Game Of Thrones star John Bradley admits playing the perennially nervous Samwell Tarly left him with a speech impediment and struggling with performance anxiety
He became instantly recognised thanks to his long-running role in HBO drama game Of Thrones.
But actor John Bradley admits his portrayal of the bumbling, socially awkward Samwell Tarly left him with a stutter and crippling performance anxiety as the show wore on.
Speaking to Giles Paley-Phillips and Jim Daly on the Blank Podcast, the 31-year old admitted his desire to get inside the perpetually nervous character’s mind resulted in him developing the unfortunate traits.
Unfortunate: Game Of Thrones star John Bradley admits his portrayal of the bumbling, socially awkward Samwell Tarly left him with a stutter and crippling performance anxiety
‘Towards the end of Game Of Thrones, it became the only way I could act, and I got into the unconscious mindset that people want me to do this,’ he explained.
‘I got into this trap with Sam, I set myself traps, because he had a traumatic childhood and suffered a lot – and it manifested through a stammer and a twitch sometimes.’
John added that Samwell’s difficult childhood – in the books and TV series he is initially characterized as weak, cowardly and overshadowed by a domineering father – also contributed to him developing a speech impediment.
Awkward: The 31-year old admitted his desire to get inside the perpetually nervous character’s mind resulted in him developing the unfortunate traits
He said: ‘There are takes of me where it felt like it would be five minutes where I am just standing with other the actors and I couldn’t speak and I just can’t get the words out and certain sounds would trip me up.
‘In one scene I came in first with Kit Harrington and in the nicest way he said to me “can you come in a bit quicker?” so I can react a bit quicker and I was like “I can’t, I just can’t.”
‘As lovely as the crew were, they assumed it was because I had forgotten my lines. It took me a while to get out of it and it went away over time.’
Opening up: ‘I got into this trap with Sam, I set myself traps, because he had a traumatic childhood and suffered a lot – and it manifested through a stammer and a twitch sometimes,’ he told The Blank Podcast
Worryingly the stammer, coupled with an anxiety around performing, affected the actor as he auditioned for parts away from the show, which ended after eight seasons in May.
He recalled: ‘When I was in character I developed a stammer that I wasn’t in control of and it’s hard enough to be an actor anyway without having to read a script the night before you were going to do it and thinking that’s really going to trip me up tomorrow and the more you think about it the worse it gets.
‘Towards the end of that journey, that stammer would turn up in non-Sam acting and I’d do auditions when I’d stammer because it just seemed like the default place that I went to when I acted.’
He added: I think people thought it was part of me but it wasn’t, but it was performance anxiety.’
Getting into character: John added that Samwell’s difficult childhood also contributed to him developing a speech impediment
Advertisement
