Game of Thrones Writers Played A Cruel Joke On Always Sunny’s Rob McElhenney

Game of Thrones writers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss created some personal torment for Rob McElhenney of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. This story comes as part of Fire Cannot Kill A Dragon, a new oral history of the production of HBO’s Game of Thrones written by James Hibberd. This new book gives a ton of behind-the-scenes details and explains why pivotal scenes were changed between the book and the series (as well as what George R. R. Martin thinks about those changes).

One story, in particular, focuses on the unusual relationship between the showrunners and McElhenney. McElhenney and Benioff have been friends for a long time and have appeared in each other’s television shows on a few different occasions. In the final season of Game of Thrones, McElhenney makes a brief appearance as a Lannister soldier with a gouged out eye. This friendly relationship between the two made for interesting television appearances, but it also meant that Benioff had the opportunity to trick McElhenney cruelly.

In a summary of the key points from Fire Cannot Kill A Dragon, The AV Club explains the worst “prank” Benioff and Weiss ever pulled on their friend McElhenney. When looking for a director for a Game of Thrones episode, McElhenney had recommended Matt Shakman to Benioff, who ended up working well with the two writers. However, Benioff and Weiss thought it would be funny to pretend that they were not getting along with Shakman and make McElhenney feel guilty. The prank reportedly turned into a big email chain in which Benioff and Weiss claimed that they would “step in and take over the episode because it’s turned into such a mess.”

The summary of this prank doesn’t include McElhenney’s opinions on the event, though Shakman confirms that the joke, while funny, went on for too long. Ironically, this humorous tale resembles some rumors that Benioff and Weiss are difficult to work with. The two writers were initially scheduled to work on a new Star Wars project after completing Game of Thrones, but eventually left citing “creative differences” with Lucasfilm, leaving fans to wonder what sort of clash happened between the two teams.

Of course, it’s important to give Benioff and Weiss the benefit of the doubt, since their skilled writing is ultimately what made Game of Thrones such a success in the beginning. Their departure from Lucasfilm was more likely due to them accepting a conflicting deal from Netflix to produce Three-Body Problem. That said, the writers of Game of Thrones are clearly capable of some dark practical jokes meant to frustrate and confuse.

Source: The AV Club

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