Liam Cunningham, 55, who stars as Ser Davos Seaworth in HBO's "Game of Thrones," revealed that he has faced real-life peril while filming the upcoming episode, "Battle of the Bastards," of the immensely popular fantasy series. Reports claimed that the Irish actor almost did not make it to the end of the film at all.
Cunningham has told the Irish Daily Star that he nearly got decapitated by a camera while filming a horseback scene for the much-awaited ninth episode of the "Game of Thrones" Season 6. The 59th overall episode of the series, shot in Ireland, features the eagerly-anticipated showdown between Jon Snow (Kit Harington) and Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon), the eponymous bastards who clash in a battle for control of Winterfell and the North.
"I nearly got killed by a camera," he revealed. "We were doing this scene where I'm riding past a line of soldiers on horseback, sending them off into battle. So, when they're sent off, my horse wants to go with the rest of the gang, as all horses do."
Cunningham goes ahead to say that he needed to keep the steed down, but the production team has already brought the camera crane in really close. Fortunately, he could see it in his peripheral vision, adding that his "horse jumped sideways and I narrowly avoided being decapitated."
Although he previously admitted that there were heaps of pulled muscles, pain, and misery filming the war scenes, Cunningham now gushed on that he never expected it to be "a walk in the park." Nonetheless, this year's Season 6 has been a standout year for Cunningham with his character rebounding from House Baratheon's defeat by serving as Lord Snow's faithful lieutenant in both battles against the House Bolton of the Dreadfort and the more prominent war still to come.
Hence, Cunningham previews the upcoming action-packed episode, which is directed by Miguel Sapochnik based on the script penned by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. The battle scene reportedly took more than a month to film, which Cunningham describes as one of the most extraordinary things that he has ever seen.
"It's one of the most expensive episodes of television ever made," the actor told The Hollywood Reporter. "We spent roughly a month just doing this particular battle. It's absolutely extraordinary, to be honest with you."
Cunningham also said that the Battle for Winterfell is so massive, as the casts were given three days off to allow the crew members to build a pile of dead bodies. He then assured fans that they will not be frustrated by Jon Snow's epic battle with Ramsay Bolton, describing it as the most talked-about episode of the entire story, of any season.
Check out the video below for more on the Battle of the Bastards: