‘Game of Thrones’ Stunt Coordinator Explains How He Maximizes Scene Dynamics While Minimizing Injury

With the premiere of the first episode of Game of Thrones’ eighth and final season less than a month away, the very able, award-winning stunt coordinator Rowley Irlan explains the techniques they use on the set that minimizes risk of injury while maximizing the dynamics of the scene. An example cited by Irwin is the copious use of fire. The stunt people are protected with layers of fire retardant gel and clothing underneath the costumes and the masks in addition to a great deal of rehearsal and general precautions.

We’ve burned more people than anybody else basically and there is a bit of mental preparation goes into these things but it’s really controlled. …we only burn them for 15 seconds because that ensures that we’re not gonna have any significant heat transfer they wear three layers of Nomex underwear. It won’t burn it won’t melt like man-made fabric and that’s soaked in a fireproof gel we put into a fridge and so that’s taken down to almost freezing. Then they put on a thin rain suit over the top. There’s a fire suit on top of that then a boiler suit to protect the fire suit and then the costumes. There’s quite a few layers going on.

Game of Thrones Season 8 premiers on April 14, 2019