'Game of Thrones' Star Nathalie Emmanuel Defends Showrunners After Final Season Backlash (Exclusive)
Nathalie Emmanuel has nothing but love for Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss amid backlash to the show's final season. In fact, the actress is so impressed by what the pair accomplished with the series that she's hoping to collaborate with them again.
"If they want to cast me in Star Wars, I will be totally fine with that. Absolutely," she told ET while promoting her upcoming Hulu series, Four Weddings and a Funeral, at the Television Critics Association summer press tour in Beverly Hills, California, on Friday.
Benioff and Weiss signed on last year to write and produce a new series of Star Wars films, separate from the Skywalker saga.
"They're awesome. I love those guys. They're really good guys, and very talented writers, and I feel very privileged to have worked with them," Emmanuel said. "They're really good men, and I definitely feel kind of sad that this whole chapter is over. I'm so excited to see them fly, because they did something that is damn near impossible, and they made the whole world fall in love with their show."
Not everybody was in love with GoT's final season, however. Seemingly out-of-nowhere character twists, unresolved storylines and shocking character deaths -- including that of Emmanuel's Missandei -- enraged some viewers enough to create a petition demanding HBO remake season eight.
"In light of the reaction to the end of the season, which, by the way, I think most people I know enjoyed it -- I think it's easy to focus on the negative, and I think people forget what those two did," Emmanuel said of Weiss and Benioff.
"And obviously the whole writing team and everyone responsible and involved, but I think people forget that... they literally made us hang onto their every word for 10 years," she added. "And to me, that makes them legends."
During HBO's TCA presentation on Wednesday, network president Casey Bloys shared that the network was unfazed by fan backlash to Thrones and said that it would not affect their approach to the upcoming prequel series.
"There are very, very few downsides to having a hugely popular show, but one I can think of is when you try to end it, many people have big opinions on how it should end and how they should see these characters' stories come to an end," Bloys said at the time. "I think it just comes with the territory. The petition shows a lot of enthusiasm and passion for the show, but it wasn't something we seriously considered."
There are currently three GoT prequel projects in the works at HBO. Two are in development, and one pilot, starring Naomi Watts, has finished filming.
See more on Game of Thrones in the video below.
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