He’s Ser Duncan the Tall—but if, like Dexter Sol Ansell’s pint-sized Egg in this new featurette for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, you’ve never heard of him, you soon will. If this glimpse at Peter Claffey’s endearing performance is any indication, he’ll also soon shoot to the top of your list of favorite Game of Thrones-adjacent characters to ever stomp around Westeros.
We’ve seen Dunk in action in trailers so far, but this is our best look yet at the hero of George R.R. Martin’s Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas—at least until the show hits HBO in a couple of weeks.
Claffey recalls nervously barfing at his first rehearsal and feeling embarrassed about it—only to be told “That’s great, that’s just like Dunk!” by showrunner Ira Parker. Claffey describes Dunk as a “typical underdog” at the start of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, learning to make his way through Westeros without his mentor, the recently deceased Ser Arlen of Pennytree.
His first stop is a nearby tournament, where he’s soon snarkily classified as a hedge knight—”like a knight, only sadder“—and as Claffey explains, Dunk’s journey will involve squaring that awkward naivete with the feeling that maybe he could be a “glorious knight” if he wanted to.
Claffey also briefly touches on the show’s stunts and unexpected sense of humor—and calls working on A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms “the greatest experience of my entire life.” The show premieres January 18 on HBO, and a season two is already on the way.
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