Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Was Nearly Fired From GoT Because of a Silly Prank

The Lannister family, despite technically being the villains, had all the best actors, who stole the show whenever the script gave them any opportunity, and Nikolaj was no exception. But did you know that at one point he nearly lost his job due to a stupid prank he played because he wanted to have a bit of fun?

Jaime Lannister's mane of golden hair was the most signature part of his look in the books. So, in the earlier seasons of the show Nikolaj too used to look full-on Prince Charming with his flowing blond waves, before getting a shorter cut, which symbolized his character development.

But that shorter cut might have been inspired by a prank, which he played earlier. "There'd been a lot of talk about Jaime's hair in the early seasons – his long golden locks," he revealed in an interview. "Once he lost his hand, I thought he should maybe have a haircut. And then I thought, 'Why don't I just pretend?"

"This is five, six seasons ago – I sent them an old picture where I had a buzz cut. I sent a long letter where I explained I'd taken control of my character and I want to be respected. I said that my integrity as an artist was at stake!"

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The prank nearly got too far, because apparently the letter was very persuasive, and everyone believed it. From the assistant director who called Nikolaj in panic, to the head hairstylist, who rushed to create a makeshift wig in no less panic, to HBO bosses.

"They all believed it," Nikolaj said. "They'd also called my manager. HBO had started to talk about suing me and it had gotten out of control."

Well, lucky for everyone involved that was just a silly, if elaborate, prank. Perhaps back then Nikolaj Coster-Waldau stepped a bit too far into the role of Jaime Lannister, considering the latter's reputation for reckless deeds and propensity for acting as outrageous as possible just because he could.