Ser Jorah actor Iain Glen on what Daenerys whispered to him on 'Game of Thrones'
Daenerys Targaryen walked up to the body of her oldest living friend, advisor, and confidant, Ser Jorah Mormont.
She leaned down to his ear … and whispered.
EW was on the set of Game of Thrones when the season 8, episode 4 funeral scene was shot outside the Winterfell gates. Ser Jorah actor Iain Glen laid on the pyre, motionless, a slab of thick glass covertly placed under him so that flames could turn on below him without harming the actor. Clarke walked up and tearfully whispered in his ear. Neither actor wore microphones and the rest of the cast and crew were out of earshot.
Afterward, I spoke to the Ser Jorah actor about the moment. Whatever was said by Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) was not in the script. In the stage directions, there’s a line that goes something like this: “Daenerys whispers something to him that he’ll never hear and we’ll never know…” So it was left up to Clarke to write her own lines for this very special and intimate moment.
Given that the entire point of the scene is that the audience is not supposed to know, Glen wasn’t about to blurt out to EW whatever Daenerys said. So we tried to simply get a sense of what kind of statement she made: Did Clarke say something sincere? Was it in character? Was it funny?
“It’s something entirely sincere and true to the moment and something that I’ll never forget,” Glen says.
We then pointed out that fans are likely going to ask Glen what Daenerys whispered to him for years, and that this is merely the first time he’s getting that question. Is the actor prepared for that?
“Yeah, but you know what?” Glen says. “I’ll always cherish it because it’s something no one will ever know but the two of us. And that’s a memory to hold onto.”
Glen’s character was introduced in the Game of Thrones pilot and survived nearly the entire series. Ser Jorah was killed protecting Daenerys in the previous episode, “The Long Night.” For more, read our postmortem interview with Glen from last week where he talks about the battle, his final moments, leaving the show, and his all-time favorite Ser Jorah scenes.
More Episode 4 coverage:
— Gwendoline Christie on Brienne’s Game of Thrones heartbreak: ‘I was so upset’
— Game of Thrones recap in progress: Mistakes, tragedy, and fury
— Game of Thrones actress Nathalie Emmanuel on that shocking Missandei scene
— Game of Thrones trailer for season 8, episode 5 teases a King’s Landing battle
