Sean Bean Wants to Return as Ned Stark in Game of Thrones

[Alex Co]

Sean Bean Wants to Return as Ned Stark in Game of Thrones

Sean Bean, who played Ned Stark in the first season of Game of Thrones, expresses that he wants to return to the show and says he has "unfinished business that needs to be resolved." Read on to see how this could be a possibility (major spoilers inbound!).

Could Ned Stark be making a return to Westeros? If Sean Bean, the actor who portrays Stark in the hit HBO TV series, has his way, then yes, he very much would like to. Now, if you've watched Game of Thrones' first season, then you know how hard that would be to do since Ned gets offed in a rather unexpected and spectacular way. However, there's still a chance of Bean reprising his role in the series, and one he's comfortable in doing since the actor says he has "unfinished business that needs to be resolved there."

Now, before you read on, I must warn you that the info discussed below, as well as Bean's answers will involve heavy spoilers from the books. So if you haven't read A Dance with Dragons, I suggest turning back right now.

Still here? Good. In an interview with Vulture, Bean was asked that since he's close to wrapping up his latest film, he might have a window in his schedule to appear in Game of Thrones if the showrunners needed him back for flashbacks in season five. Bean excitedly (yes, he was described as excited) replied with, "Are they? Really?" before it was described how his role would play out. Once again, if you don't want any part of the books spoiled for you, I suggest turning back now. For the sake of clarity, we've included both the question and answer for easy reference.


I could be wrong, but I think they might show flashbacks via Bran's connection to the heart trees.

Bean: Oh, yeah, yeah! And I'm his father, so that would be great fun! Just to go back to that for a while, it would be such fun to do. It would be great! It would be bizarre, but it would be great! So I guess if they're going to do flashbacks, then yeah!

Well, it's just my theory ...

Bean: But it's a good theory! And that should happen, shouldn't it? I've definitely got some unfinished business that needs to be resolved there. I'm obviously not Jon Snow's dad. And you need that to be revealed at some point, don't you? So Bran would kind of be the one having the flashback, and he would see Ned praying, right? And revealing those things? You never know what those guys are going to do with that. It's got to be something special. But I'm into that. I certainly would be into that. Print that! Give them a nudge. [Laughs.] Hopefully I'll get a call soon.

If you've been paying attention, which is easier to do when you're reading the book series than watching it, then you'd know that George R.R. Martin has left little hints here and there that suggests that Ned really isn't Snow's dad. If you want more info regarding this famous fan theory, then I suggest using Google to find out what this points to and how it could change the Game of Thrones landscape.

Should Ned come back to the show? Even in a flashback scene? Personally, I'm all for it given Bean's an excellent actor. But with HBO not afraid to recast roles in Game of Thrones, even that isn't a done deal.

Source: Vulture [http://www.vulture.com/2014/07/sean-bean-legends-game-thrones-chat.html]


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[Imre Csete]

If they do that and somehow still not get Lady Stoneheart in, then people should stock up on popcorn because the internet will be delicious next year!

 

[Nikolaz72]

If Ghost-Bean returns in a flashback, will he still manage a re-death somehow?

 

[CrazyBlaze]

I for one would love to see Sean Bean's head back just flying around and giving sagely advice.

 

[ExtraDebit]

I love Sean Bean as an actor, but I would only want him to come back to the show if it actually adds and enhance the story. Maybe bring him back as a white walker, or a Groot like dude with his spirit in it. This is fantasy, they can do anything with it, but flashbacks are the weakest of them all.

 

[Exterminas]

I love Sean Bean as an actor, but I would only want him to come back to the show if it actually adds and enhance the story. Maybe bring him back as a white walker, or a Groot like dude with his spirit in it. This is fantasy, they can do anything with it, but flashbacks are the weakest of them all.

Yeah. Unless you actually care about adopting the source material.

There are a lot of flashbacks in the later books, where various characters tell about various important events. (and a particularly relevant tourney)

 

[gorfias]

I keep wondering how far the show can drift from the source material. What happens if Jojen becomes a major and important character in the books?

But they managed to merge Gendry and another character into one. I suppose they can do anything.

 

[teebeeohh]

I keep wondering how far the show can drift from the source material. What happens if Jojen becomes a major and important character in the books?

