Game Of Thrones star Iwan Rheon’s Misfits character Simon was originally meant to be killed off by the gang at the end of series 1 but was spared due to his acting skills.
Misfits aired on E4 from 2009 to 2013 and followed a group of juvenile teens thrown together as a result of their community service who discover they have superpowers.
Throughout the drama’s first chapter, Simon is painted as the invisible outcast of the group, often referred to by Nathan (played by Robert Sheehan) as a ‘panty sniffer’, ‘melon f***er’, and, of course, Barry.
Speaking to exclusively to Metro.co.uk about U-turning on his decision to axe Simon, Howard explained: ‘Originally, Simon was going to go bad at the end of the first series and they were going to kill him. That was the plan. But I really liked Iwan as an actor, he was brilliant.
‘I thought there’s no way we’re killing him and then replacing him with someone worse. And so, I totally flipped it on its head and he went from being the villain to the real hero of the piece.’
Initially, showrunner Howard Overman had imagined Simon to grow into the show’s antihero and that Nathan, Alisha (Antonia Thomas), Kelly (Lauren Socha), and Curtis (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) would murder him in the series 1 finale, however he ended up having a change of heart.
Howard continued: ‘It was totally reactive to the show working and the cast working together and I couldn’t bring myself to kill him, so I quickly rewrote the final episode and he didn’t die. It just goes to show that things could have been very different.
‘I liked taking this geeky guy, who was quite insecure around women and the boys used to bully him a bit, and having him go on this huge journey where suddenly he was this alpha male and incredibly cool and confident and sleeping with the most beautiful girl.’
Howard was right about Iwan’s acting skills as he and the rest of the Misfits cast went on to do great things.
After leaving Misfits in 2011, Iwan ended up starring in a number of television shows and films, including Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Our Girl and Riviera.
Perhaps most notably, however, is his role of Ramsay Bolton in HBO’s fantasy series Game Of Thrones.
Speaking of Game Of Thrones, Alfie Allen aka Theon Greyjoy was lined up to play Nathan in Misfits.
Misfits is available to stream on Netflix.
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