Westworld Creators Explain That Surprise Game of Thrones Cameo

Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss had a surprise cameo in yesterday's (Mar 23) episode of Westworld — along with Drogon the dragon.

In 'The Winter Line' episode, the two writers appeared as techs in a facility where bloodied hosts in armour — including one looking like Rory McCann's GoT alter ego The Hound — were waiting to be repaired, with the dragon sleeping nearby, as Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) and Stubbs (Luke Hemsworth) walked past.

Sorry to barge in: Luke Hemsworth and Jeffrey Wright in a scene from 'The Winter Line' episode where 'Westworld' meets 'Game of Thrones'.

Westworld co-creators and executive producers Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy explained they were keen to pay "homage" to Game of Thrones because it "reinvented the medium" of television.

Joy said: "Well, we're friends with Dan and Dave. And we're fans of their work and we just wanted them. You know, George R R Martin always joked there should be a crossover between Westworld and Game of Thrones and, while that seems untenable, we knew we could do a little Easter egg with our pals — so we brought them on and they did a good job!

Nolan added: "I mean, we're really doing this show because what they did for television with Game of Thrones. They reinvented the medium.

"We couldn't be doing what we're doing if they hadn't made that show, so [this was] a little homage to them. And, as Lisa said, they've been great friends, very supportive and it was lovely having them on our set."

The Westworld ensemble was delighted to have the GoT folks on the show as well. Thandie Newton, who plays Maeve, told Entertainment Tonight: "I was on set, but not participating.

"But yeah, they were sweet. They were sweet! It was like they were geeking out, you know? They got to be in one of their favorite shows, and Jonah and Lisa really admire their show, and it's an HBO family — so yeah, it was really cute."

But while Weiss and Benioff were excited about being on Westworld, a number of the show's cast hadn't even seen Game of Thrones before.

Tessa Thompson admitted: "Okay, so I was really embarrassed because I've never seen Game of Thrones!

"So they were on set and I was like, 'Cool. I've never seen your show. I hear it's great!' They were lovely and they made me want to watch the show all the more, so I will finally watch 'Game of Thrones' at some point in my life."

And Luke Hemsworth didn't even notice the pair on set, despite being in the scene with them.

He said: "You know what? I don't remember them being there. So either I was really in the moment or they weren't there.

"There was definitely no dragon there!

"Pretty sure it was just a silver ball or a puppet or something, but yeah, that's awesome. Let's bring more of that! This is the Big Little Lies world and this is the Barry world." — BANG

Westworld 3 airs Mon, HBO (Singtel, TV Ch & StarHub Ch 601), 9pm, same day as the US; it's also on HBO Go. Download the HBO Go app at App Store or Play Store and get a 7-day free trial or access HBO Go via StarHub, SingTel and meWATCH.