Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Jennifer Garner’s First Meeting Is Further Proof That Acting Is a Weird Job

A Lannister always pays when he sweats!

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau visited Jimmy Fallon at Rockefeller Center in New York on Friday to schmooze a bit about his recent round-the-world travels and drum up excitement for The Last Thing He Told Me, a new series debuting on Apple TV+. The show is based on the bestselling mystery novel by Laura Dave, produced by Reese Witherspoon’s company Hello Sunshine, and has episodes directed by Olivia Newman, Daisy Von Scherler Mayer, and Deniz Gamze Ergüven. 

Coster-Waldau is the “he” of the title, who disappears one day, and the “me” is played by the series lead, Jennifer Garner. The Tonight Show host, remarking on the chemistry of the two in what he’d seen so far, asked if the pair had met prior to working on the show, and the Danish-born Game of Thrones star said they hadn’t. Indeed, the producers set up the first meeting for the actors with an intimacy coach present. 

Working with what are essentially “sex scene choreographers” isn’t new to Coster-Waldau, but he wasn’t quite sure why this project required one, unless, as he wondered, “did they re-write the script?” Curious, he arrived at Garner’s home the next day with, as he described her, a “very sensual intimacy coach.” Next thing you know, as directed, the two performers got “really, really close” and were told to “smell each other.” (It’s a wonder she didn’t ask her to touch his heart with her foot.) 

While this could have been awkward, it was lucky for the two—as they both started laughing, and realized they had a similar sense of humor. It quickly broke the ice. Elaborating a bit for Interview Magazine, Garner also said that the coach “told us to taste each other” and followed up with, “how does one do that with someone?” A very unusual way to begin a relationship, to be sure. You can see the clip from The Tonight Show below.