‘You can’t get too attached,’ says Game of Thrones actor Isaac Hempstead Wright

Isaac Hempstead Wright is alive – “Just about,” he says, laughing.

To fans of the HBO television series Game of Thrones, Hempstead Wright is better known as Brandon Stark, whose transformation into the all-seeing Three-Eyed Raven has given him one of the show’s biggest super powers: survival.

“It was touch and go there for a minute,” confirms the 20-year-old, who is sitting at the Park Hyatt in Sydney, Australia to promote the final four episodes of the show.

The fact Hempstead Wright has even made it this far is a major TV miracle – as Game of Thrones has turned knocking off its leading characters into a blood sport.

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“It’s just something you come to terms with on Game of Thrones, you can’t get too attached,” says Hempstead Wright of all the slaughter, which one fan site has estimated to be in the range of 174,373 bodies over the show’s first seven seasons.

To say Monday’s 82-minute episode added substantially to the body count is somewhat of an understatement, but for Hempstead Wright it was also a relief – he was finally able to watch it as a fan and talk about it.

“I was absolutely on the edge of my seat watching it,” he says. “Even though I knew everything that was going to happen, it was quite fun watching these guys [the PR crew] not know what was about to happen.”

“I was involved in very little of that [episode],” he adds. “Everyone else was there for weeks and weeks and weeks on end, so I didn’t really have a huge involvement in those crazy clashes and battle bits – I’d only read it on paper and heard it at the table read. It was incredible to get to watch it, the darkness and the chaos of it.”

Hempstead Wright has been part of Game of Thrones since he was 11. And unlike his sword-wielding televisual siblings Arya Stark and Jon Snow, he has been using a wheelchair for most of that time after his character was pushed out of a window by Jaime Lannister.

“[I’ve got] Big-time sword envy,” he says. “I’ve always wished I could have a bloody sword. Not even in the Battle of Winterfell do I get a little dagger or something.”

And if he could be someone else?

“Controversially it would actually be Jaime Lannister because I think he’s just had the most amazing story arc, going from someone who we’re meant to think, quite clearly, is a bad guy and we’re really not sure anymore,” he says.

“There is a really interesting parallel between him and Bran, in that Jaime loses his right hand, which is his sword hand, which kind of defines him, in the same way that Bran’s legs defined him. So it’s been interesting watching those characters come to terms with a big loss of identity.”

Yeah, but Jaime did sleep with his sister…

“Yeah, that’s a good point, a really good point,” he says, laughing. “I didn’t even think of the incest thing!” 

With only three episodes of the series to go, Hempstead Wright is preparing to start a new chapter in his life – he’s off to study neuroscience at university in September – but before he goes, maybe he can give his Three-Eyed Raven skills one last bash: can he see a Ser Scott or a Ser Bill sitting on Australia’s Iron Throne any time soon?

“I’m gonna go Ser Bill,” he says, cautiously, after a pause.

You’re on track with the polls.

“The Three Eyed Raven wins again!”

And what about Brexit – any joy there?

“Oh, don’t even ask. The Three-Eyed Raven is ignoring Brexit.”

* New episodes of Game of Thrones debut at 1pm Mondays on SoHo, before being replayed at 8.30pm. They are also available on the Neon streaming service.