'Game of Thrones' trivia and fun facts

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.

Daenerys had purple eyes in the books, but the contact lenses Emilia Clarke wore affected her performance so they were abandoned.

A replica of Gandalf's sword, Glamdring, from 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy and 'Hobbit' trilogy, is forged inside the Iron Throne.

The showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss said the production of the show is a massive undertaking. The production lasts the entire year and they shoot the show like a 10-hour movie. Season 5 alone was shot in 5 countries, on 151 sets, for 240 days, having 166 cast members, over 1,000 crew members and over 5,000 extras.

Jack Gleeson (Joffrey) received a letter from author George R.R. Martin after the show aired, stating "Congratulations on your marvelous performance, everyone hates you!"

With winning a total of 12 Emmys in 2015, the show took home more Emmys in a single year than any other show, surpassing 'The West Wing' (9).

Carice van Houten (Melisandre) had previously been asked to audition for the role of Cersei Lannister but was unable to because she was filming 'Intruders'.

In the year 2012, over 160 baby girls in the U.S. were legally named "Khaleesi", after the character in the show, although it is not the character's name (Daenerys) but a title.

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.

No character appears in every episode, and only three characters have appeared in every episode of a given season: Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister) and Jack Gleeson (Joffrey Baratheon) appeared in every episode of the first season, and Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister) appeared in every episode of the second and fifth seasons.