Diana Rigg on her near-death experience, Grey Worm takes on Neil Gaiman, and other cast member news

Game of Thrones stars always have something going on. Let’s check in with a few before the weekend.

In things we didn’t know, Diana Rigg (Olenna Tyrell) underwent heart surgery several months back, long after she’d completed filming on Game of Thrones season 7. Apparently, things were touch-and-go for a minute, and the surgeons had to shock her heart after it stopping beating. “When I came round, the nurse said, ‘You might find a bit of a burn mark on your chest.’ That’s where they jump-started me,” she explained to The Daily Telegraph.

"My heart had stopped ticking during the procedure, so I was up there and The Good Lord must have said, ‘send the old bag down again, I’m not having her yet.’"

It’s nice that she’s keeping a sense of humor about it. And in any case, Rigg assures fans that she’s fine now. She also explained part of the reason she’s able to play crafty characters like Olenna so effectively, tying it into her faith:

"I’m a practicing Christian, so maybe that’s why I understand evil so well. It’s a starting point, isn’t it? I’m good at evil. Some actresses exude innate sweetness and goodness – I don’t. I’ve got a darker side that I can call upon; and I understand the damage that some people do, wanting power and control over others, which is truly frightening."

Game of Thrones Season 6 Episode 5. Official Image via HBO/Helen Sloan

Easing off the heavy stuff a bit, did you know that Jacob Anderson (Grey Worm) is currently appearing in a radio adaptation of Anansi Boys, Neil Gaiman’s 2005 fantasy novel? He plays one of two sons of a West African trickster god named Anansi.

Like Gaiman’s American Gods, Anansi Boys mixes myth, humor, and humor to unique effect. There are six episodes getting made, which you can listen to here.

Quick scenario: you’re playing trivial pursuit with Maisie Williams, and a question about Arya Stark comes up. How embarrassing would it be if you missed it? For one man, that situation was real, as Williams revealed on her Instagram:

Or he could answer “Sansa” just for fun.

One person who definitely would have gotten it right: Pitch Perfect star Anna Kendrick, who is deep enough down the Game of Thrones rabbit hole to have favorite and least favorite fan theories. “If it turns out that the Mad King went crazy because of something that Bran did, just forget the whole thing,” she told Bustle. “That will really make me upset.”

"My brother is more hardcore than me, and has read all the books. I had a [theory] that Tyrion was going to turn on Dany and go back to Cersei. Permanently or not, I don’t know, but I just felt like something else has to get screwed up. And the thing where Tyrion figured out that Cersei was pregnant — I was totally convinced. [My brother] was like, “You’re barking up the wrong tree. Get yourself a tinfoil hat. It’s not happening.” I was like, “Okay, I was trying to drum up some drama.”"

Eh, you’re far from the first person to go out on a limb with a Game of Thrones fan theory, Kendrick. I say keep them coming.

Finally, Will Tudor, who played the male prostitute Loras slept with back in the day, posted a picture of himself as a baby, and evidently it was interesting enough to get written up by multiple outlets, so here it is:

Baby.

Next: Game of Thrones was the most pirated show of 2017, surprising absolutely no one

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