Jamie Campbell Bower talks canceled Game of Thrones spinoff Blood Moon

Actor Jamie Campbell Bower may now be known the world over as Vecna slash One slash Henry Creel, but before Stranger Things 4 came along, the actor was attached to a very different high-profile project: HBO’s canceled Game of Thrones spinoff, Blood Moon.

Set thousands of years before the original series, Blood Moon was slated to explore the dark period of history when the White Walkers first terrorized the land and the peoples of Westeros banded together with the Children of the Forest to drive them back. Mind you, this is after the Children created the White Walkers as a super-weapon against the First Men, which we saw during Game of Thrones. Westerosi history is nothing if not twisty.

Details have always been sparse about Blood Moon, but we know that Bower was slated to star in that series alongside Naomi Watts, Josh Whitehouse, Naomi Ackie, Denise Gough, Miranda Richardson, Sheila Atim, Ivanno Jeremiah, Alex Sharp, Toby Regbo, and more. We don’t know what role he was set to play, only that the pilot filmed in Northern Ireland in 2019 and apparently did not fill HBO with enough confidence to follow through on the series.

Jamie Bower Campbell says it was “sad” that Blood Moon was canceled

Now that Bower is out making the press rounds for Stranger Things, he’s finally broken his silence about the canceled Game of Thrones spinoff.

“Everything happens for a reason,” Bower told Entertainment Weekly. “I don’t think anything happens by chance. At the time of that spin-off not working out, of course it’s sad. Of course it is.”

As it turns out, this was not Bower’s first time almost appearing onscreen in Westeros; he was cast as Waymar Royce in the unaired original pilot for Game of Thrones. Despite the near misses, Bower is keeping a pretty good attitude about it all. “I’ve done things or not done things [in this industry],” he says. “I was born and now I’m here doing this. Everything I’ve done in my life led to this particular moment talking to you right now on this camera. That’s really interesting to consider.”

Considering that he’s playing what’s sure to become one of the most iconic sci-fi horror villains in recent memory, it seems safe to say that it all worked out just fine.

In the meantime, Stranger Things 4 is available now on Netflix. And come this August, we’ll finally see the Game of Thrones spinoff that HBO did follow through on, House of the Dragon, which details a brutal Targaryen civil war 200 years before the events of the main series.

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels