John Bradley was dreading watching the Game of Thrones finale. He knew the moment he watched it, this whole experience would finally be over. At 10 a.m. on July 19, 2010 (as the actor proudly shared on Instagram), Bradley started playing Samwell Tarly on a TV show that would become the biggest fantasy series of all time and the television event of a generation.
When I hop on the phone with him right after his first viewing of the finale at a screening in London alongside his co-star Emilia Clarke, Bradley is still feeling the emotion of it all.
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"Now I've seen the final episode, the world has seen the final episode. It's a really complicated set of emotions because you're really proud of how it ended but you think there's still more life in these characters," Bradley tells me. "You want to see the adventures of Arya, you want to see how Sansa is going to rule the north."
Thankfully, though, things ended surprisingly happy for Samwell Tarly. Bradley didn't think he'd live through the second season let alone to the very end. Yet, when we last see Samwell he's achieved the thing he's always wanted: he's become the Grand Maester to the new king Bran Stark.
In our conversation, Bradley discusses filming the pivotal Dragonpit scene (including when his character basically invents democracy), where Drogon was flying, and the scenes in the Game of Thrones finale we didn't see.
When you and I first spoke you had me terrified that Sam was going to die. But you didn't, you survived and had a happy ending, which is rare in this show.
Yeah I think that the ending was what I always wanted for Sam. Now he's the Grand Maester on the small council and he's using his knowledge and using his unique set of skills, in terms of his academic mind and curiosity, he's using all of those tools that he has at his disposal to affect the common good and he's making change. He's making a difference. That's the best ending that I could have ever hoped for Sam or even that Sam could have ever hoped for himself. It was beautiful and I hate getting rid of it, it's just strange to say that because you do feel so firmly connected to the character, you've embedded the character. Sometimes, it's hard to look from the outside in.
At the end of that season, I really did see him as a separate person. I think that's totally part of the separation process, that you detach yourself from them emotionally. And in the first time in a long time, I've been able to see Sam and not see me, if you know what I mean. I just see the character and I see the end of the character's journey. I've been immensely proud of him for surviving and what he achieved. And to just see him in that world, the world that he's gonna relish. I was just so proud of him, it's such a happy place to leave him. And I just love him so much. I've loved him so much, I suppose it is eight years, it's just nice to see him so happy and so fulfilled.
HBOArya, Bran and Sansa at the pivotal Dragonpit meeting in the Game of Thrones finale.
How do you fill in what happened to Sam between Episode Four and when he's at the Dragonpit with the most powerful people in the realm forming a new government?
There were enough people in Winterfell during the battle planning that Sam's insight and Sam's wisdom and Sam's intellectual capacity was noted by the rest of the people around that table. So they know, that in Episode Six, they have a decision to make. Part of my pride in Sam and part of my hope for Sam would like to believe that they all got together and decided that he would be of use and his input would be valuable in that environment.
When they were putting these people together, they thought that Sam would add something to it and they valued his opinion. And I think that is a really nice thing for him. It's part of that journey, it's part of the end of that redemption where people are actually seeking out his opinion on things, seeking his contributions and yeah, I'd like to think that when they were assembling that team he was seen as somebody that was going to be a very valuable person in that arsenal and a great head to have around that table. And I think that that says a lot about his journey. He was ridiculed and he was worthless and he was cast aside by his family. He was a target of abuse for the rest of the Night's Watch and everybody else at Castle Black. He's now in a position where his opinion is being sought. His presence is required to make these big decisions.
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And Sam invented democracy! Too bad that didn't go over that well.
That's been a recurring theme for Sam over the series. He seems too progressive for the world that he's in. You think back to Season Two and Sam has always seen women and seen people to be beyond what society thinks about them. He sees people as human beings and yet he has that compassion and that empathy. He has sympathy. A progressive attitude. He suggests a direct democracy, and it doesn't seem like Westeros is ready for that yet. He sees beyond these hierarchical systems. It's interesting that this idea can be seen in this show and it's heartbreaking that it isn't taken seriously.
How was it filming this scene that is such a pivotal moment of TV history?
It took real stamina to get through that scene because it's a long scene and we were in Spain for a whole week. I don't think in my whole career, I ever did a scene many times as I did that scene. I mean, we did to 12 hours a day for six days straight. It was tough to keep focus and keep your energy. And every other day it seems like something would come along to revitalize us. Peter had the last day and a half to shoot that incredible speech that he gave. By that day, we were starting to slag and we were starting to get tired and a little bit restless. Just the beauty and the technical skill and the sheer proficiency of Peter's performance. It really kind of invigorated everybody. You saw Peter working to the level he was working at and you just thought he needs me even off camera to maintain eye contact and deliver my lines. I think it was Joe Dempsie who said to Peter, that's one of those takes, sort of masterful takes, and he said, "It was a real privilege to watch that." There's something really special about seeing an artist about that working on the peak of their powers.
That was an interesting week because not only I wrapped that week, but Sophie (Turner) wrapped that week, and Gwen (Gwendoline Christie), and Joe. You tried to savor every moment of that week because you knew it would be the last work you'd ever do on that show. The last day became so poignant because we were saying goodbye to friends and characters and the show in general. I tried to not think about it. Even with an hour to go I still didn't want to accept it. It was a bittersweet experience. Probably my favorite scene to shoot for a number of reasons.
So the next scene where we see Sam is a time jump and he's the Grand Maester. How do you fill in the gap between that Dragonpit scene and where they're getting this new government off and running.
I think Bran and Sam have developed such a close bond by this stage because they went through the whole process of finding out Jon's parentage. They're such a formidable team because they're the only two people in the world who can do what they do because Bran can see things and Sam can interpret them. As soon as Bran became King, Sam—who has never been slow when it came to seeing how he could work a situation to his advantage—he could have gone to see Bran and say "Bran now that we are mates and now that you're King, remember that time when we found out about Jen's parents? Well how about you do your old mate a favor and maybe see if the Grand Maester position is available."
What's interesting about that scene is that after everything they've seen and the world has scene there's a humanity left in these characters. When that camera moves away and just hear that pale end of the conversation, you want to stay with them. You don't want to give up on them, you want to be a fly on the wall in that chamber. I think that could be a show all on its own. If there's going to be a spinoff I'd like a sitcom set in that small council meeting.
George R R Martin A Game of Thrones / A Clash of Kings / A Storm of Swords / A Feast of Crows / A Dance with Dragons
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What I loved about this scene is when Sam brings out the A Song of Ice and Fire book. When we first talked you were a little coy about Sam being the kind of avatar for George R.R. Martin in this story and now I understand why.
I think that's the interesting curve ball there, the reason why I've been so coy about that in interviews all the time is because it's not quite what people would have expected. A lot of people really thought Sam had some involvement in the writing of the story or Sam would have probably ended by putting his pen down and having the final full stop at the of the series as the one who wrote it. In actual fact, it's not quite that. Archmaester Ebros wrote it and Sam just helped. It's an interesting line to take because it's almost giving people what they predicted. It almost made people's predictions come true but not quite.
Another thing that I found interesting of that scene was Sam pointing out where Drogon was flying. What did you think of that line and what's going on there?
Sam knows where Drogon is the last time he was scene he was flying East. Bronn says as long as he's not here it's fine. But it's interesting to hear that he's out there and the Drogon story is continuing. It's kind of interesting that you find out at the end of it that his story is continuing out there. And he's probably going to get up to his adventures presumably he's still fueled by grief and the bitterness of that. And I think that if you can think of it as there's still a dragon out there that's fueled by anger and fueled by grief and stills got a sense of bitterness then nobody is going to quite sleep easy in their beds.
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