George RR Martin Rejected a Cameo in 'Game of Thrones' Season 8

In the past we have seen creators of great franchises enter into their own world and star as a cameo. From Peter Jackson appearing in all three Lord of the Rings movies, to cameo king Stan Lee setting a record for making cameos in most of the Marvel movies. It’s a way for the film to pay homage to the person who created the worlds we see in adapted versions.

But as it turns out one creator, George R. R. Martin, decided against his invitation for a cameo in the last season of Game of Thrones.

Martin was given the invitation by the show's creators David Benioff and Dan Weiss to travel from his home in New Mexico to Northern Ireland to shoot his cameo. But the author turned it down, and his reasoning is pretty understandable.

“David and Dan invited me to a cameo in one of the final episodes, which I was tempted to do,” Martin told EW. “But I didn’t think just for the sake of a cameo I could take the time to return to Belfast.”

Martin also recalled the time he did do a cameo, in the unaired pilot for the first season.

“There was a cameo in the original pilot that was cut,” he noted. “I was a guest at Dany’s wedding. But that was when she was played by Tamzin Merchant so all that footage got thrown out when we recast with Emilia Clarke.”

The Game of Thrones writer has struggled for eight years to finish The Winds of Winter, so maybe his reason for not doing the cameo is that he’s gotten some artistic juices flowing he doesn't want to disturb.