Hannah Waddingham (Septa Unella) on being Waterboarded on Game of Thrones in Season 6

Gasping for breath, drowning in water is one of the most common nightmares people experience in their dreams. One Game of Thrones actress had to go through that in real, on set, for an excruciating 10 hours. Hannah Waddingham, who played Septa Unella on the show, was strapped to a table, to be tortured by Lena Headey’s Cersei Lannister. She described her harrowing experience in a recent episode of Collider’s Ladies Night.

She explained, “Definitely, other than childbirth, it was the worst day of my life. 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?’”

“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!’”

Waddingham continued, “When I got back to the hotel that night, I was going up in the left and I was standing next to Eugene (Lancel Lannister) who had had to crawl through loads of sh*t to get out of the Sept of Baylor and he was like, ‘Oh my god, what happened to you today?’ I could barely speak because I had been screaming through The Mountain’s hand, which is quite frightening as a singer to completely lose your voice, so I had no voice at all to barely whisper, bruises already coming up like I had been attacked”

“I was like, ‘I’ve basically just been waterboarded for ten hours.’ And he went, ‘Mate, I’ve just been crawling through sh*t for four days on my elbows.’ So we were like, ‘See? You haven’t been in Game of Thrones unless you’ve been really, really, battered around.’”

Have you ever been through a similar experience? Tell us in the comments below!

True horrors reside in the deepest corners of the twisted human mind. Game of Thrones gave a glimpse of what torture meant in the medieval period. Fans of the show still get flooded by the memories of Cersei’s torture whenever they hear the word ‘Shame’. And how can anyone forget the dreadful character behind that voice, Septa Unella, played by Hannah Waddingham. In a recent episode of Collider’s Ladies Night, she revealed the original fate of her character on Game of Thrones.

She revealed, “She was meant to be raped by The Mountain. I think they’d had so many complaints about the rape of Sansa that they chose not to go with it.”

“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. 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.’”

“And there I was strapped to a wooden table with proper big straps for ten hours. Definitely, other than childbirth, it was the worst day of my life.”

What do you think of the original fate of Septa Unella? Talk to us in the comments below!

Game of Thrones was like a huge family, consisting of varied personalities coming together to make a great show. No matter how adverse their roles were on-screen, they were quite friendly in real life. Take for example, the case of Cersei’s torturer Septa Unella. The two characters couldn’t see eye to eye in the fantasy series. However, in real life, Hannah Waddingham (Unella) and Lena Headey are close friends.

In a recent episode of Collider’s Ladies Night, Waddingham said, “I think the key with Lena and myself was we immediately got on. We’re both what we would call here ‘birds.’ We’re not fluffy, girly girls. We got on immediately, we really dig each other from the word ‘go,’ and I think that we just realized that it was very much a bit of teamwork on that. She and I are friends still today and if you think about how little time that we actually spent on that together, that makes me feel like they got the chemistry right there.”

She continued, “I was acutely aware of coming into something where she had been carving out such a magnificent three-dimensional character for five seasons. I owed it to her and to her detailed work to come in and bolster that up around her. So I’m just glad that it was so well received and that she and I are still very silly friends.”

Can you think of more on-screen adversaries who are friends in real life? Tell us in the comments below!

Jason Momoa’s movie the Aquaman was a huge success for the DCEU (DC Extended Universe). The movie made huge profits and was applauded by fans all over the world. Aquaman was earlier regarded as a lame, fish-talking hero with little to no use. The character was made fun of by many comic book fans across the world. However, with the introduction of Game of Thrones’ Jason Momoa as the titular hero, everything changed. Aquaman is now one of the coolest heroes in the DC roster, thanks to Momoa.

In a recent interview with Drew Barrymore, Jason Momoa discussed what it was like to write up the story treatment for Aquaman 2. He said :

“After we ended the first one I went in with my writing partner and we dreamed up the second one and we went in and pitched the idea and the best thing I can give you is that I love it so much that I participated in the writing of it. And so, we did the first treatment and then James and our original writer David finished it off and all of our hearts are in it. Instead of just like getting a script and doing that like you are 100% being encouraged by your director and co-writers so that’s exciting for me and I’m excited to go over there. I leave in July and we start filming.”

Momoa has also joined Discovery’s docuseries On The Roam where he will be meeting more badass people like him. Are you excited about Aquaman 2? Tell us in the comments below!