Game of Thrones’ Podrick actor reveals he lied about reading the books and still hasn’t

‘I was young, I was a people pleaser,’ Daniel Portman explained

Daniel Portman came clean to Game of Thrones fans during the show’s recent fan convention in Los Angeles, California.

Portman played Ser Podrick Payne across seven seasons of the HBO drama based on the book series created by George R R Martin.

During an interview at the convention, shared by The Official Game of Thrones Podcast: House of the Dragon, Portman revealed that he used to lie about reading the books when, in fact, he never did and still hasn’t.

“I used to lie about this,” Portman said. “I used to say, ‘Well, I did [start reading the books] but then there wasn’t enough time’ – Nah. No. I didn’t and still haven’t.”

He explained: “I was young, I was a people pleaser. Now, I’m jaded and... yeah, you live and you learn.”

Podcast host Greta Johnsen added that there were a lot of “intense” questions directed at the star about his “sex god status”.

Daniel Portman stars as Podrick Payne in ‘Game of Thrones’ (HBO/Helen Sloan)

Back in 2019, Portman revealed he was sexually assaulted by fans of the show.

The actor told Esquire: “I don’t want to say [being groped] comes with the territory, but, you know, people are crazy about it. It’s certainly not cool.”

He added: “What can you do? You know? Obviously, tell them not to do it. It hasn’t happened for a while. In this day and age, you’d think that people would be able to separate reality from fiction.”

In the show, his character sleeps with prostitutes, only to have payment refused due to his sexual skills.

“I’ve been grabbed by so many… like the amount of like older, older women who are very...” he added, while making a grabbing gesture.