Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Answers the Web's Most Searched Questions

Hey guys, I'm Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.

You're watching the WIRED Autocomplete Interview.

[intense, suspenseful music]

And I will complete some sentences now, I think.

Who is Nikolaj Coster-Waldau?

Wow, that's an existential question; I like that.

Well, how much time do we have?

He's a Danish actor, and he's best known

for playing Jaime Lannister on Game of Thrones.

Who does Nikolaj Coster-Waldau look like?

I think I was the first one who mentioned it,

but, in the beginning of Game of Thrones,

he looked like Prince Charming from Shrek.

And also, I've been told, what's the guy from the show Lost?

[Man] Sawyer?

Yeah.

I look like my mum as well.

Who-- [tape rips]

Oh, sorry.

Who's Nikolaj married to?

I'm married to Nukaaka, and I've been married

to her for, this June, 22 years.

Yay!

Oh, yes.

[board hits floor] That's great.

How do you pronounce Nikolaj Coster-Waldau?

Well, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau when I'm here.

When I'm in Denmark, it would be Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.

See?

How [tape rips]

much does Nikolaj Coster-Waldau weight?

Okay, that's really rude, wow.

93 kilograms, which is probably just 200 pounds.

How is old is Nikolaj Coster-Waldau?

He's 48.

How old is Nikolaj Coster-Waldau's wife?

She's 48.

Does Nikolaj Coster-Waldau know how to ride a horse?

Yes.

I knew how to ride a horse prior to Game of Thrones.

There was a movie called Kingdom of Heaven

that Ridley Scott did, and I worked with him

on Black Hawk Down, and then they called and said,

do you wanna come and do this thing?

I said absolutely.

Do you know how to ride a horse?

Absolutely.

Put the phone down and instantly called a place

where I could learn how to ride a horse.

Okay. [tape rips]

What language does Nikolaj Coster-Waldau speak?

Well, I speak Danish, English.

I understand and can get by in the Scandinavian languages,

can survive in German, and I once did a French movie

by accident.

Yeah, I got a script from this,

it's called 24 Hours in the Life of a Woman.

And I got the script in English.

I met the director, and he said,

do you want to read the scene?

And I started reading a scene.

He said, no, no, no, [speaks in foreign language].

And I said, oh, I'm so sorry, this is not gonna work.

And he still gave me the part, so I did a French movie.

[speaks in foreign language]

[speaks in foreign language]

[speaks in foreign language]

How was that?

How tall is Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in feet?

He's just under six foot two.

Is Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in Destiny 2?

I have to ask, what is Destiny 2?

[Man] It is a video game.

It's the sequel to Destiny, the original one.

Okay, I guess I'm not, I'm not in Destiny 2.

I play some games on my phone.

Is that the same?

Is that, no.

Is Nikolaj Coster-Waldau left handed?

No.

[board hits floor]

Wow. So you had a hand cut off

in Game of Thrones. I did. [claps hands]

[Man] Which one was that?

It was the right hand, but it was fine.

You practice with your left.

Why is Nikolaj Coster-Waldau's name hyphenated?

Well, my parents divorced.

I wanted to have both my mom's and my dad's last name,

so I hyphenated it.

Can Nikolaj play a musical?

Can I play a music?

If I say yes, do you then want me to do it?

Ah, musical instrument. [laughs]

I thought it was like...

I can do Cats. [makes cat hissing noise and laughs]

I can play a bit of the guitar.

But yeah, I can say that safely there

are no instruments in here, yeah.

Every instrument, I can play anything.

Where is Nikolaj Coster-Waldau from?

He's from Denmark.

Where does Nikolaj Coster-Waldau live?

He lives in Denmark.

What happened to Nikolaj in Game of Thrones?

What happened to Nikolaj in Game of Thrones?

Nikolaj is an actor who plays a character. [laughs]

He's not really in Game of Thrones.

This is fun.

Why Jaime Lannister is the best character?

Clearly, these are questions that I wrote myself.

He's a great character 'cause he's...

Any character that starts out in the first scene,

more or less, having sex with his sister

and then tries to kill an innocent boy,

that's a story point for drama

'cause you can only hate a guy like that.

You can only despise him, and he's disgusting.

And then knowing that, actually,

all that prejudice you then pour into this character,

you're gonna be faced with that later on

when you find out that he's motivated

by some pure feelings of love and loyalty,

and he's a very cool guy.

And he can act like, he can be a bit of a prick as well.

Why isn't Jaime Lannister king?

That's that whole bloodline thing they have in Westeros.

I haven't read the books,

but I'll get back to you on that one.

Who saved Jaime Lannister from the dragon?

That was Bronn, played by Jerome Flynn.

We had a fantastic time shooting that scene.

We shot in a place called Cáceres in the west of Spain,

that sequence where the dragons come down.

And we work with these stunt teams

and a horse team and just to...

One of the things about Game of Thrones

is that, obviously, the dragons and all the visual effects

are added, but everything else is physical; you see it.

So the stunt work was insane.

You see 40 riders standing on horseback,

just galloping towards you; it's pretty amazing.

But that was not the question.

The question was who saved Jaime, and that was Bronn.

Who cut Jaime Lannister's hand off?

That was a character called Locke, played by Noah Taylor.

Noah Taylor broke my rib.

Jaime's capture by Locke, and then they're traveling

towards, I can't remember the name.

On the way, Jaime tries to escape,

but he's then beaten up in this mud pit.

And because that was in all this mud,

he's supposed to kick me here,

and then he miss kicked and then broke a rib.

Who could beat Jaime Lannister in a duel?

Well, the question should've been

before or after he lost his hand.

After, anyone could beat him, but before,

no one could beat him. [board hits floor]

Could Jaime Lannister be Azor Ahai,

which is, I think, the chosen one or something.

Well, he could.

Could Jaime Lannister be a Targaryen?

It's Game of Thrones; anything's possible.

Who did Jaime Lannister squire for?

Oh, [bleep].

Yes, he squired for

this famous knight

called...

Oh, Ser Barristan Selmy; yes, that's the one.

You'll have to watch the show; it's all in there.

How did Jaime Lannister get captured?

This is early on in Game of Thrones,

so we didn't have that much money.

So the big battles happened offscreen.

This was a battle between the Lannisters and the Starks,

and Robb Stark captured Jaime Lannister somehow.

Has Jaime Lannister redeemed himself?

Well, now that's a good question.

If you've just saved a million people

from being burned alive, do you have to redeem yourself?

I think not.

Where did Jaime Lannister ride off to?

Well, you're gonna have to watch season eight to find out.

I think his intention was to go north.

What happens to Jaime Lannister?

You're gonna have to watch season eight to find out.

Does Jaime Lannister change actor?

What?

That's a great question, and I don't understand it.

What is Jaime Lannister's hand made of?

Well, if you watch the show, it's made of solid gold.

It is a metal hand that was, they did a cast of my hand.

It was absolutely beautiful.

Will Jaime Lannister join Daenerys?

Well, you're gonna have to watch the show to find out.

And that, ladies and gentlemen,

was the end of the WIRED Autocomplete Interview.

[board hits floor]

Sorry.