It’s been a big year when it comes to Game of Thrones spin-offs, with A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms launching to positive reviews at the very start of the year and House of the Dragon returning for its epic third instalment over the summer.
Of course, there are still several other spin-offs planned for the future as well, with a film titled Aegon’s Conquest recently confirming a June 2029 release date and a number of other shows in various stages of development.
One potential spin-off which has been mooted at several points over the years is a spin-off focusing on Jon Snow after the events of the main series – following him now living in exile beyond the Wall.
Although previous plans for such a show had been scrapped after a few years of development, Kit Harrington recently revived hopes by claiming that he’d still be open to reprising his role at some point in the future.
So when Radio Times spoke exclusively to Samwell Tarly star John Bradley about his new festive film Merry Christmas Aubrey Flint, we asked if he’d also be up for returning to his character if the opportunity ever did arise.
“I think it all depends on the script and what the treatment of that character would be,” was his response. “When I think about Samwell, I just feel I can’t do it anymore. Like I don’t know what the voice is, and I don’t know what the mannerisms are.
“So it’d be of no interest if I was to go back and play that character in the place that we left him. But if you could revisit that character and have a new experience of them and see that he’s changed and see the way how he adapts to different situations, then of course because you’re extending the biography of the character that you know.”
He added: “But it has to be really worth playing and really add something to the history of that character that was totally new and totally unexpected for me to have an interest in it.”
It’s been more than seven years since Game of Thrones wrapped up the main series in highly divisive fashion, but the spin-offs have ensured that Westeros is still very much in the public consciousness.
So what of Bradley? Has he been keeping up with House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, or is the whole franchise in the past for him?
“I think I will [watch them] one day,” he answered when the question was put to him. “I haven’t yet, just because I do have a bit of a strange relationship with it now. It feels like so long ago but at the same time it’s not allowed to be a long time ago because people talk about it all the time.
“So it’s a bit like I need to get a certain amount of distance from it before I can see it for what it is. And part of that is opening myself out to all the other spin-offs.”
Interestingly, Bradley revealed that he had recently attended his first fan convention in many years – something he’d avoided for a while because he hadn’t felt ready to revisit Game of Thrones just yet.
And it sounded like it was very much a worthwhile experience for him.
“When you see what that world and those characters still mean to people, there’s something about it which I am becoming more accepting of it,” he said.
“And yeah, the success of those spin-off shows is just a testament to how people aren’t ready to give up that world yet, and long may it continue!”
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