‘Game of Thrones’ Actor on Gendry’s Surprise Return

WARNING: Major spoilers ahead for the latest episode of Game of Thrones! Read at your own risk…

The long-awaited return of a fan favorite character finally took place on Game of Thrones on Sunday night’s latest episode. Gendry, the blacksmith and bastard son of King Robert Baratheon, was tracked down by Ser Davos and enlisted to serve alongside the King in the North Jon Snow.

The last time that Gendry — who is played by English actor Joe Dempsie — was seen on the HBO series was at the end of Season 3. Now that the show is in its seventh season, Dempsie, 30, couldn’t be happier to make his grand comeback. During an interview with Variety, Dempsie dished on what it was like to be away from GOT for several years before returning on the latest episode “Eastwatch.”

“It feels kind of perfect from a personal point of view. I can’t speak for everyone but I think most actors in the show, if you ask them what they want for their character … I think the majority of us would say, ‘I just want a part to play in the end game.’ So hopefully by staying out of harm’s way for three seasons, I hopefully get to survive a bit longer,” he said.

Since his departure on Season 3, Dempsie says that he has been able to view the series from a fan’s perspective.

“It’s been really nice. The first three seasons, I became a big fan of the show. So not being in it for three, it was nice watching the new seasons come out as a fan. And the cast are all so spoiler trained that even if you were just hanging out with them in London somewhere and asked them an off the cuff question, they would say, ‘Do you want to know what we’ve been filming?’ So I would keep myself purposefully in the dark about what to expect in the new seasons,” he said.

Being a fan in the past several years, Dempsie says that there was a particular storyline in the drama that he found to be the most fascinating.

“I always liked to follow what’s going on with Maisie, so Arya’s storyline. The fact she spent such a considerable amount of time with The Hound was great because he’s also one of my favorite characters. I like the Ramsay Bolton storyline too. I think that one of the things Thrones does really well is create villains you love to hate and they’re played by actors who are so gifted and talented. The force of the vitriol people feel for these characters are so strong. When they do get their just desserts it’s kind of bittersweet because you realize what an incredible performance it was,” he said.

Not only did Gendry return on Sunday’s episode, but also there were some major details about his character that were revealed. See what you likely missed in Gendry’s return here.