The fantasy TV series ended earlier this year after eight seasons
Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have recalled the chaotic manner in which they started working on the show over a decade ago.
The HBO fantasy series came to an end earlier this year after eight seasons on the air, with the duo writing and directing the divisive series finale ‘The Iron Throne’.
Benioff and Weiss spoke in depth about the beginnings of Game of Thrones during a discussion panel at the Austin Film Festival last Friday (October 26), where they described how “nervous” they were when pitching the show to HBO. Twitter user @ForAnya live-tweeted the comments which were made at the panel.
David is describing the pre-meeting with GRRM who was questioning their bona fides and “we didn’t really have any.” We had never done TV and we didn’t have any. We don’t know why he trusted us with his life’s work.”
— Needle & Pen (@ForArya) October 26, 2019
Benioff told the audience that in their pre-pitch meeting with Game of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin they had to admit that they didn’t have any experience of making television.
“We had never done TV and we didn’t have any [experience],” Benioff said. “We don’t know why he trusted us with his life’s work.”
They acknowledge that they have no idea why after such a dismal pilot why they went forward. “Everything we could make a mistake in, we did.” Script, casting, costume.
They think HBO went forward bc they had a lot of foreign pre-sales on the series.
— Needle & Pen (@ForArya) October 26, 2019
The duo also spoke about the problems they encountered with making the Game of Thrones pilot episode, admitting: “Everything we could make a mistake in, we did.”
Weiss later revealed that the cast quickly redefined the roles that they had been given, with special praise being reserved for Maisie Williams as Arya. The pair then began writing for the actors rather than characters they were playing, likening it to “an actor moving into the ‘house’ and redecorating”.
Dan is saying that he let the actors redefined the roles, esp Maisie and they began writing for the actors, it is like the actor moved into the “house” and redecorated. He said he learned about the characters from the actors.
— Needle & Pen (@ForArya) October 26, 2019
Another revelation from the pair disclosed that they “really did not” listen to fan feedback about the show as the seasons continued. Benioff also admitted that he was once left upset after googling Game of Thrones, while Weiss maintained that he never googled the show.
Benioff and Weiss this week severed their ties with Disney Lucasfilm’s upcoming Star Wars trilogy to focus on their commitments to Netflix.
