Interview
Natalie Dormer feels Margaery’s death in Game of Thrones could have been more impactful
Did the Queen face an impactful demise?
Natalie Dormer, who played Margaery Tyrell in Game of Thrones, talks about how her character died on the show. She wishes it had been done differently so it would have had a more significant effect on the story. What she says helps us understand how the show was made and how the actors thought about their characters.
Looking Back on Margaery’s Legacy
Margaery Tyrell is a master of public image, using charm and charity to win over the masses and gain support. However, beneath her manipulative nature lies vulnerability and genuine emotion. She also wields feminine power in a male-dominated society, defying traditional gender roles and using her social standing to gain influence. Through her strategic use of relationships and charm, Margaery blurs the lines between power and gender. Natalie Dormer, in an interview with Collider Ladies Night, said,
“I mean, there’s invariably with a show of that size there are quite a few scenes that get shot but don’t make it to the cut,” and there are few Margaery Tyrell scenes that didn’t make it to the main show. And I think they are on the internet now. There’s one in the first season that I did, or I believe in the second or third season, where I am talking to Loras, I am talking to Finn, my brother, and you know, because you see so much of the facade with Margaery, you know the performance.
You know, I include like whether she’s when you know most often you see her there’s the performance so obviously there were scenes later with Diana, where you saw it more but early on pre-Diana when I was trying to find her, there are a few choice scenes, where she’s just talking openly mainly with Loris and that really helped me and even though they didn’t make it in. Shooting them, rehearsing them, breathing them helped.”
Margaery’s Tragic Demise could have been more memorable
Margaery Tyrell’s fate was sealed in Season 6 of Game of Thrones. She was killed in the Great Sept of Baelor’s explosive destruction, orchestrated by Cersei Lannister’s secret wildfire plot, claiming Margaery, her brother Loras, and many others. Natalie Dormer feels that Margaery’s death in Game of Thrones could have been more impactful. Her character’s ending could have been more meaningful and memorable.
“Yeah, absolutely, I was frustrated that when she was frustrated in the scene and I was once told by an older actor, I’m trying to rack my brains for who it is now but I was once told by a much older actor, don’t get confused, if you are feeling something always check yourself that it’s just not your character is feeling it and via osmosis it’s seeping, it’s seeping into you. Because if you play something your body doesn’t know any different and if you are playing something repetitively as you obviously have to do on a shoot.
Sometimes it can sleep in that emotion can seep into you, so of course like she deserved better. I wanted more for her but she’s so frustrated in that moment with the sparrow with Jonathan and that’s part of how you know you are doing it right because you’re like, i just need someone to listen to me a little bit more. She was vindicated in the end. It’s like a couple of sentences but it’s all that needed to be said. And felt that I could let her go in that moment because she said it.”
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