Kristian Nairn "cried" when he found out his ‘Game of Thrones’ character Hodor’s fate in season six.
The 41-year-old actor portrayed the dumbstruck giant – who could only repeat his name – in the HBO fantasy series for 23 episodes until his alter-ego met his grizzly end being torn apart by the wights and though he was "satisfied" with the ending screenwriter George R. R. Martin gave him, it was still a "bittersweet" moment.
He exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "Truth be told, I cried. I totally appreciate the epic momentum that was created by Hodor’s death and I was actually satisfied to see how his character played out. It was a bittersweet moment though, since I realised my involvement in the show was coming to a close."
The Northern Irish star found his final few days working on the set both "emotionally" and "physically" draining.
Emotionally because he was saying bye to the cast who are all close friends and because of battling extreme winds during one of the scenes whilst trying to hold up a door being forced down by a group of people.
He said: "I remember it really clearly because it fell very close to my birthday. It was tough both physically and emotionally. I mean, physically, I was holding a door with 100 MPH winds blowing into my face, while pushing against a door with something like eight other people on the other side. Emotionally though it was especially tough, since I had grown quite close to the small group of cast members over the course of my time working on ‘Game of Thrones’. I’ve never been good at goodbye’s."
Kristian has decided to make his career focus being progressive house DJ and to continue his ‘Rave of Thrones’ tour.
He said: "I think I’ll put more focus on my DJ career, writing music and continuing touring with Rave of Thrones. I was a resident DJ in Belfast prior to working on Game of Thrones, but being a well-known cast-member of ‘Game of Thrones’ has really enabled me to play at bigger venues and reach more ears with my music. I’m happy to be gaining more recognition as a great DJ, and it’s something I hope to continue building in the future. "
Kristian was speaking as he helped launch SodaStream’s latest environmental video campaign also starring The Big Bang Theory’s Mayim Bialik.
See Mayim and Kristian as never before in SodaStream’s
The Homoschlepiens on YouTube.
Kristian Nairn ‘cried’ about Hodor’s fate in Game of Thrones
