‘Game of Thrones’: Liam Cunningham fought against Davos crushing on Missandei

• In a new book about “Game of Thrones” (James Hibberd’s “Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon”), actor Liam Cunningham says he refused to let his character crush on Missandei.
• “When we first meet Daenerys, Benioff and [director Mark Mylod] wanted Davos to have a crush on Missandei,” Cunningham said. “And I fought them.”
• “I’m not f—— doing it,” Cunningham recalled saying. 
• Cunningham would have been around 56 years old during the scene in question, while Missandei actress Nathalie Emmanuel was about 28 years old. 
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“Game of Thrones” star Liam Cunningham once had to stand up for his belief in how his character, Ser Davos, would behave around the younger women of Westeros. 

In “Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon,” a new oral history about HBO’s hit fantasy series written by Entertainment Weekly’s James Hibberd, Cunningham said he dug in his heels after the suggestion was made that Ser Davos Seaworth would have romantic feelings for Daenerys Targaryen’s advisor and friend, Missandei of Naath. 

“There’s a streak in Benioff that’s willful,” Cunningham said. “He likes to stir the s—. When we first meet Daenerys, Benioff and [director Mark Mylod] wanted Davos to have a crush on Missandei. And I fought them.”

“I’m not f—— doing it,” Cunningham recalled saying. 

Cunningham, born in 1961, would have been around 56 years old when he was filming season seven of “Game of Thrones.” Nathalie Emmanuel, the actress who plays Missandei, would have been about 28 years old. 

“It’s the only thing I ever stood up to them on,” Cunningham said. “The woman is a goddess, but with Davos’ history with Lyanna Mormont and Shireen, you can’t have him getting the hots for a young woman.”

Shireen and Lyanna were two young preteen “Game of Thrones” characters who befriended the older Ser Davos. He was like a second father to little Shireen Baratheon before her tragic death.

“I’m not 100 percent sure David [Benioff] wasn’t just doing it to annoy me,” Cunningham added.

Then the actor is also quoted in the book recalling what he said to the showrunners: “You’re not undoing my hard work engendering the sympathy of the audience to have him be a perv.” 

Davos and Missandei first met in the seventh season of “Game of Thrones,” and only shared a few scenes together. By that point, Missandei was romantically involved with Dany’s other trusted advisor and the leader of the Unsullied, Grey Worm. 

As for Davos, he still technically had a wife and kids somewhere in Westeros. His wife and other sons were mentioned much earlier in the series, but eventually, that little background detail was dropped from Davos’ story.

By the time the eighth and final season of “Game of Thrones” came to an end in 2019, Missandei had been tragically killed on Cersei Lannister’s orders and Ser Davos was named Master of Ships under King Bran’s rule. There was no mention of his former family.