Game Of Thrones' Red Wedding Blindsided Rory McCann Just As Much As The Fans
Cast your mind back to season 3 of HBO's "Game of Thrones." Those who had read the books by George R.R. Martin that the series was based on had quite the dilemma. How would we keep from spoiling the Red Wedding? This was a huge event in the books, and readers spent a lot of time trying to keep it a secret as our non-reader counterparts sat on the couch next to us and tried to watch episode 9, "The Rains of Castamere."
If you have somehow managed to avoid what happened, here's a refresher. After Robb Stark (Richard Madden) loses half of his army through desertion, he and his mother, Catelyn (Michelle Fairley), visit House Frey for aid. Walder Frey (David Bradley) is angry because Robb was supposed to marry one of his daughters but chose someone else (Talisa, played by Oona Chaplin) instead. When the song "The Rains of Castamere" begins to play as a signal, the Freys and the Boltons kill Robb, his direwolf Grey Wind, Talisa, her unborn child, and Catelyn. It was a shock in the book, and it was a shock in the show, even if you knew it was coming. (I will never forget Catelyn's scream for the rest of my life.)
As it turns out, even one of the actors was shocked, and he had the script. Rory McCann, who played Sandor Clegane a.k.a. the Hound, spoke about his reaction in a 2019 video from the show's official YouTube channel.
'I burst into tears'
McCann spoke about the scene and said he didn't really know what was coming because he was focused on his own part. (If you recall, Arya Stark, played by Maisie Williams, was outside of House Frey when it all went down. Sandor knocked her out to keep her from getting herself killed trying to take revenge.) McCann explained:
"I watched the Red Wedding, and I didn't really read into it in the script of what happened. I think I just did my bit and went, 'La, la, la,' and then when it came out I remember I watched it in the morning. I'm a big guy, big tough guy, but guess what? I burst into tears. It was an absolute shocker. I remember just watching it, going, 'No, no, no. No. No. No! No! No! What?' It was brilliant!'"
As someone who threw my George R.R. Martin "A Song of Ice and Fire" books across the room whenever he killed off someone I liked (my walls definitely suffered), I understand the reaction. Truly, it was one of those moments of television that viewers will never forget.
"Game of Thrones" is currently streaming on Max.