33 Secrets I Learned By Getting To Know The Game Of Thrones Cast

Many actors haven't read the books.

1. Many members of the cast haven't read the books.

HBO

Among them are Jonathan Pryce (High Sparrow), Liam Cunningham (Ser Davos), and Carice van Houten (Melisandre).

2. But others have, and they're fans.

HBO

Ellie Kendrick (who plays Meera Reed) read the books even before starting on the series.

3. Despite that, Ellie is excited there isn't a book the new season's based on.

HBO

''We're thrilled to step into the unknown, the exciting part is that no one knows what's gonna happen now, let alone the actors.''

4. Though others think they should be nervous about this, among them Maisie Williams.

Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images

''I wasn't nervous while I was reading the script, though I should have been. I forgot anything can happen now. I'd been relaxed, saying to myself, 'Well, Arya's alive in the books, I shouldn't worry.' I was forgetting everything's at risk now.''

5. And talking about books, some people in the cast haven't met George R. R. Martin (the creator of the books) in person.

Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images

Jonathan doesn't know him and Dean-Charles Chapman (Tommen Baratheon) met him once.

6. Speaking of Tommen, Dean-Charles left school when he was 10.

HBO

He's a Baratheon and a Lannister, of course he can do it.

7. Jonathan Pryce was offered a role in the first season.

HBO

''The irony is I was offered a role for the first season and I got very nervous when I was told what it was. It wasn't the kind of thing I would like to see, I remember skimming through the script and seeing a lot of strange names, so I decided to pass. Then the series became a huge success and I was offered another role. I read the script carefully and I felt attracted to the character.''

8. He also drew inspiration for the character from Pope Francis.

Lisa Maree Williams / Getty Images/ Scott Wintrow / Getty Images

For real.

9. Isaac Hempstead Wright (Bran) didn't watch the fifth season.

Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images

Neither did Ellie Kendrick, because she didn't have the time and, like many, she prefers to binge-watch an entire season.

10. But, thanks to Bran, we'll discover a lot about Westeros' past on this new season.

HBO

Bran will learn to control his power to see through time and, according to Isaac and Ellie, will reveal a lot of events from the past.

11. The picture of Bran is part of a vision, it's not like he's regained his ability to walk.

HBO

Isaac said ''It's a really funny story, I was talking to someone about it. I said, I think when HBO published this picture they said, ''This is Bran in a vision'' and people were like: 'He's standing!... Maybe it's a vision.' And yeah, it's a vision.''

12. On some occasions, while filming the sixth season, the actors didn't get the scripts until the very day of the of the shooting.

HBO

According to Jonathan, ''The reading of the script was very interesting because we didn't get the scripts until that very morning. So you plunge right into it and you got quite a few surprises then.''

13. Similarly, they had no idea what was going to happen with their characters throughout the season.

HBO

14. Arya's blindness will be a challenge for the character this new season.

HBO

According to Maise Williams, ''We didn't see a lot of Arya after what happened, but we'll see how hard it is for her at the beginning of this season. [Her sight] was her main weapon, something she had her whole life and now it was taken away from her. It's the harshest way to teach her to use her other senses.''

15. Maisie Williams was partially ''blind'' during the shooting of the sixth season.

HBO

''When I wear the fake contact lenses I can't see a thing. I let my eyes go out of focus, because I couldn't focus on anything, and I hope for the best."

16. Worse things are coming... for Arya.

Chris Jackson / Getty Images

"A lot of bad stuff happens this series; it's a very tough one for her. This year, we definitely see a crack in her strong exterior, we see her get totally broken down, totally stripped back. I think it's the first time you really question whether she's going to get back up again.''

17. Ser Davos, Stannis and Melisandre get along great in real life.

Kevin Winter / Getty Images

According to Liam Cunningham (Ser Davos), ''We three were a great team, we laughed a lot and we referred to ourselves as Mel, Stan and Dave.''

18. Carice van Houten was constantly getting death threats.

HBO

''Yep, die, die, bitch, die, die. All the time.''

19. Until Jon Snow died.

HBO

''That was in the Shireen episode, but then when Jon Snow died they'd say: 'We'll forgive you if you bring Jon Snow back to life.'''

20. Carice takes advantage of this to epically troll the fans.

Twitter: @caricevhouten

''I like to post a picture of a fire. It could be anywhere, it could be in my backyard. People go crazy, I love to tease them. The other day I posted something on instagram. I was just having a walk with my dad in the middle of nowhere in Holland and it was a windy day and I took a selfie. My dad was in the background – blurry with his hood on and people were like, 'That's Jon Snow'. But I'm like, 'That's my dad, he's 63 years old' lol, leave him alone."

21. Carice was also asked to audition for the Cersei role in the first season.

HBO

But she couldn't make it and came back for the second season as Melisandre.

22. This season will see Theon again and not Reek.

HBO

23. People are obsessed with the Podrik brothel scene in the third season.

HBO

According to Daniel Portman (Podrick), he's got a lot of different reactions, ''People are obsessed over that scene. It goes from being bombarded with questions to being groped or cornered as I go out of the toilet. This is what people are interested in and I find it quite entertaining.''

24. Daniel would rather fight against The Mountain with an armor than against Brienne bare-handed.

HBO

''I'd lose against any of the two, but if I had to choose, I think I'd go with The Mountain on the off chance I could beat him and get some hype around me.''

25. For some members of the cast, the fifth and sixth season felt like another series.

Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images

Hannah Murray (Gilly) said, ''Sometimes it felt like a whole different show because a lot of new things were happened and we were spending time with characters the audience didn't know. It was very exciting.''

26. And some actors don't know what will happen with other characters' stories during the new season.

Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images

John Bradley (Sam Tarly) said, ''If you don't know at all what's going to happen, especially now without the books, you can stand back from the story of other characters and enjoy it as part of the audience.''

27. Tom Wlaschiha (Jaqen H'ghar) didn't know he was going to be back in the series.

HBO

He knew a couple of months before the fifth season started shooting. He'd been told it was possible during his last appearance, but he wasn't sure.

28. Iwan Rheon has had some sleepless nights due to some of Ramsay's scenes.

HBO

''He does horrible things, some nights I sleep very poorly before a scene, just because of how horrible it is.''

29. Besides playing Ramsay, Iwan is a musician.

Touch Tones Music Ltd

He released his first album in 2015 and is planning a second one and going on a tour. You can listen to one of his singles here.

30. According to Michael McElhatton (Roose Bolton), the worst thing the Boltons have done offscreen is...

HBO

''Probably torture, it's even a matter of family honor. To cut and torture people while they're alive. Can you think of anything worse than that?''

31. During the shooting of the sixth season, they had several incidents with outside drones trying to get pictures.

HBO

Iwan said, ''People want to know what's going to happen, but it's a shame because they can spoil it for the fans who want to be surprised.''

32. According to Iwan, the Boltons scene on the hill was the hardest he's shot.

HBO

''I'd never experienced such a chill, no matter how much you've prepared for the scene, the wind blew so cold it froze your mouth and you couldn't speak.''

33. And while many get along great, not everyone in the cast knows each other.

Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images

The problems of being such a large cast ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.