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Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Addresses Game of Thrones Backlash: "We Worked Our Asses Off"

Game of Thrones [1] might officially be over, but I am not done talking about it, and neither is Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, aka the Kingslayer, Jaime Lannister. While some fans were less than satisfied with the series' final season [2], Coster-Waldau addressed the backlash on Sunday during a panel at Con of Thrones (a Game of Thrones fan convention) in Nashville, USA.

"Every season has been intense in terms of the attention and discussion, but it was extraordinarily intense for a final season," Coster-Waldau said of season eight. "And we have this WhatsApp group — the actors — and I saw some people getting a little upset because some of the [criticism] stuff is vicious. If you guys [fans] get really angry about something ― I'm sure you did, some of you ― you write to each other and go, 'F*cking assh*les. This is so not what would happen! They ruined — they butchered George's world!' It's just fun for you, but of course some [actors] got a little upset."

Following the debut of the series' finale [3], fans were vocal on social media about their disappointment with the show, which was disheartening to Coster-Waldau and many of his Thrones costars. "There was that kind of weird feeling of, 'What the hell? We worked so hard,'" the actor said. "I'm not asking anyone to feel sorry, by the way. That's not what I'm saying. I'm just saying how it was to get through that whole thing."

But Coster-Waldau didn't just stand up for his fellow costars. He also spoke up about the criticisms posed against the show's writers, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, who were largely blamed by disappointed fans for the season's controversial ending. "For anyone to imagine or to think that the two creators of the show are not the most passionate, the greatest, the most invested of all, and to, for a second, think that they didn't spend the last ten years thinking about how they were going to end it is kind of silly," Coster-Waldau said. "And also know that they too read the comments . . . Like everyone on Game of Thrones, every single one — and there are thousands — we worked our asses off to make the best show we could for the ending."

Later in the panel, one fan praised the final season, and Coster-Waldau was relieved to hear the fan's positive words. "I just wish Dan and David could be here to hear this, to understand that people really love the show, that suddenly they're not the most hated people in the world. I mean, because that's how they might ― I know how they feel."


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https://www.popsugar.co.uk/entertainment/Nikolaj-Coster-Waldau-Talks-Game-Thrones-Criticism-2019-46382054