Game of Thrones

George R.R. Martin was inspired to write the novel series "A Song of Ice and Fire" after years of writing for restrictive television budgets, and deliberately wrote the series to be nearly unfilmable. After the success of 'The Lord of Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring' (2001) Martin was approached to license the novels into a series of films, one project was proposed using only Daenerys' story line, and another project proposed only including the conflict between the Starks and Lannisters

Natural brunette, Emilia Clarke has stated that she has never dyed her hair for the show. Daenerys Targaryen's impressive blond locks are achieved via an elaborate wig and makeup system that takes considerable time to get into place.

The character Joffrey Baratheon is modeled after the Roman emperor Caligula who was reputed to be extremely cruel and sadistic during his four-year reign.