Mischief Management brought the one and only Kingslayer of our dreams Nikolaj Coster-Waldau to Con of Thrones this year. And I want to fangirl real quick and just *swoon* as I start typing this recap. Coster-Waldau’s panel took place on Sunday July 14 in Nashville’s Music City Center.
Joanna Robinson of Vanity Fair and co-host of A Storm of Spoilers podcast moderated the panel.
Has coming to Con of Thrones has changed your perception about GoT fans?
Great question, Joanna Robinson! Coster-Waldau underestimated how many people would attend a convention just for Game of Thrones.
You’re grateful to be a part of something. It never ceases to amaze me how this show has traveled and how it’s touched not just us who make the show but so many people around the world.
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
And he also re-enforced a sentiment from a previous panel that at the core, human beings need each other. “For anything that brings us together like this, it’s a real positive thing, a wonderful thing. And i’m just thrilled to be here,” he said.
The Knighting of Brienne of Tarth
Robinson brought up a popular scene from season 8, episode 2, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”: the knighting of Brienne of Tarth.
Writer Bryan Cogman wrote the episode, and Coster-Waldau stated that Cogman wrote many scenes for Jaime’s character that he loved, including the episode “Kissed by Fired” from season 3.
Coster-Waldau gives kudos to Tormund for standing up on Brienne’s behalf, that why can’t a woman be a knight. Therefore, Jaime got the idea to knight Brienne.
Then Robinson asked Coster-Waldau if he expected fans to reaction so well to it. He said yes: “The smile on her face… awww.”
Preparation
Coster-Waldau explained how he always wanted to be prepared for a scene. “But then I also need to, just before you shoot, I have to trick myself into not knowing anything,” he said. And then director David Nutter would hand him a bottled water, which helped. “For a second, you know what you’re doing but you want it to be spontaneous… This is not the 48th take… So that’s the trick.”
Sophie Turner’s Crying
Robinson mentioned how Nutter would say something to Sophie Turner before the burial scene for Theon and the other fallen heroes. Coster-Waldau responded to that with…
With all due respect, I’d be crying my eyes out too! I cried plenty watching the last season.
Brienne Writing in the book
Coster-Waldau loved that scene in the series finale.
It was important to [Jaime] to do a good job. It was a source of pain for him that he only had blank pages.
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
Robinson segues the conversation to the courtyard scene where Jaime left Brienne in Winterfell to go back to Cersei.
The accident
Coster-Waldau explained that Brienne believes Jaime is a good guy, but when he says that he’s a terrible guy who isn’t worthy of her: “The pain for her is that she can’t persuade him… That’s what I read into it.”
“The Long Night” criticisms
Coster-Waldau agreed with fans that it was a fair critique.
A fellow fan responded to the tweet:
What if Jaime HAD killed Cersei?
Coster-Waldau addressed another critique from fans: that Jaime did not kill Cersei. But he pointed out that if Jaime had killed Cersei, the fans would have complained that it would have been an obvious ending.
If you really love this show, you don’t want it to end. Just the mere fact that it’s ending is pissing you off.
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
What scene do you want Jaime to be remembered for?
Dancing with Peter Dinklage
Jaime’s Hair
Fan Q&A
Working with Charles Dance?
A fan asked about the scene with Charles Dance, who played Jaime’s father Tywin Lannister. Coster-Waldau explained that he remembered going home that day after shooting that scene. They shared a car and had a conversation about how long they think they’d stay on the show. But one thing he did learn from Charles: you meet so many people, he just calls them “darling.” But Charles knew he only had three years after that.
Shooting the Dane Bowl scene
Any events or characters you missed that you wished you had the chance to work with?
Coster-Waldau said he wished he had gotten to work with Jim Broadbent or had gone to shoot in Iceland.
Who was your favorite director to work with?
Riverrun and working with Tobias Menzies
Coster-Waldau loved working with Tobias Menzies, who played Edmure Tulley. “Jaime changed because of what happened to him, as we all do. He lost his hand but he’s still a soldier. And now he’s a commander. He has to take this goddamn castle,” Coster-Waldau said. “He knows it’s pointless but he has to get back… The scene is beautiful because the reason he was such a good fighter is because he understands fear.”
“I loved that he accomplished something without anyone getting hurt… You could say Edmure was hurt in a psychological sense but he survived,” Coster-Waldau added.
If Brienne died and Jaime did live, would Jaime have honored her memory?
Anything you can share about the un-aired pilot?
Featured image credit: ChinLin Pan/Geek Gals
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