'Game of Thrones': Isaac Hempstead Wright Thought Bran Was Headed for a Different Fate (Exclusive)
WARNING: Spoilers Ahead! Do not proceed if you haven't watched Sunday's series finale of "Game of Thrones."
Isaac Hempstead Wright thought Bran Stark was destined to be a different king on Game of Thrones.
Sunday's series finale of the HBO drama saw Hempstead Wright's character take his place on the Iron Throne (or what's left of it, anyway), after his brother/cousin, Jon Snow, shockingly stabbed and killed Daenerys Targaryen after her brutal destruction of King's Landing.
As Bran Stark, the character wasn't too jazzed about ruling over the six kingdoms (Sansa managed to make the North free, afterall), but as the Three-Eyed Raven, he knew it was going to happen. "Why do you think I came all this way?" he asked Tyrion Lannister, after he made a case for the new king.
During an interview with ET's Leanne Aguilera ahead of Game of Thrones' final season premiere, Hempstead Wright admitted he thought his character would more likely become the Night King, as a popular fan theory laid out.
"I thought I was going down the Night King route," he confessed, adding that he had "no idea what was going to happen with Bran" until he received the script.
In fact, the 20-year-old actor thought there was a possibility he'd be killed off the show in season five -- when his character notably didn't make an appearance all season long.
"I remember when I had a year off in season five, I got up in the morning and I was told, '[Game of Thrones showrunners] David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss] are gonna speak to you later.' I thought, 'This is me. I'm gone!'" he confessed. "So, when they said, 'Take a season off,' I said, 'That's fine!'"
Three seasons later, Hempstead Wright couldn't believe how things turned out for Bran the Broken.
"I remember when I read the final episode, I got up and actually genuinely had to pace around my flat for a bit. That was just because my legs hurt. Nothing to do with the script," he cracked.
In all seriousness, the actor, who was just a child when he won the role of Bran Stark 10 years ago, was scared to even tell his family about Game of Thrones' big ending. "I told my mum. I didn't want to do it over the phone, because I was too afraid of like, wire-tapping. I've never written down anything about it," he said.
And while the lords and ladies of the six kingdoms all agreed that Bran was the right man to be king, Hempstead Wright thought it was another character who was deserving of the job (and it just might make you cry).
"Hodor," he insisted.
"Yeah," Hempstead Wright added, acknowledging the character's heartbreaking season six death made him ineligible for the job. "But he could still deserve it."
See more on Game of Thrones in the video below.
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