But they managed to merge Gendry and another character into one. I suppose they can do anything.

Martin signs off on the scripts, if jojen became important he probably would have told them to not kill him. or they have his future role covered by somebody else but i don't think he are gonna have a dobby situation here.

honestly i would like for ned stark to return for flashbacks and maybe some kind of guiding voice for Bran in his dreams because if you can get sean bean use him.

 

[INeedAName]

"Ned Stark Actor..."

Why not just call him Sean Bean? He's hardly an obscure actor.

As for Ned Stark's return, I suppose that it's possible. The show don't deal with flashback's a whole lot, but there are always exceptions.

 

[rofltehcat]

I could imagine Bran's powers to get so strong that he can see dead people and then Ned's ghost gives him advice. But other than that? The series doesn't really seem to use flashbacks at all.

Another possible thing would be a prequel/spinoff series, showing the conflict that lead to the Targarians being culled and to Baratheon becoming king. It would also be a good place to reveal the parentage of John Snow.

 

[MercurySteam]

I get the feeling the title should be 'Sean Bean Wants to Return to Game of Thrones'. I mean he's pretty well known by this point.

 

[ResonanceSD]

So..he hasn't read the books?

 

[Alex Co]

I get the feeling the title should be 'Sean Bean Wants to Return to Game of Thrones'. I mean he's pretty well known by this point.

Fair point. Updated it. =)

 

[Something Amyss]

He should totally return as one of those Force Ghosts from Star Wars.

Martin signs off on the scripts, if jojen became important he probably would have told them to not kill him. or they have his future role covered by somebody else but i don't think he are gonna have a dobby situation here.

That assumes that he has a plan. Doesn't he pretty much make it up as he goes along?

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

Dead used to mean dead. But when you throw magic in to the mix, suddenly the Big Goodbye is more like "see you later." Considering that the last two books aren't close to being finished yet, I'd say there is every possibility that Dead Ned will be back.

 

[Astalano]

I suppose part of the contract will be that ghost Ned will have to die/be sacrificed/soul eradicated.

 

[Roofstone]

Sure I suppose, if it adds to the story. Sean Bean is pretty cool. Can we fit in a nightmare where he dies? I mean, it is Sean Bean! He needs to die, it is basically a requirement at this point.

So..he hasn't read the books?

Most actors don't read books their shows/films are based on, it is not advised. One issue being for example that shows and films often need to change things, so that can impact your acting and so on and so on.

 

[Anachronism]

I'm pretty sure the showrunners have an explicit policy against flashbacks, so I'm not quite sure how this would work. I guess they could have Bran going on a vision quest while he's with the Three-Eyed Raven, which would be kind of cool. If it turns out that Ned isn't Jon's father, though, I worry that it's not going to work on TV, since we've barely heard anything about what happened with Rhaegar and Lyanna. I don't know that they've even mentioned the Tower of Joy. Honestly, I sort of hope they don't reveal Jon's parentage either way. The only way we'll find out is if he decides to go and visit Howland Reed, which doesn't seem too likely to happen.

All these things aside, I would like to see him come back. If nothing else, it would be nice for one of the actors so responsible for kicking off this phenomenon to get to play the character one last time.

 

[gorfias]

I keep wondering how far the show can drift from the source material. What happens if Jojen becomes a major and important character in the books?

But they managed to merge Gendry and another character into one. I suppose they can do anything.

Martin signs off on the scripts, if jojen became important he probably would have told them to not kill him. or they have his future role covered by somebody else but i don't think he are gonna have a dobby situation here.

honestly i would like for ned stark to return for flashbacks and maybe some kind of guiding voice for Bran in his dreams because if you can get sean bean use him.

They may have to use him for a sort of flashback. Bran, when attached to a tree in the book, saw visions of the past, of people who could not see him. I do not recall if his dad was in one of the visions or not. I think he was.

 

[sumanoskae]

I don't think that recasting will be an issue; the show doesn't recast it's major characters. All the recasts so far have been for comparatively minor roles, or roles that wee minor prior to the recasting.

Besides, they're never gonna fucking recast Sean Bean. Not only is he perfect as Ned, but he's a big name actor.