Many “Game of Thrones” fans already know that David Benioff and D.B. Weiss infamously scrapped the original pilot. They had to make significant changes due to the poor reception, including one major casting change. An up-and-coming young actor named Tamzin Merchant played Daenerys Targaryen in the original pilot, but Emilia Clarke replaced her. So, why did Clarke take over the star-making role from Merchant? Here’s what we know.
Nobody Knew What They Were Doing in the Original ‘Game of Thrones’ Pilot
Benioff and Weiss were first-time showrunners who struggled for four years to get “Game of Thrones” on the air. According to Entertainment Weekly, the duo went through an endless number of meetings and negotiations, plus countless rewrites and hiring decisions.Â
Weiss remembers it as a “frightening time” because they had never run a production of any scale before.
“And there are many, many moving parts, human and otherwise, that go into any production, especially one of this size,” Weiss explained.
While shooting the original pilot, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister) said that “nobody knew what they were doing or what the hell this was.” That included Merchant as the original Daenerys. In a 2021 interview, she said that her removal from the cast came down to a lack of passion.
Tamzin Merchant Knew Something Was Off
Merchant recalled shooting the wedding night scene between Daenerys and Khal Drogo (Jason Mamoa), and knowing right away that something wasn’t quite right. She had her doubts about filming the sex scene, and she admits she should have trusted her instincts.
“Shooting that pilot was a really great lesson. It was an affirmation about listening to my instincts and following them, because I tried to back out of that situation and, during the contract process, I did back out,” Merchant explained.
“I was talked back into it by some persuasive people. Then I found myself naked and afraid in Morocco and riding a horse that was clearly much more excited to be there than I was.”
HBO executive Michael Lombardo agreed that something was off between Merchant and Mamoa. However, co-executive producer and writer Bryan Cogman had nothing but praise for the OG Daenerys.
“I thought Tamzin did a really good job. It’s hard to say why things didn’t work out. Ultimately, it’s obvious Emilia Clarke was born to play that part,” Cogman said.
The Wedding Night Scene Was Changed Between ‘Game of Thrones’ Pilots
Recasting the role of Daenerys wasn’t easy, and producers hated breaking the news to Merchant. James Hibberd described it in his book “Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon: Game of Thrones and the Untold Story of the Epic Series” as “the hardest phone call they ever had to make.”
George R.R. Martin revealed in Hibberd’s book that the scene originally featured consensual sex. But that was changed between the two pilots.
“Dany and Drogo don’t have the same language. Dany is a little scared but also a little excited, and Drogo is being more considerate. The only words he knows are ‘yes’ or ‘no,’” Martin explained.
Lombardo explained that they had to rethink the role because it was compromised. They all knew that Daenerys’ journey was critical, and Merchant’s scenes with Mamoa “just didn’t work.”
“[Merchant] was great. Iâm not sure why everything was done. But when Emilia got there thatâs when everything clicked for me. I wasnât really ‘there’ until she arrived,” Mamoa said.
All eight seasons of “Game of Thrones” are streaming on HBO Max.
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