- - George R. R. Martin Spent ‘Hours’ Talking to “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”’ Peter Claffey About “Game of Thrones” (Exclusive)

Julia MooreJanuary 25, 2026 at 4:00 AM

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Game of Thrones/Facebook

George R. R. Martin (left) and Peter Claffey on the set of 'A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms' -

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms star Peter Claffey just wanted to nerd out with George R. R. Martin

The new Game of Thrones spinoff series is based on a 1998 novella by Martin, and Claffey, 29, tells PEOPLE he and the beloved author "spent hours" talking about Westeros together

New episodes of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms drop Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on HBO

Peter Claffey was more than happy to nerd out about Westeros with George R. R. Martin.

The Irish actor, 29, is the star of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, the new Game of Thrones spinoff series that follows a naïve knight, Ser Duncan the Tall, and his squire, Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell).

Based on Martin's series of novellas The Tales of Dunk and Egg, the series takes place about a century before Game of Thrones begins, and, as a "massive original Game of Thrones series fan," Claffey tells PEOPLE he had so much he wanted to talk to Martin, 77, about.

"I'm just a ginormous nerd when it comes to superheroes and fantasy and stuff," he admits. "I just loved talking to him about the original show."

"We spent hours — well, we spent a lot of time the last time we had dinner — talking about different scenes that I loved and stuff like that."

Steffan Hill/HBO

Peter Claffey as Duncan and Dexter Sol Ansell as Egg in 'A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms'

Martin is a "super down-to-earth, normal guy," Claffey says — and he's always down to dig into Westeros lore.

"He likes talking about his creation, and I love talking about his creation," the actor continues. "He's really, really sweet, a really lovely guy."

Taking on the lead role in the series was admittedly "terrifying" for Claffey, who says, "I understand the reverence that people have for this show, and [we're] just hoping to God that the show gets taken well."

"We tried to do as good of a job, to both the book and the TV fans, in trying to stick to the characters as much as possible. Hopefully, it will get taken well, but it is daunting," he adds. "I've never experienced anything of this scale before."

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Steffan Hill/HBO

Peter Claffey as Ser Duncan the Tall in 'A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms'

While Martin was happy to nerd out with Claffey about the world he created, he kept things very low-key when it came to Claffey playing Dunk.

"He kind of left me to my own devices," Claffey said. "I think he was quite involved in the casting process himself, so I'm sure he probably saw the way that I wanted to do things, or the way that I was trying to do things."

The Bad Sisters alum admitted, too, that he "didn't really want to" bother Martin with questions to begin with. "He seemed to be pretty happy."

New episodes of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms drop Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on HBO.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”