Gemma Whelan talks about Yara Greyjoy's walk of shame

Game of Thrones is a show that likes to play with the dynamics of the characters it depicts. We have seen characters that were hated in the beginning, become loved, and vice versa, and we have seen characters swinging from being on the top, to down in the dirt, and back on top. The show has had some well-written bad boys in the past, and the latest in the batch is Euron Greyjoy. As you might have seen, he’s making it incredibly tough for Daenerys Targaryen, and her ally the Greyjoys, Yara and Theon. Yara Greyjoy was captured by him, and taken through King’s Landing for a walk of shame, leash and everything included. In a new interview, Gemma Whelan, who plays the role of Yara, talked about the walk, and more. Read on!

Gemma recently spoke toEntertainment Weeklyabout her Game of Thrones Season 7 run. First off, she discussed that sexy scene with Ellaria Sand played by Indira Varma :

“I loved it! Indira is one of the sexiest people, we had a lovely time. Indira and I were quite fearless, we just went for it. Actually, initially, in that scene, it was meant to be her kissing Alfie. Then it [changed]. It wasn’t directed that we would kiss. It just seemed like something we should do. We led it, very much so. It was meant to be a suggestion [of flirting] and then it became more sexual than we expected because it seemed right. There was only a skeleton crew working because the rig could only take so much weight, so we were left very much on our own. And who wouldn’t want to kiss Indira? I mean, come on!”

She then talked about the battle scene:

“It was extraordinary to film, with Mark Mylod directing it. They can storyboard in it in live animation and can show you what they’re planning, and it’s all really precisely planned in full 3D action animation and he talks you through the whole sequence, then we pick it up shot by shot, moment by moment. We rehearse our fight sequences very slowly in a clean tidy environment with no costumes. It’s very easy. But on set, there’s fire flying everywhere, the deck is really wet, there are these incredible stuntmen running around. Pilou and I worked together carefully to make sure we didn’t hurt one another. I also had a fantastic stunt double to do a couple of the bits that weren’t convincing for me to do.”

As we all know, upon seeing his crew bring tortured and his sister’s life in jeopardy, Theon went into a Reek-like state and decided to jump off the ship, leaving Yara behind. Talking about this, Gemma said :

“It’s such a shame, but it’s such a beautiful, heart-wrenching twist! We think Yara has managed to get Theon back, they had all these scenes of solidarity and comradery in season 6. It seems like he’s back, then there’s that wavering, faltering moment that Alfie plays so beautifully. Yara’s just willing him, “No, no, stay with me.” It’s just so heartbreaking!”

Yara then saw her walk of shame, with Euron being as big a jerk about it as possible. Speaking of this, Gemma said :

“Yeah, she’s just being humiliated. My reaction to that was he could have done something far sicker to her. It’s quite tame to just drag her through the streets for a man of Euron’s psychopathy. I didn’t really overthink it, it just seemed like an appropriate thing for him to do. Euron’s gotta get his comeuppance.”
So, what did you think of this interview? Do you think we will be seeing Yara Greyjoy again? Talk to us in the comments, down below!

 

If you have any important filming news about House of the Dragon, or if you want to collaborate with us or want to write for us, please drop us a message here.

 

Official House of the Dragon Merchandise