According to Grey Worm, learning to smile during “Game of Thrones” was the hardest thing in Season 7

With the final season of Game of Thrones at least a year away, we have a lot of time reflect on the epic madness of Season 7 and theorize which of our favorite surviving characters will survive the war against the army of the dead and who will sit on the Iron Throne. Naturally, we’re going to need to relive the magic of Season 7 to do this and luckily it’s now out on DVD and Blu-Ray.

To celebrate the release of Game of Thrones: The Complete Seventh Season on DVD and Blu-Ray, HelloGiggles jumped on the phone with Jacob Anderson, who plays Grey Worm. We learned why the Unsullied make the best boyfriends, how surprising it is that Grey Worm is still alive — for now — and why Team Targaryen is the best.

HelloGiggles: Since your debut on the show, Grey Worm has been very much a man of few words. What was it like being able to be expressive?

Jacob Anderson: I’ve really enjoyed the journey that Grey Worm has gone through [to become] more and more human and articulate his feelings. I feel like he’s a listener, like he’s paying attention.  He’s very observant. To see that come to fruition a little bit more was really fun. I feel like it started as well when Tyrion and Missandei and Grey Worm were sort of having to work together. And they got drunk and told jokes that sort of smiling thing was really hard. It was one of the most challenging bits of acting I’ve ever had to do, like smiling. This character just doesn’t have a smile. So last year was really nice to sort of see more of a combination of him confronting his feelings towards Missandei and also, I think just being in a new place like Westeros and having to deal with a completely new type of foe at Casterly Rock. The Lannisters are like a real thing now rather than them just being a name that gets mentioned every now and then. 

HG: During Season 7, you and Nathalie Emmanuel were at the center of one of the most talked about scenes — your sex scene. Having worked with her for a few years now what was that like to shoot?

JA: It was really weird because me and Nathalie are friends and you just don’t want to have to do that [type of scene with a friend].  Sex scenes are really awkward. But you especially don’t want to have to be naked with your friends. We rehearsed it like obviously clothed. We rehearsed it with the director and David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss] a few weeks before and just sort of went through it beat by beat. That scene is so much about how they’re feeling. It’s so much about the scene that precedes them actually having sex. There’s nothing about themselves sort of gratuitous or over the top. When we actually got to filming it, the actual being naked and stuff was really weird and awkward but because we understood why it was happening, because it’s such a big moment for those characters. It didn’t at any point feel unjustified or anything. I don’t want to speak for Nathalie, but I think we were both really happy with how it turned out. [Director] Mark Mylod was just a proper gent and really supportive of us and we supported each other through it.

HG: Were you surprised that Grey Worm has made it to the final season? Was there ever a moment in your time on the show in previous seasons where you thought for sure that you were gone?

JA: I mean, I don’t know for sure that he has made it to the final season or not. But I always think, I’ve thought since the day I started that I was going to be gone, straight away. I constantly think I’m going to be fired or killed off. It’s always quite a pleasant surprise to know that I’ve made it. There’s been a few close calls as well. That’s the other thing, he’s not had it easy. He’s managed to cheat death more than once which is not very common in this show. 

HG: Speaking of which, it really looked liked Grey Worm was doomed after Euron Greyjoy destroyed the fleet at Casterly Rock. It seemed like they were all just headed to slaughter. How did Grey Worm survive that?

JA: I think they walked back. I mean that’s a really boring concept. I think they just had to walk for three weeks without any big, if any army is able to survive with three weeks without food it’s the Unsullied. I don’t think any other army would have withstood that…. I think they just walked straight to King’s Landing. They probably got there early actually. The Unsullied are so like, the thing is they’ve just been the most chill group of people. They’d be great to be in a relationship with because they’d just be like, “Yeah, whatever, it’s cool.”

HG: Very go with the flow.

JA: Yeah, they’re just like [okay]. See the thing is about Grey Worm, [he] is so loyal to Dany that if she was like, “Wait here forever,” I think he probably would.

HG: Right. He is so loyal to Dany, but with Jon’s big parental reveal, could he now be loyal to Jon?

JA: I mean, who knows? I personally feel that Grey Worm is loyal to [Dany]. I mean Dany freed him and also she’s given him the kind of respect and a voice to allow him to recover from all the trauma he’s experienced his whole life. Grey Worm is loyal. I feel like he and Missandei are not really like a lot of the other characters in the show who shift loyalties. I think he’s ride or die. He’s ride or die for Dany.

HG: This season finally saw the Unsullied and the Dothraki take on the Lannister men and these Westerosi soldiers. How do you think they [would] fare against the Army of the Dead?

JA: Ooh, [that is] hard to say really. Hard to say how anybody could fare against the Army of the Dead. They’re such an unknown quantity. There very mysterious. But, again the Unsullied are the greatest army in the world. So, if anybody’s got a shot against them, I guess it’s [the Unsullied]. There’s so little that we know about the Army of the Dead. Like, we don’t necessarily know what they’ve got up their sleeves or if that will even ever happen.

HG: You’ve spent the majority of your time filming with Nathalie, Emilia Clarke, and Peter Dinklage. What’s it been like with them on set?

JA: Oh, we have the most fun. I’m kind of like I feel like we’re the best. Team Targaryen is the best. It’s just a really, it feels like a sort of little family now. I look forward to, I always look forward to being with them. Conleth Hill and Peter Dinklage are just almost impossible to work with because they are very funny. They know they’re very funny and they’ll try and ruin [scenes], they’ll try and make you laugh during a take. And Emilia and Nathalie are super silly as well and just, I think we’re a group of people that all really love being here. We all love coming to work everyday so we kind of allow ourselves to have fun with it and not let it get too serious.

Although in my case sometimes I think I need a bit more focus given that my character is so focused. I’m the opposite. I’m so easily distracted. I’m basically like a kid. I’m like a kid or a newborn puppy. I get so excited by bits of set. Or I find, I found a megaphone once on set. When we were in, when we first got to Dragonstone beach I found a megaphone and I was singing songs and dancing and trying to get everybody to join in, but nobody really did. So, I could probably do with a bit more focus.

Game of Thrones Season 7 is now out on DVD and Blu-ray.