'A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms' Peter Claffey praises 'Game of Thrones' author George R. R. Martin

George R. R. Martin reveals he spent hours with 'Game of Thrones' author George R. R. Martin discussing THIS

By Areeba Sheikh
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January 25, 2026

George R. R. Martin recently got candid and revealed why he talked to Peter Claffey for hours about Game of Thrones.

Martin, an American author, television writer, and television producer, penned a series of epic fantasy novels, including A Game of Thrones, Fire & Blood, A Dance with Dragons, The Winds of Winter, A Clash of Kings, and many others.

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Claffey is playing Ser Duncan the Tall in the Game of Thrones spinoff series, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, released on January 18, 2026 on HBO.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which is actually based on Martin’s series of novellas The Tales of Dunk and Egg, is set almost a century before Game of Thrones started.

In an interview with PEOPLE magazine, Claffey, who claims to be a “massive original Game of Thrones series fan," shared he had an hours-long conversation with the author.

The 29-year-old Irish actor confessed, "I'm just a ginormous nerd when it comes to superheroes and fantasy and stuff. 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,” he unveiled.

In addition, the Small Things like These star noted that Martin, a "super down-to-earth, normal guy," always finds great pleasure in discussing Westeros lore.

"He likes talking about his creation, and I love talking about his creation. He's really, really sweet, a really lovely guy,” Claffey said.

Before concluding, it is pertinent to mention that A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms chronicles the story of Ser Duncan the Tall, a naïve knight, and his squire, Egg (played by Dexter Sol Ansell).

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