Game of Thrones showrunners Dan Weiss and David Benioff have said that the upcoming battle between Hafþór Júlíus as The Mountain and Pedro Pascal as Oberyn will be the greatest combat scene in the show’s history, reports Entertainment Weekly.
“It’s one of the best — if not the best — combat scenes we’ve done so far,” Weiss said. “It’s not just people hacking at each other with spears and swords. It’s the culmination of 20 years of anger and hatred and thirst for vengeance coming to a head in this amazing set piece that [stunt coordinator Paul Herbert and swordmaster C.C. Smiff] have put together. The fight delivers beyond our expectations.”
Game of Thrones recast the role of The Mountain this season due to the demands of the fight sequence, signing the 420-pound Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson to takeover the part.
“I can admit that there were some scenes that felt so real that while we were shooting it, I felt like it was real life,” said Hafþór in an interview with Vísir last year.
Showrunners Weiss and Benioff also revealed that they planned to make the fight scene the pivotal moment of the season.
“It’s one of those fights that from the very beginning of the process of planning the show before season one we knew would be a high point if done properly,” Weiss said. “And it’s a real challenge because The Mountain is The Mountain — you need to find an enormous human being who can also deliver what you need on physical front. And you need an Oberyn who delivers what you need as an actor and pull off the extremely strenuous side of that fight, which we shot over several days. We were lucky to find Pedro Pascal for Oberyn, who gives such a stunning, fun, and dangerous performance. And Hafþór for The Mountain is a truly unusual specimen — I believe he’s the third-strongest man in the world and a former basketball player, so he knows how to move. To see somebody who is 6′ 9″ and moving the way he does in person is a surreal sight to behold.”
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