Nikolaj Coster-Waldau says Emilia Clarke's sex scene in 'Game of Thrones' season one was 'degrading' to play
- In an interview with The Times of London, the "Game of Thrones" actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau said that Emilia Clarke's season-one sex scene was "tough and degrading" to play.
- In the show's pilot episode, Clarke's Daenerys is raped by Jason Momoa's Khal Drogo on their wedding night.
- Coster-Waldau, who played Jaime Lannister in the show, said: "For Emilia to play that in series one was really tough and degrading, because what that character goes through is horrific."
In an interview with The Times of London, the "Game of Thrones" actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau said the season-one sex scene Emilia Clarke had to shoot was "tough and degrading" for her to play.
The Jaime Lannister actor discussed the controversial scene from the show's inaugural season in which Clarke's Daenerys Targaryen is raped by Jason Momoa's Khal Drogo.
"For Emilia to play that in series one was really tough and degrading, because what that character goes through is horrific," he said. "She's sold to a guy who rapes her, but her way of getting through that is a massive journey, right?"
Coster-Waldau, who is promoting his new movie "The Silencing," agreed that Daenerys' eventual rise to power displayed how the show changed its treatment toward women but said: "It's also in the books."
The actor added that many women in the show were in positions of power. One of these women was his on-screen sister and lover, Cersei Lannister, played by Lena Headey.
"Cersei, too, was never looked upon as an equal to her brother just because of gender," Coster-Waldau said. "But then she rises to the top. And you could argue that the way those two women turned out was because of being raised in this horrific way."
But in James Hibberd's recently released behind-the-scenes book, "Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon," the "Game of Thrones" author, George RR Martin, said the decision to have Daenerys raped in this scene made the episode "worse, not better."
Martin said: "Why did the wedding scene change from the consensual seduction scene ... to the brutal rape of Emilia Clarke? We never discussed it."
Coster-Waldau, who played Jaime in 55 episodes of "Thrones," including the first and last of the series, also weighed in during his interview with The Times on the show's much-criticized ending.
He said that perhaps the horrific, season-one rape scene resulted in Daenerys' surprising decision to burn King's Landing: "That's the storytelling, and it's interesting."
He told The Times that he also found it "interesting" that people were so angry with the show's ending.
"Because when you meet people, they're not angry at all, are they?" he said. "Then they get behind a keyboard and get opinionated and write a petition. I did a round table with hardcore fans, and we were all talking about the ending and what I found was that, yes, most had another idea for what would have been a great ending, but, ultimately, they just didn't want the show to end."
- Read more:
- Ser Jorah almost had a different fate in 'Game of Thrones,' and it ties into a detail from the books
- The 'Game of Thrones' showrunners tricked Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams into thinking they weren't allowed to attend the wrap party because they were underage
- George R. R. Martin says 'Game of Thrones' creators' decision to have Daenerys sexually assaulted on her wedding night made the pilot 'worse' — but the reason makes sense if you've read the books