Ed Skrein (Daario Naharis) left Game of Thrones for “political” reasons

When you think of Daario Naharis from Game of Thrones, the first person you think of is probably Michiel Huisman, who played starting in season 4 through to the end.. But do you remember the three episodes in season 3 when the charismatic mercenary leader was played by British actor Ed Skrein? After only a short spell, the actor made the decision to leave the role and the character was quickly recast.

HBO has never commented on the recast, and in that vacuum, some interesting theories have emerged. One of the more plausible ones is that Skrein couldn’t keep filming Game of Thrones due to other commitments, specifically playing the younger version of Jason Statham’s character Frank Martin in The Transporter Refueled. However, speaking to Entertainment Weekly a couple years after the split, he makes it sound like it could be over something else:

"That’s what been reported in the press but it was a lot more political than that. My plan was to stay with Game of Thrones for the long haul. That was always my plan. I would have loved to."

Despite not lasting as long in the series as he would have liked, the 37-year-old actor still looks back on his time on the show with fondness. “It was a wonderful experience, but politics led to us parting ways,” he said. “And from there I just said, ‘Okay, look forward, be positive. Keep calm and carry on.’ That’s my mentality when things go well, so I stay grounded and not get to overwhelmed by the hype, and it’s my mentality when the plans change.”

Ed Skrein is also thankful his time on Game of Thrones introduced him to some new friends. “I’ve made a lifelong friend in Jacob Anderson, who plays Greyworm,” he told Digital Spy. “But the most important thing in my life is my family, so each project is important but only to a point.”

Since appearing in Game of Thrones, Ed Skrein has gone on to have some fantastic roles in multiple big-budget movies including Deadpool, Alita: Battle Angel and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. But while it’s interesting to hear his take on why he left, we really wish we had more detail on exactly what he means by his departure being “political.” I doubt it was a conflict over campaign finance reform or something; in the complete absence of corroborating information, I’ll guess that maybe there was some kind of conflict on set that necessitated his leaving?

But again, we don’t know the specifics. But hey, Game of Thrones has been done for about a year, so there’s no harm is spilling the beans now, right? Whenever you’re ready, Mr. Skrein.

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