How did that final scene change your understanding of Hodor?

It didn’t change it at all. Obviously it gave me the answers to the reality of the character, but it was very true to him and to, I hope, the way I played him. There was a lot of humanity there and I think he always had a lot of humanity. I think that’s exactly what Hodor would have wanted. Well, I don’t think he wanted to die. But I think he happily did.

Why do you think people are taking Hodor’s death so hard?

There’s no one else like Hodor on “Game of Thrones.” There’s no other character with that warmth, humanity and a little bit of comic relief. People are taking it badly. He’s just such a nice guy and it’s so rare on this show, and he didn’t deserve it. But that’s just “Game of Thrones” for you. I think it was set up earlier in the episode, Jaqen H’ghar asks Arya something like, “Does death only come for the wicked and leave good people behind?” Because Hodor is such a good person and he’s about to get slaughtered.

What was the final day like?



It was emotional, man. It was the day either before or after my birthday. It was a really heavy day — you’ve got these 100-mile-per-hour winds being blown into your face with false snow. I was really holding the door — there were like eight people pushing from the other side and I was really holding them back. It’s definitely Method acting [laughs]. It was a very intense day but one of the nice things was they let Isaac wrap me. He got to come over and say “Mr. Nairn, that’s a wrap.” It was very emotional. It’s always been a little group of us together and it felt like our little group was breaking up. And it’s sad!

How many different ways are there to say “Hodor”?



There’s infinite ways to say it, but it’s not all about the word, man. It’s about body language as well.

Do you have a favorite one?

My favorite one I think was back in Season 3 and Osha was complaining about, “Why do we always have to do the work? Why do we build the tent and light the fire while Bran talks to the Reeds?” And I just looked up at her and gave her this sort of “Why are you telling me this” Hodor. What do you want me to do about it? It was such an obscure “Hodor” but everyone got it. It was fantastic.

You have other shows and films coming up, as well as your music career. But have you made your peace with the fact that you’ll always be Hodor for many people?