‘Game of Thrones’ star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau on rescuing snakes, tying rakhis and eating mirchi bajji in India
VOGUE India
While filming the second season of An Optimist’s Guide to the Planet in India, the actor felt himself become one with the invigorating spirit of the country.
I will never forget Soundarya Hotel, the unassuming Udupi restaurant stationed on a highway bordering the outskirts of Bengaluru. It’s where I watched Nikolaj Coster-Waldau taste—and wipe clean—his first-ever plate of South Indian dishes.
If you saw that viral video of Coster-Waldau biting into fluffy idlis at Rameshwaram Cafe, you already know he was in the city. While the Danish actor is best known for playing the sword-swishing Jaime Lannister with a full-circle arc in arguably the world’s most popular show, his visit to India had nothing to do with Game of Thrones. It was actually about finding solutions; Coster-Waldau is filming the second season of the docuseries—An Optimist’s Guide to the Planet, where he meets global changemakers in sustainable development—which will air in October on Bloomberg Originals.