HBO was lucky when illness struck the “House of the Dragon” set at the very last minute. Director Greg Yaitanes – on the West of Westeros podcast hosted by Entertainment Weekly – discussed how they avoided delays in filming the season finale when the actor who plays one of the Cargyll twins contracted COVID-19. Arryk and Erryk are portrayed by 33-year-old actors and real-life identical twins Luke and Elliott Tittensor. Read more: ‘Game of Thrones’ prequel keeps dragons, adds diversity Yaitanes claimed that Luke stepped up to fill in for Elliott during filming a crucial part of “House of the Dragon” season 1 finale after the latter contracted COVID-19 on the second day of filming. The scene included Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) returning to Dragonstone, before Ser Erryk informed Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) and her council that Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) had arrived to negotiate terms. On the podcast, Yaitanes remarked, “There's that scene, that big scene where Corlys comes down and they're putting the markers on the table and the messenger comes in.” He claimed that the sequence required more than two days to film and that Elliott Tittensor, one of the twins, tested positive for COVID-19 at that time. Yaitanes explained, “So we swapped him out with his brother.” Read more: HBO chief: Sorry, fans, no 'Game of Thrones' do-over It’s unlikely that even the most discerning “House of the Dragon” fan would have noticed the difference unless Yaitanes had mentioned it. Yaitanes remarked that if they hadn’t had access to a similar-looking actor, it might have been disastrous since they were ready to film D’Arcy and Erryk was nearby. Even though the “House of the Dragon” crew avoided delay for that brief moment, they were unable to totally prevent COVID-19 during the 2021 filming. The crew member’s positive test result caused production to stop for two days in July 2021, according to Radio Times. Read more: 'Game of Thrones' final season to debut on April 14 But now that “House of the Dragon” season 1 has aired, viewers will have to pray that the next season doesn’t see any further delays since production may only begin in 2023, according to co-creator and executive producer Ryan Condal.

Director and producer Jean-Marc Vallée, who won an Emmy for directing the hit HBO series “Big Little Lies” and whose 2013 drama “Dallas Buyers Club” earned multiple Oscar nominations, has died. He was 58. Vallée died suddenly in his cabin outside Quebec City, Canada, over the weekend, his representative Bumble Ward said Sunday. Vallée was acclaimed for his naturalistic approach to filmmaking, directing stars including Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal over the past decade. Also read: Netflix Web Series Decoupled Review He directed Emily Blunt in 2009's “The Young Victoria” and became a sought-after name in Hollywood after “Dallas Buyers Club,” featuring Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto, earned six Academy Awards nominations, including best picture. “With a gentle hand and heart Jean-Marc was a true receiver — he didn’t romanticize life so much as he saw life romantic — from the struggle to the pain to the wink and the whisper, love stories were everywhere in his eye,” tweeted McConaughey, one of several stars paying tribute to Vallée on Monday. Vallée often shot with natural light and hand-held cameras, giving actors freedom to improvise from the script and move around within a scene’s location. The crew roamed up and down the Pacific Coast Trail to shoot Witherspoon in 2014's “Wild." “They can move anywhere they want,” the Canadian filmmaker said of his actors in a 2014 interview with The Associated Press. “It’s giving the importance to storytelling, emotion, characters. I try not to interfere too much. I don’t need to cut performances. Often, the cinematographer and I were like, ‘This location sucks. It’s not very nice. But, hey, that’s life.’” He re-teamed with Witherspoon to direct the first season of “Big Little Lies” in 2017, and directed Adams in 2018′s “Sharp Objects,” also for HBO. Vallée won DGA awards for both. “I will always remember you as the sun goes down," Witherspoon wrote on Instagram along with a series of photos of the director. "Chasing the light. On a mountain in Oregon. On a beach in Monterey. Making sure we all caught a little magic in this lifetime. I love you, Jean Marc. Until we meet again.” Also read: Golden Globes announce nominations to a skeptical Hollywood Her “Big Little Lies” co-star Laura Dern on Instagram called Vallée a “beloved friend” who was “one of our great and purest artists and dreamers.” Leto said on Twitter that he was “a filmmaking force and a true artist who changed my life.” And Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted that “Jean-Marc Vallée’s passion for filmmaking and storytelling was unmatched — so too was his talent. Through his work and with his art, he left a mark in Quebec, across Canada, and around the world.”

With his final two performances, the late Chadwick Boseman earned two NAACP Image Awards nominations Tuesday, while “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” could make its presence felt at next month’s ceremony.

Los Angeles, 30 Oct (AP/UNB) — HBO is green-lighting a new "Game of Thrones" prequel after reportedly canceling another that starred Naomi Watts.