Dean-Charles Chapman (Tommen) on Cersei Lannister: “I hope she dies”

Of all the deaths in the slaughterhouse that was the Game of Thrones Season 6 finale, Tommen Baratheon’s suicide was perhaps the saddest. Actor Dean-Charles Chapman played the character for three years. (His first scene was the one where Joffrey died in “The Lion and the Rose.) He talked to Popsugar about Tommen’s final moments, who he hopes is going to win the Iron Throne, his best friend on set and the craziest fan theory he’s ever heard.

Reflecting on Tommen’s death, Chapman does not have many kind words for his onscreen mother. “I hope [Cersei] dies,” he said. “She killed me! She basically killed Tommen.”

"I think she is going to be insane. Yeah. She’s lost all her children, she hasn’t really got anyone there. I mean, she’s got Jaime, but he’s nutso as well. They’re all crazy. And I think now that she’s killed pretty much everyone in the whole show, there’s nothing stopping her, is there?"

Like many Game of Thrones cast members, Chapman found the news of his character’s death difficult to take.

"The first time I read it was at a table read, which is where all the producers, all the directors, all the actors sit at a table and read together. And, at that point, I hadn’t read the script, so it was even my first time . . . I had literally gotten the phone call that night before, so I was gutted. None of the other actors knew I was dying, so when they read it everyone was like, “Oh no!” And I was gutted, I felt like crying!"

As for the how of those final moments, Chapman and director Jeremy Podeswa tried a bunch of different versions of Tommen’s final jump, and that was on top of the “10-hour or 11-hour day” Chapman spent dressing for the finale’s opening sequence. “We did it loads of different ways, one where I sort of crouch, sit down, and fall . . . the one we chose was just . . . Just literally walked up straight.

"And I think the point of that was, it was more of a surprise to the audience the way it was, rather than him sitting on the edge, and you’d know it was coming. So, we wanted more of the surprise factor."

I think it’s safe to say that the team succeeded. The physical acting involved proved to be bruising:

"So there were these cardboard boxes stacked up on top of each other under this big crash mat, which is like this protective mat. And yeah, it was basically just like a face dive, like hit the mat a million times. My nose was killing me."

Moving on from Tommen’s death, Chapman talked a bit about his life on set. Apparently, he grew very close to Isaac Hempstead-Wright (Bran). “He’s my best friend. He’s cool.”

Maybe it’s a three-names thing. Or a falling-out-windows thing.

And who does Chapman want to sit the Iron Throne in the end? “Jon Snow, man. Jon Snow’s more exciting. He’s battling people all the time. I mean, Daenerys just seems to be sitting on a boat.” As for the wildest fan theory Chapman has ever heard, it’s one of the big ones:

"The craziest theory is that the White Walkers are really good. They’re really good guys. The whole thing is, the whole show you think the White Walkers are these zombies that are going to kill everyone, but really, the White Walkers are trying to stop all the politicians, and tell them to leave. They’re the good guys, trying to change the world, and it’s going to be this big plot twist. It was the weirdest thing . . . But that would be good! I think that would be good."

Will that one prove true? The show has two more seasons to pile more twists on us.