‘Jaime Lannister’ braves B’lore spice!

Starp: Game of Thrones star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau slipped into the city quietly, trading Westeros swords for spicy thaalis and candid conversations

OB Bureau

We are probably the last ones to know. No. We are the last ones to know. That’s how it feels, because Jaime Lannister himself was in Bangalore, eating idlis, sipping filter coffee, and folding puris like tacos—while most of us were busy scrolling reels.

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, the Danish star immortalised in pop culture as the sword-wielding Lannister, was in Karnataka not for fanfare but for filming season two of An Optimist’s Guide to the Planet. The Bloomberg Originals docuseries, set to air in October, follows him as he meets changemakers driving sustainable development.

Yes, that viral clip of him biting into pillowy idlis at Rameshwaram Café was only the beginning. Off-camera, the actor was spotted at Soundarya Hotel, a modest Udupi joint on the outskirts of the city, where he polished off a thaali and even braved a chilli bajji—dipping it in curd before declaring to the Indian edition of an international magazine, “That’s actually quite nice.”

Over meals and filming breaks, Coster-Waldau spoke passionately about climate action. “Wherever I travel, I see how much we have in common. We all want to care for our families and live well. The question is—how do we do it sustainably?” he told the magazine, urging India’s youth to rally for the environment.

But Game of Thrones was never far away. Even in a slum where he filmed with patchy internet, a boy with a mohawk bolted towards him yelling, “You’re Jaime Lannister!” At lunch, a fan requested a selfie and, cheekily, an internship for his son. The actor laughed off segues about Westeros but admitted, “I really loved being on the show and miss the people. It was another job, but yes, the impact was enormous and I’m grateful,” he said in the interview.

As his trip wound down, one memento stood out. He revealed to the magazine that he’s carrying a bottle of Ganga water back to Denmark—not for blessings, but to nurture a fragile sapling from the Andes that he and his wife are trying to keep alive. “I’m hoping some of this magic water can help it grow,” he said with a grin.

So, there it is. Bangalore fed Jaime Lannister, India inspired the optimist, and somewhere in Denmark, a little tree might just live longer—thanks to Karnataka.