“Game of Thrones” star Kit Harington has revealed that HBO’s hit fantasy series nearly stumbled out of the gate — with a pilot that had to be scrapped and completely re-shot.
“They made a lot of mistakes. It didn’t look right, didn’t feel right, had nothing different about it,” the actor told the British newspaper The Guardian.
For one thing, Harington’s much-beloved character, the bastard Jon Snow, appeared on screen clean-shaven and wearing a wig — far from the rugged appearance that won him widespread acclaim.
After poor reactions to the pilot, Harington said that show creators D.B. Weiss and David Benioff started from scratch to reshape the series, which is based on the best-selling fantasy series by author George R.R. Martin. And the actor grew out his hair and a scraggly beard more in keeping with what became the show’s gritter look.
Harington said that he had never seen the original pilot to the series, but that Weiss and Benioff have threatened to unearth it just to embarrass him.
“They say, if I ever piss them off too much, they’ll release it on YouTube,” he told the Guardian. “Every now and then, they send me a screengrab, just as a threat.”