John Bradley Breaks Down His Disgusting 'Game Of Thrones' Season 7 Premiere Scene

Making an incredible return to the screen earlier this week, the seventh season of HBO fantasy series 'Game Of Thrones' debuted, bringing in 16 million viewers in the US alone and shattering all of the viewing records it had set in place in the past.

Whether people were talking about Ed Sheeran's controversial cameo, the fantastic opening scene which saw Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) take some long-awaited revenge, or the disgusting montage of cleaning out bedpans and scrubbing them clean with Sam Tarly (John Bradley), it was the one thing everybody was talking about following its premiere.

Having explained that fruit cake was used rather than real human waste in that scene with Sam, actor John Bradley went on to talk about how long it all took to film, as well as how he had to miss out on going to the Emmys 2016 to film it.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor explained how the scene all came together: "It was quite a long time shooting it. It was shot over a period of about five full days. We’re talking about 50 or 60 hours of shooting all of that. It was quite an experience, really. For the first time in my career on the show, I was completely alone. It was weird to be working so closely with the director and shooting that sequence in these five second bursts. It was kind of strange, just making sure you got those tiny little microscopic five second moments in the can, and then hand it over to the editors to stitch it into the montage that it became. I had no vision of what it might look like, no expectations of what it might look like. When I saw it at the screening [in Los Angeles], that was the first time I had seen it. It was kind of extraordinary, the fact that they could take these tiny fragments and build it into a narrative."

He added: "It smelled fine, but shooting under lights for 13 hours or so, it can get a little nasty. I was reminded last night that while I was shooting that scene, everybody else on the cast was at the Emmys [in 2016]."

Though there are some who say the scene was a waste of time, Bradley has defended it and said it's perfect character development for Sam, "disguised in a bit of fun".

"He knows that his time is being wasted. That frustration, to see that so instantly in the season and see that he is frustrated and that he’s been sent there to do a job he’s not allowed to do? That’s important," he continued.

Exactly how that progresses moving forward is yet to be seen, but with just 12 episodes left, Sam is going to have to work fast if he's to make himself useful. Already discovering that a trove of Dragonglass is retrievable and sending out a raven to Jon Snow (Kit Harington), he may have already done something quite incredible towards saving the living from the threat of the White Walkers.

More: HBO Smash Ratings Records With 'Game Of Thrones' Season 7 Premiere

'Game Of Thrones' season 7 continues Sundays in the US on HBO and Mondays in the UK on Sky Atlantic.