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waterboarded
'Game Of Thrones' Actress Says She Was Literally Waterboarded For 10 Hours While Filming Scene
Game of Thrones gained a much more tarnished reputation after the ending flopped with fans and information about the qualifications of the creators has come to light.
Now some more information from behind the scenes left more fans with a sour taste in their mouths.
Hannah Waddingham who played Septa Unella, the fanatical nun of a cult like sect in the show's religion, says she was basically waterboarded for ten hours for a scene involving her character's torture at the hands of Cersei Lannister, played by Lena Headey.
You can see Waddingham recall the scene here:
This has many fans up in arms over the incident.
people are on here saying "if she was really waterboarded she wouldn't be saying this" ACTORS IN A TV SHOW SHOULD NOT BE WATERBOARDED !!!!!!! IN ANY CAPACITY !!!!!!!!! MILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF CGI FOR DRAGONS AND YOU CAN'T ENSURE THAT ACTORS DONT HAVE TO BE TORTURED ON SET ????????https://twitter.com/IGN/status/1397266477607182336\u00a0\u2026— ABOLISH POLICE (@ABOLISH POLICE) 1621970835
D&D think they're Kubrick apparently.— TFCNU (@TFCNU) 1621944294
Umm, I don't care who you are or what show you're making, nothing justifies *actually torturing* one of your actors on a set.\n\n No one should be *literally waterboarded* for your "art."https://collider.com/game-of-thrones-hannah-waddingham-waterboarded-interview-septa-unella/\u00a0\u2026— Gabriel Urbina (@Gabriel Urbina) 1621697099
Waddingham told the story to Collider's Ladies Night.
Her character is best known for chanting "Shame" at Cersei in an iconic and highly meme-able scene. In a later point in the series, Cersei gets her revenge by strapping Unella to a plinth and waterboarding her with wine.
However, no movie magic was used for the scene. Instead, Headey actually poured liquid over Waddingham's face for shoot after reshoot.
The actress said the change was made last minute:
"I thought they'd sent me the wrong bits and sure enough, when I got there, I was then put in a wetsuit top."
"I was like, 'Because?' And they went, 'Oh, it's waterboarding instead'. And I was like, 'Oh, well, we're not actually doing waterboarding'."
"'No, no, no—we are.' And there I was, strapped to a wooden table with proper big straps for 10 hours. And definitely, other than childbirth, it was the worst day of my life."
Headey was also very uncomfortable pouring liquid on Waddingham's face for so long, but the two shot the scene for hours.
The final shot is only about two minutes long.
No piece of television is worth literally torturing people! Absolutely disgusting!https://twitter.com/ew/status/1397208370977849344\u00a0\u2026— Thomas Michael Clark (@Thomas Michael Clark) 1621962922
I was horrified when I read about this.— Conrad Aunt Tifa (she/her) (@Conrad Aunt Tifa (she/her)) 1621901735
WTF??? In a conflict zone this would be called a war crime.https://twitter.com/daenerysgfs/status/1396619262798729221\u00a0\u2026— Sam Melnick (@Sam Melnick) 1621891380
Game of Thrones was a garbage show run by garbage people.https://twitter.com/IGN/status/1397266477607182336\u00a0\u2026— James McQuaid (@James McQuaid) 1621969553
After the incident, Waddingham recalled her voice being so hoarse from trying to speak through the torture, she had "no voice at all to barely whisper" along with bruises on her neck.
Since then, the actress has claustrophobia around water and went to therapy over the incident she was completely unprepared for due to it being a last minute change.
She said:
"Unella 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."
Waddingham is currently on Ted Lasso, a series so far from Game of Thrones, she's in much safer hands. In it, she plays the owner of a football club, hiring the unbelievably wholesome Ted Lasso to coach.
It's certainly a long way from "Shame!"
This is the content I came to the comments for.— That Woman in 12B (@That Woman in 12B) 1621956044
That's a shame pic.twitter.com/noshdPZ8ax— RSL. (@RSL.) 1621908659
Shame. Shame. Shame.— Brendan Critch (@Brendan Critch) 1621968706
While a few fans decided to make the obvious joke, workplace safety is no laughing matter.