Game of Thrones director and producer David Nutter, also known as the guy who directed the Red Wedding episode, is familiar with death. Obviously! Anyone who worked on that show was. So when Jon Snow died at the end of season five, Nutter continued to play along with the idea that the know nothing would not be returning, so much so that he unintentionally lied to the president of the United States, something that isn’t illegal but a bit morally ambiguous.
Nutter, who directed nine episodes of the series, recently spoke to The L.A. Times about his Emmy-winning season five finale, which you may recall as the time Jon Snow bit the dust. This sparked outrage amongst fans, including one very important government official who tried to get to the bottom of it.
“I never wanted to read past where I was in the story,” Nutter began, implying that he did not know where season six would pick up in the story back in 2016. “Right after the season ended, there was a big political event with Barack Obama, and we were at Chuck Lorre’s house. Obama was a huge fan of Game of Thrones. I took a picture with Barack. He grabbed me and shook my hand, and he put his [other] hand on my shoulder and whispered, ‘You didn’t kill Jon Snow, did you?’ I said, ‘Sir, he’s dead. He’s deader than dead.'”
For your own personal reference, under Section 1001 of title 18 of the United States Code, it is a federal crime to “knowingly and willfully make a materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the United States.” So, no, you can’t lie to the president. Luckily, Nutter really seemed to think that Snow was dead because, at one point, he was, so he didn’t technically do anything illegal, unless you count “killing” Jon Snow.
When The L.A. Times asked if not knowing the future of the story made it easier, Nutter replied, “Yeah, much easier. You want to give it the gravitas it needs.” If he had known exactly how the story had ended, perhaps he would have had a different take on it all.
(Via The L.A. Times)
