Peter Claffey, the actor cast as Ser Duncan the Tall in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, has shared how his anxiety and self-doubt actually played a key role in helping him secure the part of Dunk.
Quick read:
- Peter Claffey was reluctant about his audition as Dunk
- He used an unusual resistance band trick to calm his nerves
- He remarks many good-looking men auditioned for Dunk’s role
‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ star @PeterClaffey_ wasn’t confident auditioning, he told @kateyrich. How he handled it will be familiar to anxious folks everywhere.
Their full conversation about the ‘Game of Thrones’ spinoff – https://t.co/1nnVzciDr0 pic.twitter.com/erZM4o7UFE
— The Ankler (@TheAnkler) May 7, 2026
Self-doubt mixed with quiet confidence
In an interview with The Ankler, Claffey admitted he is not an arrogant person, but he could tell when he had delivered a strong audition. However, his anxious and awkward feelings after each session often left him second-guessing himself.
“I know when you’ve done a decent job in something, but as kind of anxious and sort of awkward as I was… especially the second audition… I feel like I may have done that a decent bit of justice.”
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His Irish self-doubt quickly kicked in, telling him it was “ridiculous” to think he had nailed it. As a huge Game of Thrones fan, he stayed humble throughout the process, reminding himself that “whatever happens here happens.”
The intense competition and final push
Claffey was very aware of the high stakes. He knew HBO would be seeing hundreds of talented actors for such a major role. However, his father’s old boxing advice stayed with him through this:
“You always meet your match.”
This mindset kept him grounded and motivated to give his best every time without getting overconfident. During what turned out to be his final audition, the competition became very real. In the waiting room, he saw “a very handsome gentleman from northern England” and another actor who looked like he could “recite Shakespeare coming out of his eyeballs and ears.”
That moment triggered a burst of anxiety-fueled determination.
The resistance band moment that made the difference
Claffey knew he had to stand out physically for the role of the towering hedge knight. So he did something very relatable:
“I went into the bathroom and I was like, there’s only one thing for it. And I had a little resistance band. So I was just trying to get as big a pump as I possibly could in my arms. And I was like, surely that would be something towards it.”
That extra effort though unconventional in the final moments, driven by nerves and the desire to look the part may have hilariously helped tip the scales in his favour.
