Daniel Sackheim talks directing Jon’s resurrection and Dany’s big moment

Photo: Helen Sloan

Director Daniel Sackheim, for those who are unfamiliar with his work, already had an extensive career in television directing, from the mid-90s Law and Order to The X-Files to House to The Walking Dead, before finally joining the Game of Thrones family this season. He was immediately thrown into the deep end, tasked with filming the resurrection of Jon Snow and Dany’s latest iconic moment.

Speaking with the Wall Street Journal‘s Speakeasy blog, he admits it was a bit overwhelming at times, but the trick (at least for him) was to focus on making everything seem as real and genuine as possible—and that includes real fire. “Flames are actually one of the hardest things to create digitally,” he said. “So most of it was real.”

But when it comes to iconic moments, he’s not thinking so much about how it will play to the audience. “They’re always in the corner of your mind, in terms of doing justice to those rather vivid and dynamic sequences. But I think when you’re doing it, you’re just trying to figure out how to do it. I hate to be so prosaic about it, but that’s the honest to God truth. You’re just trying to figure out how to make this scene real. … It’s not so much, “How do I make it epic?” It’s, “How do I make it real?”

When it comes to making moments like Jon Snow’s return to life seem real, Sackheim says that he and Kit Harington discussed it in terms of both being born again and in terms of grief.

"I recall talking to Kit, and using this Elizabeth Kubler-Ross book on the seven stages [of grief]. He’s awake, he doesn’t know where he is, he sees something, he’s in denial … then acceptance. It was running through all those emotions, very specifically, and one thing would lead to another, would lead to another, would lead to another. In the broader scheme, it was about birth, and we’d talk about if you could imagine what it would be like to be born now, with no sense of where you are or what people are. It was that sense of being helpless and lost."

He also says that Jon’s reunion with Sansa was only done once, because it was so genuine. They didn’t even try it any other way. While Sackheim does plenty of rehearsal, he recognizes that there are times when not rehearsing can be an advantage, as in scenes where characters are supposed to be uncomfortable. When filming the Meereen negotiations, he didn’t answer questions posed by Jacob Anderson (Grey Worm) and Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei) to heighten their sense of confusion and frustration, since that’s what they’re supposed to be feeling when Tyrion does what their characters consider unthinkable: allow the Masters to continue slavery for seven more years.

But of course, the main scene to talk about is Dany’s walk through the fire, which he calls “90% real.”

I would love to tell you that it took a number of takes, but she knows who she is, she knows who the character is and the sense of power that she has internally, and the amount of confidence she speaks with. I also think Emilia always knew what the character’s plan was and how she was going to extricate herself from this situation. That expression you’re speaking of — almost this kind of wry smile, this ominous placidity — I think it actually came pretty easy to her.

Will Sackheim be back next season? All that is up in the air, although when showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss find someone who knocks material out of the park—like Miguel Sapochnik last season—they work hard to get them back. (Sapochnik, who directed “Hardhome,” directed the final two episodes of Season 6.) Considering how well Sackheim’s episode worked this season, I would not be surprised if he returned.