrity cameos never managed to get its creator on the screen, but Martin revealed that he actually did film a cameo in the very first episode of the series. The writer was a guest at the wedding of Daenerys and Khal Drogo, but that was during the original filming of the pilot when the soon-to-be Khaleesi was played by a different actress.

“There was a cameo in the original pilot that was cut,” he added. “I was a guest at Dany’s wedding. But that was when she was played by Tamzin Merchant so all that footage got thrown out when we recast with Emilia Clarke.”

While Martin won’t be making his way to Game of Thrones Season 8, there will likely be a few other popular celebrity cameos for fans to find. This has been a pattern for the hit series for the past seven installments, and there’s no real reason to change that for the last time out.

Game of Thrones Season 8 returns for its final season on Sunday, April 14th on HBO.

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