Actor David Bradley enjoys playing the maniacal Walder Frey, but he won’t be reprising the role in Game of Thrones season 5….
Game of Thrones season 5 is currently in production in several locations around the world, but as revealed several weeks back it appears at least a couple of the key characters won’t be making an appearance this time around. Bran Stark and his faithful traveling companions are being sacrificed for season 5 because his story has caught up to the source material in author George R.R. Martin’s books and while show runners David Benioff and Dan Weiss have stated that they won’t slow down if they pass the original stories, it seems they will pause in this instance. Such is the case as well with actor David Bradley, who plays venomous old king Lord Walder Frey. Bradley didn’t appear in season 4 either after making quite the grand exit during season 3 when helped orchestrate ‘The Red Wedding’, one of the most infamous scenes in television history. Currently, Bradley is starring in the FX series ‘The Strain’ as one of the stars, but he hopes to return to Game of Thrones one day it just won’t be during season 5.
“I spoke to David Benioff, and he said, “You’ll be back, you’ll be back.” But not in this season, not the one they’re doing now. Not for season five,” Bradley told Vulture in an interview. “But he’s got more to do in the books, and I hope he’ll be back at least for some kind of divine retribution, which has to be coming his way at some point. “Surely he can’t get away with all that? I’d like to think he survives just a bit longer for that. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s back for season six, but I haven’t heard anything definite.”
For those that haven’t read the original books, Frey’s part is very diminished after the events in book three where The Red Wedding takes place. His name is mentioned and he does take some action down the road, but for the most part he remains a very secondary character going into the sixth book ‘The Winds of Winter’, which is scheduled to be released next year. Bradley definitely wants to reprise his role as Frey at some point down the road, especially considering he has Edmure Tully locked up in a dungeon just minutes after he consummated his marriage to Roslin Frey before The Red Wedding officially began.
“I’d be straining at the leash for that, as they say,” Bradley said about returning to Game of Thrones. “I rather enjoyed playing Walder — rather more than is healthy, really.”
Game of Thrones returns to HBO in the spring of 2015.
