John Bradley talks Samwell Tarly’s fate, and the royal set visit

Season 4 was a time of growth for Samwell Tarly. His relationship with Jon Snow gained some equal footing, he finally kissed the girl, and he proved himself quite useful at the Battle of Castle Black. Although it was a big year for Samwell, it was an even bigger year for Thrones, garnering record ratings, a President’s approval, and even a visit from the Queen.

In a new interview with InStyle UK, John Bradley West talks about Samwell’s fate, the show’s spoiler culture, and his thoughts on the royal set visit.

Game Of Thrones is known for killing off its characters, do you worry that Sam isn’t going to make it?
The show at the moment is killing characters off way before the books do, so there’s plenty of opportunity for them to decide your time has come! When we were filming with Joseph Altin and Mark Stanley, (who play Pyp and Grenn,) and they died way ahead of time, me and Kit were trying to reassure them that if David and Dan think you’re worth killing off it’s a big compliment because they know it’s going to hit the audience right in the gut.

If Sam has to cop it, do you have a particular way you’d like him to go?
Other characters die great, heroic deaths, even Joffrey being poisoned is a dramatic way to go but I think the most likely death for Sam is to have some kind of cardiac arrest running up the stairs. That would be such a typical way for Sam to go, in a way that was a bit tragic and unnoticed.

Everyone’s obsessed with GOT spoilers…
When people stop me in the street and they say, ‘Can you give us any spoilers?’ I always think, well I could do, but would you rather find out what’s going to happen with an HBO budget with some of the most talented producers and directors and actors in TV history or would you rather have me just in the street with my little Manchester voice?

Who’s the person you were most excited to find out was a fan?
Well I don’t think it gets much better than President Obama; he’s a massive fan of Game Of Thrones, which is quite unsettling. If me and Kit are filming a scene, after every line you think, ‘I wonder if Mr Obama liked that one?’.

What do you think of The Queen visiting the Game Of Thrones set this week?
I don’t know if she’s a fan – maybe she doesn’t even have Sky, maybe she was swayed by the David Tennant adverts and subscribed to Virgin instead. Or maybe she’s a dab hand at an illegal download. But I think it’s amazing that she visited the set. Game Of Thrones is great for this country. It’s the biggest show ever produced in Europe, it’s got a fantastic local Northern Irish production team and the fact that we’re showcasing British talent, is really great. It’s really flattering that she’s has taken the time to acknowledge all that. I was working – so gutted I wasn’t there.

Were you a bit gutted she didn’t sit on the throne?
Slightly gutted, but I have to say I completely understand. I’d say that the whole ‘sitting on the Iron Throne’ experience is intended to be a novelty for people who don’t have that many encounters with thrones in their day to day lives. If you’re Her Majesty and you sit on a throne a fairly large part of the time then the novelty is lost. I think we can safely say she’s over thrones.

John Bradley is as enjoyable as ever, and gives many more humorous answers about Kit Harington, watching himself on screen, and more, at InStyle UK.

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• Published on 06/27/2014 at 1:36 PM CDT
• Last updated on 10/21/2016 at 12:41 PM CDT