“Game of Thrones” star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau goes from dodging dragons to surviving prison in “Shot Caller”

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ABC/Randy Holmes

ABC/Randy Holmes(NEW YORK) — When he’s not busy dodging dragons as Jaime Lannister on Game of Thrones, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is making movies.

The Danish actor’s latest film, Shot Caller, comes out in select theaters on Friday. Coster-Waldau stars as Jacob, a family man-turned-prison gang leader. After a fatal car accident gets him sentenced for involuntary manslaughter, Jacob is forced to do things he never imagined.

“It’s not just about serving the time, it’s about surviving, the actor says, noting that his character shakes hands with the devil and once you do that, the devil won’t let go”

But back to that dragon-dodging. Game of Thrones has put Jaime through the wringer this season: episode four featured him nearly getting burnt to a crisp by one of Daenerys’ dragons, and then getting knocked into the water, where he appeared to drown.

“To be honest, I don’t really think people thought Jaime had died, because you saw Bronn throw himself at him,” Coster-Waldau says. “There was a lot of people going, ‘Oh, he’s never gonna survive. He’s gonna drown because of the armor.’ Which is true in a real world.”

Not true in Game of Thrones world, though. Jaime is alive and well, and as we learned last week, about to be a father again with his twin sister-slash-lover Cersei. So how will Jaime deal with impending fatherhood?

“He’s working on the nursery,” Coster-Waldau jokes. “He wants a daughter but he wants to keep the options open so I think he’s going with green.”

A new episode of Game of Thrones airs Sunday at 9 p.m. on HBO.

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