Robert Plant Turned Down Role in ‘Game of Thrones’—“I Didn’t Want to Be Typecast”

Robert Plant nearly found himself on the back of a horse, riding through Winterfell as the newest cast member on Game of Thrones.

Despite reportedly being offered a cameo in the hit TV show, the rock legend turned down the appearance, revealing to Apple Music 1, that he “started that shit.”

Talking to Apple’s George Stroumboulopoulos in an interview earlier this week, Plant suggested—in a somewhat tongue-in-cheek manner—that he didn’t need to join the show given he had already famously drawn upon the idea of rampaging, sword-bearing warriors in Led Zepplin’s classic “Immigrant Song.” He joked he didn’t want to be “typecast” in the wildly successful series.

“Go back to ‘Immigrant Song,’ the singer said. “And Led Zeppelin being part of a cultural exchange in Iceland with the Icelandic government. So they didn’t really know what they’d invited onto their little island.”

Talking about the inspiration for the iconic track’s lyrics he said, “I love Western European history from maybe the Bronze Age up through all the old religion …when we were really in touch with our Earth. The Viking thing, the whole idea of playing in Iceland and experiencing this landscape and people.

“Yeah, I’ve got a lot to answer for, really,” Plant joked, “because I’ve never seen so many bands with double-bladed axes. [If it wasn’t for “Immigrant Song”] they could have all looked like Soft Cell.”

He didn’t reveal what character he was slated to play on the series but instead cheekily said, “I got to ride a horse and go [lifts head].”

Photo by Per Ole Hagen/Redferns