Game of Thrones actor Liam Cunningham has praised the series’ controversial writers, who personally called him for the role of Ser Davos.
Actor Liam Cunningham has revealed that he was in negotiations for another project when the Game of Thrones writers came calling, and told him that he should turn down that role in favor of bringing Ser Davos Seaworth to life.
Cunningham was in talks for another show when GOT came calling
Liam Cunningham’s Ser Davos Seaworth was a fan-favorite character throughout Game of Thrones and whilst he recently expressed his desire to return to Westeros for the Jon Snow spin-off, his place in this franchise was almost a non-starter.
In a recent interview with Collider, Cunningham shared how “I was in serious talks for another project and obviously the boys [David Benioff and Dan Weiss, the Game of Thrones showrunners] found out about it.”
The two writers, who experienced a significant amount of backlash following the disastrous final season, even personally called Cunningham and demanded that he forget about this other project – a decision that was proven correct almost as soon as Ser Davos made his debut in season 2 episode 1.
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“I got a phone call from David and Dan, they just said, “You’re not doing that. You’re coming with us.” I didn’t even know what the project was, and I just said, “Yeah, okay. I’ll tell the other crowd no.”
The veteran actor admitted that the negotiations for this other project were still in the early stages and that “It could have been a day’s work on the other thing, but when those two call, you run to the clarion call.”
Interestingly, Cunningham actually auditioned for a different role than Ser Davos that would have seen him enter Westeros in season 1. Cunningham never revealed which role he initially went for as “it wouldn’t be fair to the other actor” but the consensus is that this may have been either Ned Stark or (more likely), Petyr ‘Littlefinger’ Baelish.
“They contacted me and said, ‘It’s dragons.’ And I said, ‘Stop right there.’ And they said, ‘It’s HBO.’ And I said, ‘Send me the script.’ I read the script, and the hair went up on the back of my neck. I ran back to my agent and said, ‘Get me in there immediately.'”
Cunningham had only just been in the Game of Thrones spotlight for sharing his interest in re-joining the franchise alongside Kit Harrington for the Jon Snow spin-off series. Cunningham appeared in 42 episodes of Game of Thrones and would land as the eighth ‘Best Character’ in a poll run by Ranker.
Cunningham returns in The Three-Body Problem alongside GOT writers
Liam Cunningham recently featured in The Last Voyage of the Demeter as Captain Elliot and will reunite with his Game of Thrones showrunners, David Benioff and Dan Weiss, on The Three-Body Problem, set to premiere on Netflix in January 2024.
Cunningham was full of praise for both Benioff and Weiss when it came to the upcoming adaptation, sharing how the duo are particularly well-suited for the film because of their writing style.
“It’s always the quality of the writing, and these guys, it’s some of the best writing I’ve ever come across in my life. And this is also saying I spent a year and a half with the Royal Shakespeare Company. I’ve done Shakespeare on stage. These boys are absolutely extraordinary, the words they put in an actor’s mouth.”
Cunningham also revealed to Variety how his character in The Three-Body Problem, Thomas Wade, is “an extraordinary individual” but acknowledged that “it’s been a long time since I’ve played anything close to this guy.”
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“I suppose the irony is what they [Benioff and Weiss] wanted me to do was nothing like what they wanted me to do in Game of Thrones. He [Ser Davos Seaworth] was seen as a soft moral compass kind of character in Game of Thrones — that’s not Wade. He’s going to be a bit of a shock for people who think I play one kind of character, shall we say? He’s a bit of a handful is Mr. Wade.”
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