Do you know how they keep cattle?
Thats sort of how they keep us.
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After 73 episodes,Game of Thronesis at an end.
Martins fantasy kingdom feel rich and real.
Can You Scream a Bit More?
TheGame of Thronesaudition process, much like the filming itself, was shrouded in secrecy.
Just grabbing these big biker dudes to audition.
The Nights Watch is one big heavy-metal band, basically.
Lucy McConnell (Winterfell Woman with Elderly Parents):I wasnt told a thing.
I knew I was playing a woman.
I was given a wide playing age: 21 and 50.
And even if you cant do the physical stuff, they always need a lot of corpses.
There was some dialogue, but lots of Can you act like your leg is more sore?
and Can you scream a bit more?
And that was it.
I had stitches on my lips and half my tooth was missing, so I didnt look that attractive.
The way I looked, the slave one was more possible.
Javier Botet (Wight in Library):It was six hours of classic zombie makeup.
The wardrobe was very light, and the makeup was very close to my figure.
My costume was really comfortable, actually mostly because it wasnt there.
It was literally a choker that went down the front.
The wig was really heavy, but other than that it was just a skirt.
It was the lightest costume Ive ever worn.
He couldnt drink it because the prosthetics would melt.
Ive got some hot cocoa and Id like to drink it before it gets cold.
Stephen Presley (Unsullied/Wight/Lannister General):The Unsullied costume was horrible.
It was so cold minus-4 Celsius so you had to wear a lot of layers underneath it.
You always had people sewing you up, making sure everything was tight and snug.
Then you had this double-layered leather corset they would wrap around you to where you almost couldnt breathe.
They get it looking like its fur.
Youre wearing your jeans underneath.
Conor Delaney (Lannister Guardsman):There were no zippers on the costumes.
Whenever they did my hair, it was tied with soft leather string as well.
I was like, Thats beautiful.
They were like: Theres more.
They put seven layers on top of me.
Because you are wearing a six-foot cape that is flowing out behind you.
Hodgen (Wildling Male Chieftain 23):There are now thousands of Wildling costumes.
Real mud looks way better than any fake dirt they can ever put on a costume.
They do get a bit stinky.
They actively encourage us to stay as filthy as we can for the whole shoot.
The battle scenes were particularly brutal one missed cue could ruin an entire take.
Hodgen (Wildling Male Chieftain 23):Its a long day.
My alarm clocks set for 12:30 a.m. Leave at 1.
We meet up in the studio at 2.
Drive to the sets for 3.
Get fed, watered, changed, all the makeup, costumes on.
Start shooting at 6 a.m. Go through to 6 p.m. Hodgen (Wildling Male Chieftain 23):AGame of Thronesshoot is like every camping trip gone wrong.
Do you know how they keep cattle?
Thats sort of how they keep us.
There were 800 extras used for The Long Night.
Youre literally lying in the rain and the mud, the filth.
But theres a tree line only three minutes away, so you end up going there instead.
They were trained on the set, too.
Kadyrova(Yunkaii Slave):I had my own trailer, which said Slave Woman Roxana.
And I was living in this five-star hotel.
Oh my God, the bed.
If you stick close to the lead lady, you get treated very well.
Presley (Unsullied/Wight/Lannister General):We had to have three Unsullied boot camps because so many guys quit.
The job was just so difficult.
Hodgen (Wildling Male Chieftain 23):[Wilding training] is quite minimal.
What we need to be able to do is run up and down a mountainside.
We play little games, like tag.
They pick out the energetic guys, the natural leaders, and they bring them aside.
They become the hero group.
Theyre the central core for action scenes.
Theyre the nutcases, you know.
Its 95 percent guys with beards.
Quite often you get an overtime bonus.
Every one of those is 20 pounds.
When you do battle sequences it does tally up, so I suppose the average is 130 pounds.
We fell probably about a foot and a harness supported us.
We all ended up having slight bruises on our shoulders for a few weeks after.
Also because of the harnesses, it could be, lets just say, slightly uncomfortable for males.
Kit was such an incredibly humble guy.
The only time I saw him pulling rank was when the four of us were hanged.
Kit sort of went, Guys, we need to start filming this!
These guys are in pain!
Condron can be seen at the :55 mark above, telling Jon Snow, Its not right.
My shin was bouncing around against this hole.
Thats it; youre there for the day.
They bring you coffee and your lunch and you just lie there.
I look over, and Bill [Kellihor, of Mastodon] is fucking asleep.
They had us right in front because they wanted us to be somewhat noticeable.
When the director yelled, Three, Bill woke up in the nick of time.
We had to do that like 20 times in a row.
Will Rastall (Tyrell Servant, a.k.a.
Cheese Boy):Theres a lot of waiting around.
But they suddenly go, Action, and you have to leap to it.
Getting told off by Diana Rigg (Olenna Tyrell) was great no acting required.
I didnt know that itd aired until some fans created memes about me on Twitter.
Gary Lightbody (Singer for Snow Patrol, Bolton Soldier):My horse thought I was a dick.
He could not have had more contempt for me.
He wouldnt go, wouldnt change direction, wouldnt trot.
Presley (Unsullied/Wight/Lannister General):My death count is around ten, at least.
Its the same guys dying again and again, but with the cinematography, youd never know.
It was all on pads.
We literally marched and lined up perfectly in military formation even when we werent filming, to save time.
If you stepped out of line, you could ruin the whole thing and theyd have to start over.
I wound up with a slight crisp of the early stages of frostbite on my nose.
The trickiest part was the practicalities of making sure everyone stayed cool.
It was very tricky to sit down with that sword and get up elegantly.
Presley (Unsullied/Wight/Lannister General):In the finale, I was Unsullied.
There was a giant green screen we were facing Daeneryss speech was filmed completely separate.
Your spear had to be pointed perfectly in the air for the shots.
I saw Kit Harington straighten a guys spear, just to get the scene done.
He was the only one with us for that last episode, for some of those scenes.
When we stopped seeing other actors on the set, we started thinking it was him.
A lot of us were hoping it was him.
But thats not what we got.
The Wildling and Unsullied groups grew particularly close, thanks to the shared misery of their filming conditions.
Its not a hierarchy thing.
These guys are working.
There was always a group of 50 of us [Wildlings].
Its believable, because he pulled off the perfect pirouette.
Whereas Peter [Dinklage] and Conleth Hill, their personalities were already formed.
Ive got a name in my head but I wont say it.
Especially within your own army.
We even have little rivalries.
Nobody likes the Boltons, but wereallydislike them.
We see each other so much that we know each others eyes.
When I was a Lannister, someone was going, Shame!
They narrowed it down and found out who it was.
I never found out what happened to him.
Actually, we never heard anything about him again.
Gallagher (Lannister Soldier):It was a hell of an experience to get to do.
And, you know, still paying me now.
The royalty checks, they keep coming.
Its their profession, and its over.
