George R. R. Martin Shares Look At Original Game Of Thrones Pilot – And Looks A Lot Different
Game Of Thrones creator George R. R. Martin has given fans a “peek at the past”, with a look at the original pilot for the show.
The author – who penned the novels Game Of Thrones was based on – revealed he was originally set to make a cameo at the wedding of Daenerys Targaryen and Khal Drogo.
In a picture he shared on Twitter, Ian McNeice can also be seen as Illyrio Mopatis – a role that was later recast and given to Roger Allam.
George wrote: “We shot the wedding of Daenerys Targaryen and Khal Drogo in Morocco. Ian McNeice played Illyrio Mopatis, a magister of Pentos, and I played one of the wedding guests, presumably another magister.
“Both of us, alas, were left on the cutting room floor when Dany was recast and the wedding was reshot. Ian McNeice was terrific as Illyrio, by the way, but a scheduling conflict made him unavailable for the reshoot.”
He added: “I never did find time to do another cameo, but I suspect the show was better for it.”
George recently revealed his least favourite moment from the Game Of Thrones TV series.
The scene in question sees King Robert Baratheon going hunting, where the writer apparently felt there was a distinct lack of extras.
Speaking as part of a new behind-the-scenes book by James Hibberd, Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon, George said: “Where we really fell down in terms of budget was my least favourite scene in the entire show, in all eight seasons: King Robert goes hunting. Four guys walking on foot through the woods carrying spears and Robert is giving Renly shit.
“In the books, Robert goes off hunting, we get word that he was gored by a boar, and they bring him back and he dies. So I never did [a hunting scene]. But I knew what a royal hunting party was like.
“There would have been a hundred guys. There would have been pavilions. There would have been huntsmen. There would have been dogs. There would have been horns blowing – that’s how a king goes hunting!” George said. “He wouldn’t have just been walking through the woods with three of his friends holding spears hoping to meet a boar.
“But at that point, we couldn’t afford horses or dogs or pavilions.”