Game of Thrones Star Left Traumatized by Her Awful 10-Hour-Long Torture Scene
Not all actors should do their stunts. Even years later, this Game of Thrones actress is plagued by phobias from her terrifying torture scene on the show.
Summary:
- Hannah Waddingham, the Septa Unella star, decided to film her torture scene herself but didn’t anticipate the harsh consequences of her choice.
- After 10 hours of literal waterboarding, Waddingham was left traumatized, still suffering from chronic claustrophobia many years later.
- Despite being physically and mentally tortured, the actress committed to the piece because she didn’t want to “chicken out.”
One thing Game of Thrones has never been known for is being light-hearted. The sheer brutality of this show led many characters to unhinged demise, but in most gruesome scenes, stunt doubles took the hit instead of the actors themselves. It might not be as admirable as doing your own stunts, but in many cases, relying on stunt doubles is necessary for both physical and mental health.
This Game of Thrones star knows all about it as back then, she chose wrong.
GoT Star Still Traumatized by Her Torture
In Game of Thrones, Hannah Waddingham portrayed Septa Unella, High Sparrow’s zealot minion who humiliated and controlled Lena Headey’s Cersei Lannister. After a certain turn of events, the tables turned around, and Septa Unella found herself in Cersei’s complete power — and her former prisoner got to torture her in return.
Hannah Waddingham decided to film the torture scene herself… And regretted it. Apparently, the “horrific” scene took 10 whole hours to shoot, and for the majority of that time, the actress was “actually waterboarded.” Even years later, Waddingham is suffering from chronic claustrophobia thanks to that experience.
“Lena was uncomfortable pouring liquid in my face for that long, and I was beside myself. But in those moments, you go, ‘Do you serve the piece and get on with it, or do you chicken out and go?’” Waddingham shared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Original Scene Was Even Worse Than That
According to the Septa Unella actress, the “wine-boarding” torture was a last-second addition. Initially, her character’s fate was even worse: Benioff and Weiss planned for her to be brutalized by the Mountain in his signature sickening fashion.
“They’d had so many complaints about the rape of Sansa that they chose not to go with it. Unbelievably, they changed it quite at the last minute. I think they possibly changed it when I was mid-air flying to Belfast because suddenly I got sent these new sides that said I would need a wetsuit top,” Waddingham explained.
Arguably, the original version would have been better for the actress’ sanity in the end since waterboarding is physical torture. But regarding her character’s fate, Septa Unella totally got lucky, narrowly avoiding a terrifying fate at the Mountain’s hands.