Game Of Thrones star Nathalie Emmanuel has responded to the fan backlash to the final series, insisting: “You can’t ask for receipts on art.”
The actress, who played Missandei on the hit fantasy series, admitted she was irked by the online petition to have the final series remade “with competent writers”.
Speaking to TV Line, Nathalie said: “Listen, I think it’s totally fine if you don’t like something. That’s perfectly acceptable.
“What I didn’t like was that people were signing a petition. You can’t ask for receipts on art. You just can’t. The art has been created for you, and you can either choose to like it or not.”
Nathalie added that she was “blown away” by the finale, saying: “[It was] a hard plane to land. I don’t think people quite realise the undertaking and the amount of manpower it took to do that.”
Her comments came after bosses finally addressed the Change.org petition, which was signed by over a million people.
The president of HBO – the network on which the show airs in the US – claimed that remaking the final series is “not something we seriously considered”.
Casey Bloys continued (via TV Line): “There are very, very few downsides to having a hugely popular show.
“But one I can think of is when you try to end it, many people have big opinions on how these characters’ stories should come to an end.”
Referencing Game Of Thrones’ success in this year’s Emmy nominations earlier this month, Bloys added: “Thirty-two Emmy nominations is certainly nice validation.”
The petition was set up before the controversial final episode had even aired, following Daenerys’ decision to torch the city of King’s Landing, with many fans claiming it was a betrayal of her character.
Many other members of the show’s cast have spoken out against it, with Sophie Turner, who played Sansa Stark, branding it “disrespectful”, while Bran Stark actor Isaac Hempstead Wright also called it “ridiculous” and “absurd”, while Jacob Anderson – aka Grey Worm – called it “insulting”.
Earlier this month, actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau felt first hand just how upset some fans remain about the final season, when he was booed at Comic Con for defending the ending.
The show’s creators David Benioff and DB Weiss had also been due to take part in the Comic Con panel last week, but HBO announced they had dropped out with no explanation given.