Most actors would have probably loved a chance to score a role in Game of Thrones, but there
was a time when the show wasn't such a sure thing.
Whether it was due to grueling on-location filming, gripes with the pay, or sheer confusion
over the story, these actors decided to steer clear of the Seven Kingdoms.
Tudors star Tamzin Merchant was originally cast as Daenerys Targaryen for the show's
original, unaired pilot, but walked away from the reshoot for unknown reasons.
The first version of the pilot was, according to showrunners Dan Weiss and David Benioff,
a very bad episode of television, so bad that HBO reportedly almost scrapped the series
altogether.
A huge portion of the original pilot, which has never publicly been seen, ended up needing
to be reshot, which probably has something to do with why Merchant didn’t return to
continue in the role.
Whatever the reason for her departure, the reshoots worked out, and the whole world now
recognizes Emilia Clarke as the mother of dragons.
"You are my queen."
Merchant wasn't the only actor to walk away from Game of Thrones after its disastrous
pilot shoot.
Actress Jennifer Ehle was also brought on as the original Catelyn Stark for the original
series premiere, but she, too, walked away after the first take spelled trouble, due
to unavailability for the reshoots.
Maybe she read the books first and got the hint that her character had kind of an expiration
date.
Jamie Campbell Bower is an actor you may know from Sweeney Todd, the Twilight series, and
the seventh Harry Potter movie.
He was originally cast in the Game of Thrones pilot in the small role of Night's Watchman
Waymar Royce, but became unavailable once reshoots were scheduled.
At the time, the actor was busy starring in the Starz series Camelot and readying for
a lead role in The Mortal Instruments, so he was replaced by Rob Ostlere.
Since the character only made it through the first five minutes of the series, it might
not have made much of a difference for his career, but who knows what might have been.
Either way, he’s getting a second chance to find out: in January 2019, it was announced
that Bower was joining the cast of the untitled Game of Thrones prequel.
Maybe his character will make it past the first episode this time.
Given his lengthy history with period pieces, Scottish actor Brian Cox might seem like a
good fit for one of the Seven Kingdoms, and somebody on the show must've agreed.
But it didn’t work out.
Cox has admitted he was once offered a role in the series early on, but turned it down
because the pay didn’t seem high enough.
He said in an interview with Vodzilla,
Cox admitted that he regrets missing out on his chance, especially since the show has
since featured some of his old friends.
He said in the interview,
While it's not quite known which Game of Thrones role Dominic West was originally courted for,
many suspect The Affair star may have been asked to star as Mance Rayder, the former
Night's Watchman who became known as "The King Beyond the Wall.”
Whatever the role was, West has said that he had to decline the part out of a desire
to stay close to his family in London.
West told Huffington Post in 2012,
"Jesus, what the f--- did I do?"
X-Files star Gillian Anderson also had to say "no thanks" to a chance at Game of Thrones
due to her obligations as a parent.
She told Stylist magazine in 2013,
While Anderson didn't share which role she might've been offered, many speculate that,
due to her famous red locks, she may have been a match for Melisandre the Red Witch
or perhaps even Cersei Lannister.
Game of Thrones fans will recognize Jonathan Pryce as the actor who portrayed the duplicitous
High Sparrow in Seasons 5 and 6, but he was asked to join the show long before that and
turned it down.
As he told BBC Radio 4,
What changed his mind, he said, was the meat of the High Sparrow's personality and presence.
He called him, quote, "a great character," one who comes into the story after everyone
else is well-established, but still carries immense power and presence.
He also gets one heck of a death scene.
Penny Dreadful actress Perdita Weeks was originally cast to star as Roslin Frey, Edmure Tully's
wife, but she backed out of the show to star in a now-defunct project called The Heretics.
The series was all set to begin filming in Romania before plans to shoot in the country
abruptly fell through.
She told The Daily Mail in 2012,
The role was ultimately played by Alexandra Dowling, although Weeks might not have missed
out on much, as the character has appeared in just one episode and was notably absent
when her husband returned in Season 6.
Irish native Ray Stevenson was also given a chance to star in Game of Thrones in its
earliest episodes, but has said that he turned it down because he would have preferred to
have been with the show from the very beginning.
He said in an interview with Movies.com,
Of course, Stevenson is far from immune to stepping into a series past the midpoint - he
joined Dexter in Season 7 and Black Sails in Season 3, for example - but the man must
have his reasons.
Maybe he was still just frustrated at HBO for cancelling Rome.
A guy famous for starring in one ultra-violent cable TV show with a devoted following almost
starred in another one.
Charlie Hunnam, who played SAMCRO leader Jax Teller on FX's Sons of Anarchy, certainly
has the beard to play a knight, warrior, or king.
And he had the swordplay experience, too, taking the title role in King Arthur: Legend
of the Sword.
While promoting that film in 2017, Hunnam told the Associated Press that while joining
the cast of Game of Thrones interested him, he literally couldn't do it when he got the
chance.
Hunnam said,
Hunnam didn't say what part he was offered, and now that the series is done, it’s clear
he never followed through.
If the pilot goes to series, maybe he’ll get a chance to hop onto the spinoff.
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more Grunge videos about your favorite shows are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.