Game of Thrones Showrunners Pranked Star With Fake Script Killing off His Character

Quickly after its debut on HBO, Game of Thrones became one of TV’s most popular series, which regularly offered audiences unexpected surprises. As the show progressed, the show’s creatives went to greater and greater lengths to maintain secrecy over the narrative, including tight security around the set and strict restrictions over which members of the cast and crew could see scripts. Alfie Allen starred as Theon Greyjoy in the series, a controversial character who managed to survive to the final season. The actor, however, spent a few weeks thinking his character died in Season Two due to a prank made by the showrunners.

“In Season Two, I think it was, the script was given to me and I give this rousing speech, if I may say so myself, and at the end of this speech, Bran pops out from somewhere and stabs me in the chest and said, ‘This is my Winterfell, not yours,’” Allen recalled on The Late Late Show with James Corden. “So I took it on the chin and got on with it. I think three weeks passed where I had finished my shooting for that season and people were telling [showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss], because they’d given me this fake script with a fake ending, that maybe you should tell him it’s fake because he hasn’t called in yet, because I’m such a nice guy.”

He added, “And so people decided to tell them, ‘You should call him because he might be tearing his hair out.’ But, I wasn’t, I was sunbathing.”

Allen wasn’t the only victim of pranks from the show’s cast and crew, as the actor went on to reveal that Kit Harrington was nearly convinced that he would have to wear a bald cap as the result of a violent confrontation.

“They did a similar prank to Kit, who plays Jon Snow,” Allen detailed. “[They said] there was a White Walker that burnt all his hair off so he was going to have to wear a bald cap for the rest of the series.”

While Allen’s Theon might have fallen victim to the Night King, Harrington’s Snow was killed by members of the Night’s Watch, only to ultimately be revived, while the series finale confirmed that Snow went off to live with the Wildlings north of the wall.

A Game of Thrones prequel series is currently being filmed. Stay tuned for details on the franchise’s future.

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