Nikolaj Coster-Waldau reveals the two Game of Thrones scenes he “just couldn’t watch”

Game of Thrones star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau sees an end in sight for Jaime Lannister, but before we get to that, there’s time to look back on the highlights…and the lowlights…of the saga. Speaking with Variety, Coster-Waldau named two moments in particular that stood out for him as too difficult to watch.

"Shireen being burned at the stake I thought was just cruel. I mean it made sense story-wise and I understand why they did it. But I just couldn’t watch it and it was difficult to even read it."

Can’t argue with that one. It’s disturbing to even see an image of that scene. Here, we’ll demonstrate:

The second scene isn’t as extreme, although we get it. “It was very disturbing when [Robin Arryn] was still being breastfed when he was 7. It was so weird and wrong on every level.”

But despite how uncomfortable these kind of moments were, Coster-Waldau thinks they’re all part of what makes the show work. “I think the beauty of it, it made sense. Even the most extreme things have been driven by story.”

"I think at this point in the show, up to the final season here, you’re reaping the rewards of the work that’s been put into all these characters. So now, as an audience member, you’re kind of invested in every single one of these people, which is…I shouldn’t talk about the ending here."

No, you probably shouldn’t be talking about the ending, although if you’d like to anyway, we’re all ears.

Anyway, we are plenty invested in the characters, but we think we’ll be able to handle it if a few characters don’t make it. As long as the show doesn’t kill Ser Davos. Or Arya. Or the Hound. Or Bronn. Or…Okay, we get his point.

Variety also asked Coster-Waldau how Game of Thrones had changed his life. He gave a rather beautiful answer about the transience of the entertainment industry and how he’s gotten to know the show and everyone who works on it really well over a period of nine years, but it can be best summed up with this quip: “There’s been no assholes on the show. And we’ve had a big cast, and a huge crew and we haven’t had any assholes.”

Can’t put a price on that.

Next: Season 8 filming: Fog rolls into a battered King’s Landing

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