For those among us who still feel personally slighted that season 7 of Game Of Thrones is going to be shorter, maybe this will make up for it: Entertainment Weekly reports that the actors are getting more screen time. Although it may not make mathematical sense, stars like Emilia Clarke and Peter Dinklage found this season took much longer to film because they had more lines and much more screen time.
"When I first read this season I thought: 'Damn, I gotta learn some lines!'" Clarke, who plays Daenerys, told the magazine. "We’re actually filming longer now. I don’t know how that’s happening."
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Dinklage, who plays Tyrion, had the same takeaway. "I’ve worked more days this season than I have in quite some time," he said.
According to showrunner Dan Weiss, there's an explanation.
"You kill a couple dozen characters, the people who are left by default need to carry more dramatic weight," he told EW.
It's apparently also thanks to the fact that characters who had separate stories are finally coming together.
"As the worlds start to converge the characters who haven’t met each other before start to meet each other and there are more main characters together in each other’s storylines than ever before," Weiss added. "Ever since Tyrion crossed the Narrow Sea and met Dany that’s been the general direction. And having them on set together is a real privilege for us."
On that note, Carice van Houten, who plays the mysterious Melisandre, has some words of warning about what's ahead in these seven episodes.
"War has really started," she revealed to the magazine. "We all know there’s no escape. How are we going to run away from what’s coming? Everyone is going to get trapped"
Winter may be coming, but according to van Houten, "The heat is on."