Aisling Franciosi's Surprising Revelation About Playing Lyanna Stark On Game Of Thrones - Exclusive

It can be argued that if it wasn't for the character of Lyanna Stark, "Game of Thrones" as we know it wouldn't exist. While Lyanna loomed large across the course of the wildly popular show's eight seasons, which ran from 2011 to 2019, the character rarely physically appeared on the series. In fact, the older version of Lyanna, who died when she was 16, was shown exactly twice, in Seasons 6 and 7.

Playing the crucial character was Aisling Franciosi, who currently stars in "The Unforgivable" in support of Sandra Bullock. "It was interesting," Franciosi told Looper during an exclusive interview. "I'm in two scenes, and I think each one took a day to shoot, so it was very short and very quick for me. It was probably, on paper, the smallest role I've ever played. But it's also one of the ones that people ask me about the most."

That's not the only thing Franciosi revealed about playing Lyanna Stark on "Games of Thrones." During the interview, she also admitted a surprising fact that might shock some fans.

"Game of Thrones" was a pop-culture phenomenon and a ratings juggernaut for HBO, raking in nearly 20 million viewers for the series finale in 2019. But despite its persistent popularity, Franciosi wasn't a fan before appearing on the show. "I hadn't seen a single episode when I read the audition, but I obviously knew how popular it was," she admits.

Before stepping into character, Franciosi "hadn't realized how much they talked about" Lyanna on "Game of Thrones," despite the fact that she was basically the catalyst for the whole storyline. Once Franciosi landed the role, she "obviously started watching," she says, adding that her lack of knowledge about the show in the beginning led to her "accidentally ruining the plot" for her agent, who was a big fan of the series.

Now, looking back on her brief time on "Game of Thrones," Franciosi says, "I'm really happy to have been a part of it because it was such a cultural phenomenon, and it's just really cool to have been a part of something so huge. I hope we have something else like it. I don't mean necessarily in genre, but I mean watercooler-type show. You never know when that's going to happen again."

Franciosi's latest film, "The Unforgivable," is out now in select theaters and streaming exclusively on Netflix.