- Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, AKA Jaime Lannister on Game of Thrones, joked to the crew that he had shaved his head during an earlier season on the show.
- The prank got out of control, as an assistant director told him that the show’s hairstylist rushed to make him a wig and that HBO “had started to talk about suing” him.
- Game of Thrones Season 8 premieres this Sunday on HBO.
Jaime Lannister has been rocking a shorter ‘do in recent seasons of Game of Thrones, but in his earlier days, he used to look full-on Prince Charming with his flowing blond waves. The Kingslayer’s golden hair was a signature part of his look, but actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (who portrays Jaime in GoT) wanted to trick the crew into thinking he’d chopped it all off.
“There’d been a lot of talk about Jaime’s hair in the early seasons – his long golden locks,” he told Digital Spy. “Once he lost his hand, I thought he should maybe have a haircut. And then I thought, ‘Why don’t I just pretend?'” (Side note: Jaime got his hand sliced off in Season 3.)
“This is five, six seasons ago – I sent them an old picture where I had a buzz cut,” he continued. “I sent a long letter where I explained I’d taken control of my character and I want to be respected. I said that my integrity as an artist was at stake!”
Coster-Waldau didn’t get a response right away, but he did get a frantic call from an assistant director as he made his way back to Belfast to film again, he added to Digital Spy. Apparently, the head hairstylist was already rushing to create a makeshift wig. The actor ultimately revealed that he was joking about his makeover.
“They all believed it,” he said, but not everyone was laughing. “They’d also called my manager. HBO had started to talk about suing me and it had gotten out of control.” Yikes.
At least now that Game of Thrones is done filming, Coster-Waldau can do whatever he wants with his hair without the fear of possible legal action.
GoT Season 8 premieres this Sunday on HBO.
