Fans of TV shows tend to geek out a little when the creative forces responsible for the series appear in small cameo roles, usually with fun "blink and you miss them" roles. Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski appeared in the series' final episode as the man who shuts the power down to the Babylon 5 space station, while writer Charlaine Harris appeared alongside the bar at Merlotte's in the Season 2 finale of True Blood.
Well, it seems Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin would also like to taste those precious few seconds of screen time. Empire has a chat transcript that Martin did with his fans discussing a full range of topics, ranging from his writing process to his favorite sandwich, and he also addressed the subject of a cameo role in the popular HBO adaptation of his novels. It seems such a cameo was already filmed, way back in the days of the Game of Thrones pilot, but because of a casting change, the cameo was never broadcast.
"Actually, I made a cameo in the original pilot, which was filmed in Morocco," Martin explained. "I was a Pentoshi nobleman, and one of the guests at Dany's wedding to Khal Drogo. However, subsequently we recast the part of Dany, so the entire Morocco wedding sequence was cut and my brilliant cameo was left on the cutting room floor."
Originally, the role of Daenerys Targaryen was to be played by actress Tamzin Merchant (Catherine Howard on Showtime's The Tudors), but before the series aired the showrunners made a number of changes to the pilot, including recasting the role with Emilia Clarke. Martin was no longer in Morocco, unfortunately, so the cameo couldn't be reshot. However, Martin has an idea about how he could appear on the show again.
"I also had investigated the idea of being a head on a spike," he said, "and (series creators David Benioff and Dan Weiss) were going to put my severed head on a spike at one point, but then they got the quote for what that would cost. Those severed heads are expensive and our budget is tight! So unless I provide my own, I don't get to be a severed head! But one of my fans who does that sort of thing has offered me the chance to make one next time I go out to LA. How could I resist? I could have my own severed head and carry it around in a bowling bag."
So with this in mind, whenever one of the Lannister clan gets in one of their moods, be sure to look for Martin's head resting upon a spike...