This article contains spoilers for Season 6 of Game of Thrones…

During Flickering Myth’s chat with DeObia Oparei about Independence Day: Resurgence, the actor’s previous role before the science fiction blockbuster came up: Areo Hotah in HBO’s fantasy drama Game of Thrones.

Despite being a narrative presence in the book, the character was somewhat sidelined for the television adaptation. And just the week before we spoke, Hotah had been unceremoniously killed off at the beginning of Season 6.

“Yeah, I was disappointed,” Oparei revealed. “I didn’t expect that. I kind of heard about it a few months before we started shooting season 6. And, of course, I’d read the books, and Areo is quite a presence in the books, so I was expecting that to follow through. But also I think it’s really difficult to bring a whole new clan in a story that’s five seasons in, it’s the biggest show on TV and how are you going to rival the rest of Westeros? How is Dorne going to rival Westeros? And how is Doran going to rival the Lannisters? So I kind of feel like it was a feat that storytellers weren’t able to meet – a difficult feat – and I was collateral damage.”

“But it’s a great show, and I’m really excited, and I love the fact I was an integral part of such a great show. Of course, it would’ve been nice to have had a great death. But I think the show wanted to hit the ground running with season six and just get that out the way. And I was a part of that. So it was unfortunate, but it doesn’t discolour my involvement. Those things do happen, so I expect that. My only thing would be that it would’ve been nice to go down with a great death. Maybe a nice head pop.”

Being written off a major television show must be like getting broken up with. The shoots are often years-long commitments, so The Talk must be a dreaded prospect.

“Yeah, it’s a bit like breaking up with someone,” Oparei recalled. “I was actually shooting Independence Day [Resurgence], so I was in New Mexico, so – to be honest with you – I stayed in denial. I wouldn’t even read the script. I didn’t bother reading it for a while. I kind of dug my head in the sand. It wasn’t literally until a week before I had to go to Spain, or wherever it was, to shoot it, that I opened up the script and went ‘oh nooooooo!’”

If Oparei’s anecdote is to be taken literally, that means the actor was only told about his character’s death upon reading the script.

We always knew they were coming back. After INDEPENDENCE DAY redefined the event movie genre, the next epic chapter delivers global spectacle on an unimaginable scale. Using recovered alien technology, the nations of Earth have collaborated on an immense defense program to protect the planet. But nothing can prepare us for the aliens’ advanced and unprecedented force. Only the ingenuity of a few brave men and women can bring our world back from the brink of extinction.

Independence Day: Resurgence is set for release on June 24th 2016, with Roland Emmerich directing returning stars Jeff Goldblum, Vivica A. Fox, Judd Hirsch, Brent Spiner and Bill Pullman alongside new additions Liam Hemsworth (The Hunger Games), Charlotte Gainsbourg (Nymphomaniac), Maika Monroe (It Follows), Sela Ward (The Day After Tomorrow), Joey King (Wish I Was Here), Jessie Usher (When The Game Stands Tall), Angelababy (Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon) and William Fichtner (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/playlists/197064794″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=false” width=”100%” height=”150″ iframe=”true” /]