Jorah Mormont sacrificed his life while protecting Daenerys and it was one of the saddest moments of Game of Thrones Season 8 episode 3 ‘The Long Night’. But actor Iain Glen has an even more emotional connection to that scene. When he was away in Belfast shooting for that particular scene, his wife Charlotte Emmerson suffered a brain haemorrhage and had to be hospitalised. Glen talks about that harrowing experience in a recent interview with HBO’s blog Making Game of Thrones.
This is a particularly sad and strange coincidence as well because that particular scene also included Emilia Clarke. Glen’s character Jorah has been in love with Clarke’s character Daenerys from the very beginning, and he practically gave his life for her. Clarke herself suffered multiple brain haemorrhages during the early seasons of Game of Thrones, which she has revealed only recently. Naturally, this scene had a special significance on multiple levels for Glen.
Glen revealed that he had been in great anticipation for that scene, which was clearly one of the most important scenes for his character. But it got delayed because of bad weather and an issue with the fire elements in that scene.
Glen describes how he got to know about Charlotte during a rehearsal of that scene:
“My wife was in dress rehearsal for a play that night, and I rang her to say, “break a leg” and there was no reply so I left a message. And then I was called to set to rehearse the scene, and when I went back, I got a message from her saying she was in the hospital — she had suffered a brain haemorrhage.”
Glen also speaks about the support he received at that moment from the cast and crew. In his words,
“I was completely on the floor at the time, a total mess … [Emilia], Miguel [Saponchik, director of the episode] and [executive producer] Bernie Caulfield told me to go, get on a flight.”
Thankfully, Charlotte recovered completely and was told there was absolutely no risk of a relapse by the doctors. Two weeks later, Glen returned to Belfast, this time with his wife, and found that now the conditions were perfect for shooting. Everything proceeded smoothly from there, and Glen also now had a deeper emotional connection to that scene, which was reflected on screen. Glen says,
“They had all the elements in place, and conditions were good, and it felt like the right time to do it. It was my last scene of the episode, and it was a pretty amazing night. It felt like the right ending for Jorah.”
What did you think of Jorah Mormont’s final scene? Tell us in the comments.
