'Game of Thrones' star Ellie Kendrick reveals what it's like to find out about a character death on set

ellie kendrick Game of Thrones Behind the Scenes event
ellie kendrick Game of Thrones Behind the Scenes event

(Ellie Kendrick at the "Game of Thrones: Behind the Scenes" event in New York City on Friday, November 18.Chris Snyder/Business Insider; HBO)

Ellie Kendrick knows firsthand what it's like to maintain the intense level of secrecy on the "Game of Thrones" set.

Kendrick โ€“ who plays Meera Reed, Bran Stark's traveling partner and protector on the HBO hit โ€“ said that watching the show can be just as surprising for her as it is for the fans.

"Itโ€™s super-duper difficult, even as an actor, to get ahold of a script," Kendrick told Business Insider at the "Game of Thrones: Behind the Scenes" event on Friday in New York City, in honor of the newly released season-six Blu-ray/DVD set.

"You have to go through all of these security processes before theyโ€™ll let you have them," Kendrick continued. "As an actor, you donโ€™t even see the stuff that youโ€™re not in some of the time. Theyโ€™re very careful about getting the scripts out there."

For example, Kendrick found out that Jon Snow would be returning to the series pretty much the same way the fans did.

"Iโ€™d seen Kit [Harington] in town, so I knew he was kind of back," Kendrick, who primarily shoots her scenes in Northern Ireland, said. "We all had to keep our mouths shut, but thatโ€™s part of the fun of being a part of this series."

That, of course, extends to character deaths, which the actors are typically in the dark about until it's pretty much upon them.

"Thereโ€™s an atmosphere of fear at times on the set," Kendrick said. "You never know. You never get told youโ€™re going to die. Any actor on โ€˜Game of Thronesโ€™ is lying if they say they donโ€™t do this. The first thing you do is skip through the script: โ€˜Do I die? Do I die?โ€™ So, yeah, itโ€™s all a surprise to us."

bran and meera game of thrones hbo
bran and meera game of thrones hbo

(Ellie Kendrick as Meera Reed and Isaac Hempstead Wright as Bran Stark on "Game of Thrones."Helen Sloan/HBO)

Death is pretty final on the show โ€” unless you're Jon Snow or Daenarys Targaryen, of course โ€” and the executive producers have taken advantage of the situation for a few laughs.

"The producers can be very cheeky with it," Kendrick said. "Theyโ€™ve even sometimes written in fake deaths. So the actors will sometimes read a death scene that they just get given. It happened to Alfie Allen. They gave him a fake scene that theyโ€™d written where he died. He was like, โ€œHuh [gasps], I die?โ€ They played a big trick on him, which was hilarious."

As for Meera's future on the show, you guessed it: Kendrick knows very little about her character's future.

"Iโ€™m genuinely not lying when I tell you I donโ€™t know," she said. "So itโ€™s as much as a surprise to me as it is for the people who are watching it. Iโ€™m yet to find out whatโ€™s going to happen to Meera. Fingers crossed, something good."

Additional reporting by Chris Snyder.

NOW WATCH: Here's what it's like keeping secrets on the set of 'Game of Thrones'



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