Aussie actor Noah Taylor made the job of fellow Game of Thrones' star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau much easier by dishing out some real pain when filming the scene where the Kingslayer loses his sword hand.
Taylor plays Locke who slices off Jaime Lannister's right hand in the hit TV series .
"Noah Taylor who played Locke was so scary," Coster-Waldau told reporters in London ahead of this week's DVD release of season three.
"He was very violent - as he should be."
The props team made a huge knife for Taylor to wield that had a gap in it so the Australian could whack it down on Coster-Waldau's arm without actually harming the Dane.
"(But) of course he would have to be very accurate," Coster-Waldau says.
"He wasn't always accurate."
The man who portrays the Kingslayer insists it actually hurt when Taylor missed his mark.
"It was like 'Argh' but it was good for the reaction. He went for it."
And it wasn't just the once that Taylor's inaccuracy caused some real-life damage.
In another scene, Jaime falls off his horse into the mud before Locke beats him up.
"It was so muddy there," Coster-Waldau says.
"He (Taylor) had to kick me in the stomach, which isn't dangerous at all, but you have to be a little specific.
"But because it was so muddy and we were rolling around he kind of missed and hit my ribs."
The Danish actor can now joke about it. Along with the fact the scene had to be shot three times because Gwendoline Christie - who plays the warrior Brienne - kept laughing.
Christie agrees with Coster-Waldau that Taylor's turn as Locke was truly intimidating.
"He was really frightening," she says of the performance.
"He had a genuine menace about him."
But off-screen Taylor was, according to Coster-Waldau at least, a wonderful "sweetheart".
Former Australia prime minister Julia Gillard last year admitted she'd become hooked on Game of Thrones and was hoping Daenerys Targaryen - the mother of dragons - would prevail.
Christie is thrilled world leaders are watching the HBO series.
"I'm so proud to be in the show because it has such brilliant female characters," the English actor said in London.
"Their strength doesn't lie necessarily in their physical prowess but their strength of character.
"I hope that it encourages more (similar roles) and in terms of women's empowerment globally."
* Game of Thrones: The Complete Third Season is released on DVD and Blu-ray on February 19. Season 4 begins on pay-TV's showcase channel on April 7.
