Game of Thrones star Liam Cunningham fought the series creators over making his character a ‘perv’

‘It’s the only thing I ever stood up to them on’

Liam Cunningham (right) says a romantic infatuation was proposed between his character, Davos, and Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel) (HBO)

Game of Thrones star Liam Cunningham has revealed that he pushed back against a proposed romantic infatuation between his character and Missandei of Naath.

Cunningham, who plays Ser Davos Seaworth, was roughly 56 years old at the time the characters came face to face (during Thrones’ seventh season) while Nathalie Emmanuel, who played Missandei, was 28.

The actor made the revelation as part of the new Games of Thrones oral history book, Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon.

“There’s a streak in [Thrones co-creator David Benioff] that’s wilful,” Cunningham said. “He likes to stir the s***. When we first meet Daenerys, Benioff and [director Mark Mylod] wanted Davos to have a crush on Missandei.

“I fought them,” he added. “I’m not f***ing doing it. It’s the only thing I ever stood up to them on. The woman is a goddess, but with Davos’s history with Lyanna Mormont and Shireen, you can’t have him getting the hots for a young woman.”

Cunningham said that he believed the plotline would undermine his character’s relationship as a mentor to Mormont and Shireen, who were both pre-teen girls.

According to the actor, he told the series’ showrunners: “You’re not undoing my hard work engendering the sympathy of the audience to have him be a perv.”

Cunningham played Davos for seven years on Game of Thrones, featuring in 42 of the series’ 73 episodes in total.

Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon is out in bookshops now.