Filming on the eighth season of Game of Thrones is wrapping up, and reports are trickling in on actors who have finished their shoots. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is one of them – he has filmed his last scene as Jaime Lannister. In a new interview with Variety, he shares his feelings about the final season, and what it’s like to say goodbye.
When asked if he knows how the series ends, Coster-Waldau admits he does and had “such a mixture of feelings” about it when he read the script. “I was excited. I thought that Dan Weiss and David Benioff – the creators – they just couldn’t have done a better job on ending our story.”
Coster-Waldau is “satisfied” with where the story goes and believes the fans will be as well. “We’ve worked harder than ever before. We spent twice as much time shooting these six episodes than we did on two full seasons before. No expense has been spared. We’ve gone all in,” he explains. “We really hope people will like it. We’ve done our best.”
Regarding his final scene, Coster-Waldau confesses it was emotional. However, he confesses he’s not quite finished with Game of Thrones. “I don’t think it’ll ever be gone from my life,” he teases. “I’m going back to Belfast next week…I’m not 100% done, but the last scene in the script – I’ve shot that, yeah.” He then clarifies by saying, “The last scene with me.” It seems Jaime Lannister won’t be in the final scene of the season – make of that what you will.
Whatever Jaime’s eventual fate may be, there are guaranteed to be shocking moments before it’s all over. Coster-Waldau believes shocking the audience – but not going overboard – is “what the show has been very good at. It’s such a fine balance.” He goes on to say that one scene was particularly brutal. “Shireen being burned at the stake was just cruel. I understand why they did it, but I just couldn’t watch it. And it was difficult to even read.” Join the club Nikolaj.
No matter how difficult that scene was, Coster-Waldau believes that “even the most extreme things have been driven by story. At this point in the show…you’re reaping the rewards of the work that’s been put into all these characters. As an audience member, you’re kind of invested into every single one of these people, which is…” He trails off before admitting, “I shouldn’t talk about the ending here.” It seems we should prepare ourselves for broken hearts next year!
Check out his full interview, including his thoughts on representation and #MeToo, over at Variety.
