Ed Skrein (Daario 1.0) Says That He “Didn’t Walk Away” from Game of Thrones
By Dan Selcke
Figuring out why exactly actor Ed Skrein left the role of Daario Naharis after the third season of Game of Thrones is one of the enduring mysteries of the show. The last time the actor sat down to talk about the topic, he said that “[i]t wasn’t as straightforward a decision as it’s been made out in the press…In a lot of ways I would have loved to have carried on and stayed working on that.” Okay, great. But were there other ways in which you didn’t want to carry on, and did those ways outnumber the first kind of ways?
Skrein—who’s currently headlining The Transporter Refueled, an action movie that opens this weekend—recently fielded questions on the topic again with toofab, and his answers clarified…very little. “Contrary to reports, I didn’t walk away [from the show],” he said. “I wouldn’t walk away, there are very few things in my life I’ve walked away from. This is a complicated industry and there’s always politics involved.” Okay, now that answer seems to imply that the producers decided to replace Skrein, but it’s still kind of murky. If he just said “I was fired,” it would really clear things up. And in any case, does saying that he “didn’t walk away” necessarily imply that he was asked to leave? Maybe this is more of a “I didn’t walk away—I decided to pursue other opportunities” situation.
There’s video of Skrein saying this stuff over on toofab, by the way. I hope Skrein can live with himself knowing that I’ll be rewatching it ad nauseam looking for clues in his intonation, because it’s difficult for me to leave well enough alone.
Ed Skrein in The Transporter Refueled. He knows something. WHAT DO YOU KNOW?
Anyway, Skrein also talked to The Huffington Post about the topic.
"In this industry you have politics and things like that, so nothing is ever as straight forward as it’s reported. It was a character that I would’ve loved to have continued to portray, and he’s a wonderful character, but you know Michiel Huisman’s done a great job taking over the mantle, and that’s the way it goes, you know?"
I’ll just let that comment hang there, beautiful and terrible in its ambiguity. At this rate, Skrein is becoming famous enough that he won’t ever need to clarify precisely what happened on Game of Thrones, which can’t be good for my sleep.