John Bradley

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

NPR

Society & Culture

4.7 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 4 February 2022

⏱️ ? minutes

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Summary

John Bradley was around 22 when he got the part that changed his life. On Game of Thrones he played Samwell Tarly, John Snow's close friend for nearly a decade. In the beginning, it's clear that Sam isn't cut out for the world of Game of Thrones. He isn't a natural warrior. He's a bigger guy. Kind of soft. He's smart, but not especially cunning. He's nice, maybe a little goofy. And on any other show, you can pretty much guess his character's trajectory: maybe he stays a bumbling comic sidekick or maybe he gets killed off tragically. But instead the things he was bullied for: his kindness, his empathy, his bookishness... they turn out to be assets, not liabilities. These days, John Bradley keeps busy. He has two movies out this month – sci-fi disaster movie Moonfall and the romantic comedy Marry Me. We revisit our conversation with John from 2019. He talks with us about the surreal experience of watching the finale of Game of Thrones after it consumed most of his 20's. Plus, he shared the things that make him geek out, and answered some very fun questions from twitter.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of MaximumFun.org and is distributed by NPR.
0:13.6	I'm Jesse Thorn, it's Bullseye.
0:24.4	John Bradley is about 22 years old and he got the part that changed his life.
0:29.9	He just graduated from theater school in Manchester, England.
0:33.6	He'd done some theater work but never anything on camera.
0:37.9	He got called in for an audition, literally his first audition ever and he knew it was
0:42.8	a big deal.
0:43.8	It was a new HBO show called Game of Thrones.
0:48.8	And what happened?
0:49.8	Well, he got the part.
0:51.8	For eight years, he played Sam Well-Tarley, John Snow's best buddy.
0:56.9	In the beginning, it's clear that Sam isn't cut out for the world of Game of Thrones.
1:01.3	He's not a natural warrior.
1:02.8	He's big and kind of soft.
1:05.5	He's smart but not especially cunning.
1:08.1	He's nice but maybe a little goofy.
1:11.4	And on any other show, you can pretty much guess his character's trajectory.
1:15.0	Maybe he stays a bumbling comic sidekick or maybe he gets killed off tragically or maybe
1:21.0	he transforms and finds the warrior inside him and learns to use an axe or whatever.
1:28.2	On Game of Thrones, none of that happens.
1:31.1	The things Sam Well was bullied for, his kindness, his empathy, his bookishness, they turn
1:36.3	out to be assets, not liabilities.
	...

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