Sean Bean says Ned Stark's severed head caused chaos on 'Game of Thrones' set

Sean Bean revealed that the beheading of his "Game of Thrones" character, Ned Stark, ended in chaos on the set. It was fun chaos though, and no one was harmed.

One of the memorable, albeit gruesome and tragic scenes in the HBO series was Eddard Stark's death. During King Joffrey's reign as ruler of The Seven Kingdoms, he ordered for Ned's death by beheading. He even made sure the act is carried out properly and watched on the sidelines as the blade chopped down Ned's head.

Arya and Sansa saw the execution unfold before their eyes. The viewers seethed in anger seeing Joffrey smile as Ned's head rolled.

However, on the set, the crew shared Joffrey's enjoyment. Bean recalled that they played around with Ned's head (or the dummy head) after the crew threw it on the floor.

"I think I started messing about with it a bit," Bean said during a guest appearance on the Jonathan Ross Show.

The crew picked up on the English actor's antics and "took it a bit further." Bean remembered that they "started throwing it, then started booting it." They turned the set into a sports stadium with Ned's head as a football.

Naturally, it was purely for fun and entertainment. It was a harmless act probably meant to lighten the gloomy mood of the scene. After all, the patriarch of the Stark family had just died.

Speaking of deaths, Bean recently revealed that he no longer wants to accept roles that kills his character right away. He has had enough, apparently, after dying 21 times in movies. His reason is understandable.

"I've turned down stuff. I've said, 'They know my character's going to die because I'm in it!' I just had to cut that out and start surviving, otherwise, it was all a bit predictable," Bean told The Sun.

"I did do one job and they said, 'We're going to kill you', and I was like, 'Oh no!' and then they said, 'Well, can we injure you badly?' and I was like, 'OK, so long as I stay alive this time,'" the 60-year-old "Troy" actor added.

Bean got his wish and it was a relief for the actor when he was cast in the BBC1 film "World On Fire." It is a war drama but the actor's character, Douglas Bennett, does not die. There is no beheading or any death scene like in "Game of Thrones."