Chris Stapleton becomes yet another singer to make 'Game of Thrones' cameo in season 8 episode 3
Episode 3 of 'Game of Thrones' Season 8 did see the Night King die but before that, he had managed to turn almost 80 percent of the Northerners and wildlings into White Walkers, and turns out country music singer Chris Stapleton was one of them. As the show continues its legacy of letting singers have their own little cameos on the show - American metal band Mastodon, Ed Sheeran, and Coldplay's Will Champion - this time, it was the country musician who was among the fallen warriors of the Great War.
Stapleton's wife shared the news on Instagram, where he stated, "Episode 3....My wildling is a white walker #got." We see his close-up in the scene where Jon Snow (Kit Harington) frantically runs towards the Night King, who is turning those thousands of dead bodies into White Walkers. Apparently, Stapleton who is a very big fan of the show asked his management to reach out to the show, requesting them to cast him in the new season.
He said, "I was like, you know, I would gladly fly to wherever in the world just to be a small part and get to watch that show going down. They were gracious enough to let me come participate that way.” Stapleton managed to fly to Northern Ireland along with bass player J.T. Cure and tour manager for his cameo.
The Night King has always had a calm way of dealing with his army, he stands in the middle of a pool of dead bodies and by raising his two hands he gradually summons them all to rise. In this scene too we saw him turn at Jon, and calmly raise all the dead who later on surrounded Jon.
Stapleton had received certain instructions from the directors on how to rise as a White Walker. He mentioned, "They knew we weren’t actors. So the direction was basically, we’re going to place you, and when we tell you to, open your eyes. And they trained us on how White Walkers are supposed to stand up and move when they’re first waking up. We had a crash course in that.”
Stapleton apparently had his bets on the White Walkers as he confessed, "I was betting that the most Game of Thrones thing that could happen would be that the White Walkers would win. That was what I thought was going to happen and that’s off the table at this point. I don’t really know. Once again, they do a bang-up job of keeping you guessing as to what will happen. That’s why it’s the greatest television show certainly of modern times and possibly ever.”