The “Game of Thrones” production reportedly received 86,000 applications from fans wanting to play extras on the show’s Spain set.
Entertainment Weekly reports the production hired about 600 applicants to film a major battle scene in the fifth season. However, the production has hired more than 1,000 locals to play extras on set.
“It’s been a great, uplifting moment for the country,” James Costos, the U.S. Ambassador to Spain told EW. “There’s tremendous excitement all over Spain, and it highlights the fact there are incredibly talented people here.”
The “Game of Thrones” production is using most of their Spanish sets as the backdrop for the Westeros kingdom of Dorne. The Alcázar palace is Seville, Spain serves as the home of House Martell.
The fifth season is expected to surpass author George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Fire and Ice” saga. Martin recently spoke to a Santa Fe Independent Film Festival crowd, explaining why “Winds of Winter”, the sixth installment, is taking him so long.
"Writer's block isn't to blame here, it's distraction. In recent years, all of the work I've been doing creates problems because it creates distraction,” Martin explained. “Because the books and the show are so popular I have interviews to do constantly. I have travel plans constantly. It's like suddenly I get invited to travel to South Africa or Dubai, and who's passing up a free trip to Dubai?”
“I don't write when I travel. I don't write in hotel rooms. I don't write on airplanes. I really have to be in my own house undisturbed to write. Through most of my life no body did bother me, but now everyone bothers me every day. I have assistants and minions whose main job is to make sure people don't bother me so I can actually get writing done."
