Viewers of Game of Thrones’ Sunday, May 17 episode all had strong reactions to the extremely disturbing rape scene involving Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) and her new husband Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon).
Following their snowy wedding, the sadistic Ramsay ripped off his new bride’s dress and robbed her of her virginity while forcing the now-enslaved Theon Greyjoy/Reek (Alfie Allen) to watch. Thankfully, the cameras pulled away from the actual rape, but it was reflected on Theon’s horrified face.
The scene, which is yet another departure from the Songs of Ice and Fire books by George R.R. Martin, was widely slammed by fans of the series (both book and show). Following the episode, Entertainment Weekly spoke with Turner about her thoughts on all her tortured character has been through.
“Last season [director] Alex Graves decided to give me hints,” Turner, 19, revealed. “He was saying, ‘You get a love interest next season.’ And I was all, ‘I actually get a love interest!’ So I get the scripts and I was so excited and I was flicking through and then I was like, ‘Aw, are you kidding me!?’”
But ultimately, the British star was excited to tackle the challenge and see where it would take Sansa.
“When I read that scene, I kinda loved it,” she admitted to EW. “I love the way Ramsay had Theon watching. It was all so messed up. It’s also so daunting for me to do it. I’ve been making [producer Bryan Cogman] feel so bad for writing that scene: ‘I can’t believe you’re doing this to me!’ But I secretly loved it.”
Unlike the books, the Ramsay in the show didn’t really show his true nature until their wedding night, and Turner was particularly interested in that reveal.
“I kind of like the fact she doesn’t really know what a psycho he is until that night,” she continued. “She has a sense, but she’s more scared of his father. And then that night everything gets so f–ked up.”
Author Martin refused to comment on the controversial scene, posting a blog post after numerous fans tried reaching out to him about the show.
“There have been differences between the novels and the television show since the first episode of season one,” Martin wrote. “And for just as long, I have been talking about the butterfly effect. Small changes lead to larger changes lead to huge changes.”
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