"Game of Thrones" Facts You May Not Know"
2 of 25
3 of 25The guy who plays Ramsay was the runner-up for Jon Snow.
Iwan Rheon now plays the villain Ramsay Snow Bolton, but he was almost the hero of the story.
The actor told the Telegraph, "I auditioned for the pilot of 'Game of Thrones' and was down to the last two for Jon Snow." He obviously didn't get the role that went to Kit Harington, but when he was eventually cast as Ramsay, the producers just gave him the character of "Boy" so as to avoid spoilers about who he was really playing. "I wasn’t allowed to talk to anyone about it from the beginning of filming to the broadcast of the end of Season 3. I was supposed to say to everyone, 'Oh, my character is Boy,' which was really embarrassing."
4 of 25
The Lannisters would've loved the original theme song.
Co-showrunner David Benioff reportedly wanted the HBO show's theme song to be the House Lannister song, "The Rains of Castamere," immortalizing Twyin Lannister's destruction of House Reyne. But co-showrunner D.B. Weiss convinced him not to do it. However, "The Rains of Castamere" has gotten a workout on the show, with characters referencing and playing the song, and it has also been featured over the end credits.
5 of 25
The author had a cameo in the unaired pilot.
George R.R. Martin had a Hitchcock-like cameo in the pilot that never saw the light of day. The whole pilot was reshot, with many recastings, including Michelle Fairley replacing Jennifer Ehle as Catelyn Stark and Emilia Clarke taking on the role of Dany, who was originally played by Tamzin Merchant. Author George R.R. Martin shot a scene with Merchant. But when it was cut, his only appearance in the series was cut with it.
As he explained in a web chat, "Actually, I made a cameo in the original pilot, which was filmed in Morocco. I was a Pentoshi nobleman and one of the guests at Dany's wedding to Khal Drogo. However, subsequently we recast the part of Dany. So, the entire Morocco wedding sequence was cut, and my brilliant cameo was left on the cutting room floor."
6 of 25
There are a lot of little Khaleesis out there.
Khaleesi is actually a title: It's the Dothraki version of queen, but fans have embraced it as a name for their baby girls. According to a Social Security Administration list of baby names in 2014, Khaleesi was the 755th most popular baby name for girls. In 2013, it was the 1,021st most popular baby. So, it's only getting more popular over time.
7 of 25
Joffrey was modeled after Caligula.
King Joffrey Baratheon, arguably the most hated character in the show (at least until the rise of Ramsay), was reportedly modeled after Roman emperor Caligula, who was cruel, sadistic, tyrannical, and sexually perverse. A Redditor noticed the physical resemblance between Joffrey and Caligula, which is Latin for "Little Boot."
8 of 25
The Red Woman was almost the Lion Queen.
We get so used to seeing certain actors as their characters that it's hard to imagine anyone else in the role. But Carice van Houten told Vulture she was originally up for Lena Headey's role of Cersei Lannister. "I thought the queen would be a great part," van Houten said. "They asked me to audition, but I couldn't do it, because I was shooting something else. I think it was Intruders, with Clive Owen, and there was no way."
10 of 25
Sophie Turner adopted "Lady."
Sansa Stark bonded quickly with Lady, her ill-fated direwolf, and Sophie Turner has a similar bond with Zunni, who played Lady in Season 1 and then joined the actress's family. As Turner told her hometown newspaper, the Coventry Telegraph, "Growing up I always wanted a dog, but my parents never wanted one. We kind of fell in love with my character’s direwolf, Lady, on set. We knew Lady died and they wanted to re-home [Zunni]. My mum persuaded them to let us adopt her."
