Remember when Ian McShane played a septon who helped the Hound on Game of Thrones? Remember when he hated his lunch so he kicked it? Read on…
Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon: Game of Thrones and the Official Untold Story of the Epic Series has been a treasure trove of fascinating behind-the-scenes tidbits about HBO’s mega-hit. We’ve learned about the show’s disastrous original pilot, the making of the Battle of Blackwater, the thinking behind Daenerys Targaryen final fiery turn, and much more.
And now comes the most important story of all: the time Ian McShane kicked a burger at Rory McCann.
McCann, of course, played the Hound, the violent warrior with a burned face, a grudge against his older brother and a soft spot for Arya Stark. He sat out season 5 of the show, but returned in season 6, where we found him recovering from his fight with Brienne of Tarth by helping a kindly septon named Brother Ray build a religious community in the Riverlands.
Ray was played by Ian McShane, whom director Mark Mylod described as “a force of nature.” The proof came one day during lunch. “His lunch was brought up to him and he disliked his burger,” Mylod remembered. “So he kicked it and it went flying, and had a few choice words of what he thought of the burger.”
This story is already hilarious; if I didn’t like a burger, I think my first instinct would be to put it down or throw it away rather than kick it, but I’m not Ian McShane. And then things escalated. “The burger whacked into Rory, who was enjoying his burger and had no complaints.”
There’s no word on whether McCann then threw his burger back and started a food fight, but I hope it happened. At least something good came out of it. “ gone down in Game of Thrones crew folklore as being the person who most improved the catering,” Mylod said.
McShane is also the cast member who infamously said that Game of Thrones was “only tits and dragons.” A force of nature indeed.
Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon is available to buy now!
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h/t The Sun