HBO’s Game of Thrones series ended about two years ago and will probably go down as one of the best shows in history. While the fantasy and provocative show had its controversial moments and a mediocre final season, GoT fans stayed loyal to the end. Even with the backlash it received back in season 5 when Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) was sexually assaulted by Ramsey Bolton (Iwan Rheon) on their wedding night. This caused justifiable outrage, which resulted in some future changes to the show’s plans for other characters. Hanna Waddingham who played Septa Unella recently spoke to Collider and revealed her character’s ending was planned to be much worse and darker.
“She was meant to be raped by The Mountain, and I think they’d had so many complaints about the rape of Sansa that they chose not to go with it,” Waddingham revealed. “I think they possibly changed it when I was mid-air flying to Belfast because suddenly I got sent these new sides that said that I would need a wetsuit top. And I thought they’d sent me the wrong bits. And sure enough, when I got there, I was then put in a wetsuit top and I was like, ‘Because?’ And they went, ‘Oh, it’s waterboarding instead.'”
Waddingham, who is better known now as Rebecca Welton on Ted Lasso, played one of Game of Thrones’ many terrible characters. Septa Unella paraded Cersei Lannister (Lena Heady) naked through King’s Landing at the end of Game of Thrones season 5. Shame! Shame!
Game of Throne fans weren’t really sad to see her go the way she did, but the original plan for her Septa Unella’s terrible fate would’ve certainly resulted in more backlash just like the Sansa Stark scene. We can all agree, GoT producers and writers made the right call. Love her or hate her, Cersei’s revenge on those who wronged her is one of the most epic moments in Game of Thrones. Septa being raped by The Mountain would’ve ruined those moments.
Being waterboarded for 10 hours on set isn’t a walk in the park. Waddingham continued to talk about her experience with filming her scene.
“And there I was strapped to a wooden table with proper big straps for ten hours. And definitely, other than childbirth, it was the worst day of my life,” she shared. “Because Lena was uncomfortable pouring liquid in my face for that long, and I was beside myself. But in those moments you have to think, do you serve the piece and get on with it or do you chicken out and go, ‘No, this isn’t what I signed up for, blah, blah, blah?’ And then, the funny thing was, after we’d finished shooting it for the whole day, and people like Miguel Sapochnik, the director by the way, walking past with a cup of tea and a sandwich on-the-go and going, ‘Hi hunny, you alright?’ And I was like, ‘Not really.’ ‘The crew have just been saying we are actually really waterboarding you here.’ And I was like, ‘Yup, you don’t need to tell me that!’”
It’s interesting to hear actors’ revelations about their time on a show. Hopefully, the Game of Thrones spin-off, House of the Dragon, will be easier and more pleasant for its actors. House of the Dragon is set to debut January 1st, 2022.
