Joe Dempsie (Gendry) blames himself for those “still rowing” memes

Picture this: You portray a side character, at best, on the world’s most popular television series. It’s not a large role, but you’ve made it to season 3, and your character has just learned that he has royal blood flowing through his veins. But then, just as it seems you might have a larger part to play in the overall story going forward, you’re sent rowing into television purgatory, waiting for the phone call that was promised, the one inviting you back.

RELATED PRODUCT

George Brett Kansas City Royals Game Of Thrones Iron Throne Legends Bobblehead

Buy Now!

Buy Now!

That’s what it was like for actor Joe Dempsie. He plays the bastard blacksmith Gendry, the last Baratheon descendent left alive on the show, son of the late King Robert. As you may remember, Ser Davos Seaworth, in an effort to save Gendry from being sacrificed to the flames of R’hllor by Melisandre, sent him rowing toward King’s Landing towards the end of season 3.

As Dempsie tells Entertainment Weekly, at first, he wasn’t worried that we’d seen the last of Gendry, as showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss told him they had plans to bring him back. But as the seasons passed, Dempsie began to wonder if he’d ever get that call. And after the credits rolled on season 4, he fired off a tweet that spawned a thousand thousand memes:

“It became my daily life,” he said of the meme. “There was no escaping it.” Indeed, once the internet has you, there’s nowhere to hide.

Seasons 5 and 6 came and went, yet there was no sign of Gendry…but just when all hope seemed lost, Dempsie finally got that long-awaited call, who decided to have a little fun at Dempsie’s expense when he finally came back in season 7:

Jokes aside, Dempsie was elated to return to the show. “It almost felt like a new job because the influence and the impact of the show changed so much over those years,” he said. “It was like getting a call out of the blue, saying, ‘Hey, so do you fancy stepping into the biggest TV show on the planet?’”

Dempsie headed off to Northern Ireland to get back into the groove of playing Gendry, where he was told by the stunt coordinator to go home and start practicing with a sledgehammer because his character was getting a heavy new toy for season 7. Only when he returned to Northern Ireland to begin filming, he was given something he wasn’t expecting.

"I spent probably three months like a psychopath in my garden, swinging a sledgehammer around. So I was the strongest I’ve ever been, trying to make a foam hammer look heavy."

Well, at least he made it look real.

Check out Game of Thrones swag at Entertainment Earth.

So how will Gendry play into the endgame? There are plenty of theories out there…

Game of Thrones season 8 premieres on April 14. We’re almost there.

To stay up to date on everything Game of Thrones, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Watch Game of Thrones for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels