SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses major plot developments in season 1, episode 3 of “3 Physique Drawback,” currently streaming on Netflix.
When David Benioff and DB Weiss first approached John Bradley about starring in their new series, “3 Body Drawback,” they explained that his character would be in some ways the antithesis of the role that launched the actor’s career in his previous show, “Sport ”. of Thrones.” In this sequel, Bradley’s Samwell Tarly was a soft-spoken, respectful nobleman compelled to renounce his fortune and remain anonymous for a lifetime. In “3 Physique Drawback,” Bradley’s Jack Rooney is a brash, self-possessed working-class boy who chooses to abandon his academic career to build a fortune in snacks.
However, it wasn’t until Bradley received the first set of scripts for “3 Body Drawback” that he realized that Jack had a more basic difference from Sam: he was brutally murdered.
“I never thought about dying on Game of Thrones,” says Bradley. “Against all odds, I managed to do it all again.”
Jack, unfortunately, only makes it to episode 3, “Destroyer of Worlds,” written by executive producer and co-showrunner Alexander Woo. In this episode, Jack and his friend and former Oxford classmate Jin Cheng (Jess Hong) were fascinated by a digital reality game so radically refined that it is indistinguishable from real life. Ultimately, they learn that the game is designed as a recruitment tool for a hyper-advanced alien race, the San-Ti, who will travel to Earth with the intention of colonizing the planet when they arrive some 400 years from now. Jack and Jin meet with one of the aliens’ human allies, Tatiana (Marlo Kelly), who invites them to join a company preparing the planet for the San-Ti’s arrival.
Jack doesn’t believe it and Tatiana says he’s free to leave. When Jack arrives at her luxurious mansion, however, she is waiting for him in his room and stabs him in the neck, killing him.
When Bradley first saw the scene, “I didn’t know how to react to it,” he says. “I felt a little slighted.”
It didn’t take long, however, for Bradley to change his perspective. “I realized that if there’s one thing David and Dan have done really well over the years, it’s kills,” he says. “They can only kill people if they think the public will care.”
Bradley spoke with Selection about his character’s death, how many times he filmed the scene and what shocked him most.
Can you discuss how your thinking about Jack’s death on the show advanced?
I only discovered it when I bought the first set of scripts. At first I was a little upset, as I feel like I had a right to be, in a way. I knew it would be eight episodes, and when I found out I was quitting after three, I felt a little slighted and struggled with it a little.
Then I realized that if there’s one thing David and Dan have done really well over the years, it’s kills. They definitely know how to execute, if you’ll pardon the expression, a very good dying display. Some of the deaths in “Game of Thrones” are the moments in which the audience is most emotionally invested. I was involved in the Red Wedding as much as anyone else. So I felt honored to be killed by David and Dan, ultimately.
How did this affect the way you approached your efficiency?
As soon as I found out I had three episodes left before I died, I knew I needed to make viewers care about what happened. I wanted to create enough of an impression that this character could go unnoticed and be mourned by the audience in a short screen time. I was flattered that David and Dan thought I was up to the job, and I thought Jack’s death would encourage a little gear shift in the series. After Jack dies, a particular change in temperament occurs.
Well, you’re basically the Ned Stark of the show – it’s the first big death that raises the stakes of the show.
I always wanted to feel like an everyday character that the audience could identify with and think, “As long as this character is here, we’ll feel good.” As quickly as Jack goes, and as quickly as Ned Stark entered “Game of Thrones,” you feel a little more alone. We really feel like we don’t have our man in on this. Jack was the only person who made you feel good – if things got a little bizarre, he’d make a side comment and, one way or another, bring it all back down to earth. Once Jack goes, everything starts to get a little scarier.
Additionally, they are participating in the meta expectations of the public’s past data about their work. They know David and Dan didn’t kill me on “Game of Thrones,” so they don’t think they’re going to kill me on this.
What was your favorite scene to film?
We tried really hard to get that scene right. We had a few attempts. The scene you simply watch now is a composite of (filmed on) April 22nd, August 22nd, and February 23rd. Even I can’t tell you what we filmed on each of those days. They were so determined to get it right that they just kept needing these individual items. So if you consider it an on and off factor, that scene was filmed over the course of 9 months.
So you wrapped the gift, and then they called you and said, “Really, do we want you to come back to be killed again?” Twice?
Yes, it was very much like that. It’s always a strange feeling when you have something like this because a part of you is a little upset that you didn’t understand it the first time. But you’re grateful for the opportunity to get it right.
What shocked you most about the scene?
It wasn’t until I went into ADR to re-record some final sighs and gurgles that I realized they put Radiohead’s “Karma Police” on top. It’s such an incredible selection, just in terms of temperament, but also in terms of lyricism, as anyone dies to the lyrics: “That’s what you get for messing with us.” That simply says it all. Those extra photos were worth it.
I definitely gasped when it happened – in fact, I didn’t expect it. How are you feeling now, 12 months after filming?
In the world of digital reality, you’ve seen Jack die a few times, not for real. So if you see him actually die, you don’t know whether or not he should think about it. Of the great TV drama deaths I’ve enjoyed so far, there’s always something about you that you don’t even need to be true. That’s why I love the purpose of it, that he comes from a poor background and then dies in the bedroom of his multimillion-dollar house that he just managed to afford.
He was very poor. He bought it rich, he’s been rich for six months and now he’s been murdered. The first time I realized this, I was in pieces on the ADR sales floor. Even though you know what’s going to happen, if you look at it so expertly downplayed, I think it all went very well. Hopefully it will be the kind of death that continues to affect people and that will be talked about – fingers crossed.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
