Rory McCann (The Hound) was homeless before Game of Thrones

It’s hard to believe that any of the Game of Thrones cast was ever so hungry that they literally had to steal food to eat, but according to star Rory McCann, that was his situation before he landed his big break as Sandor “the Hound” Clegane.

McCann talks about that experience on the reunion special on Game of Thrones: The Complete Series, a roundtable interview hosted by Conan O’Brien. “Two years ago I was in a tent – literally in a tent – stealing food occasionally,” McCann said. “Eventually I got a job and sorted myself out, but then suddenly I’m getting driven around in a nice car in the biggest and best show in the world; just shows how your fortunes can change. Amazing.”

McCann joined Sean Bean (Lord Eddard Stark) and several other cast members on stage for this snippet. And we learned more about him than what he was doing before the show. Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) revealed that the Hound was supposed to have a shirtless scene, probably during season 4. “There was a scene where the Hound got bitten and Arya offers to burn away the rotting flesh to make him better,” Williams remembered. “And it said in the script the Hound was topless and so Rory had been on this crazy diet. He quit drinking and anyone who knows Rory knows that’s a big deal, and he quit smoking and he was just honestly just grumpy because he was eating just boiled eggs and chicken.”

But of course, as we know, that scene didn’t materialize. “The funniest and best thing about it is when it came to shooting that scene they looked at the weather and said, ‘You know what, it’s a bit cold. It wouldn’t make sense you’d have your shirt off so perhaps you should just leave it on,” Williams remembered. Cue McCann:

"And I’ve never been to the gym since and that’s the truth. F*** you, that’s it."

He’s so the Hound.

For reference sake, this is the probably the scene that Williams is talking about:

Just imagine that, but sexier.

Game of Thrones: The Complete Collection is available now.

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h/t Metro