Game of Thrones star Gemma Whelan remembers 'racy' audition
What did you miss?
Game of Thrones actress Gemma Whelan has recounted what went down in her audition to play Iron Islands warrior Yara Greyjoy.
Joining presenters Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard on the latest episode of This Morning, the 43-year-old was there to talk about her returning ITV police procedural The Tower (series 3 is subtitled Gallowstree Lane) but fantasy fan Ben couldn't wait to mention Gemma's connection to the HBO behemoth, which ended after eight seasons in 2019 and spawned the prequel House of the Dragon.
Apparently, his 19-year-old son Sam has just started getting into Thrones, with Yara and Alfie Allen's character Theon encountering each other after years of separation during a recent watch. In their reunion scene, which unfolds in season 2 episode The Night Lands, Theon gropes Yara while on horseback without realising she's his sister.
What, how and why?
"That was my audition scene!" laughed the This Morning guest.
"It was quite racy, yeah. I don't know... you've just gotta do it haven't you. Commit. They didn't provide a horse unfortunately, it was a chair. It was very difficult because I'm very method," Gemma then joked. "I was in casting for something else and it was the same casting director and he said, 'I think you're perfect for something I'm doing at the moment', which was Yara."
Meanwhile, Ben revealed that Yara was one of his favourite characters across "the whole of Game of Thrones" because she "just didn't take any rubbish from people". The actress replied: "Exactly, she was very front-fronted and quite witty. A joy to play."
What else did Gemma say about Game of Thrones?
Reflecting on the Thrones fandom, Gemma told Cat and Ben that she used to have women coming up to her with heartwarming stories sprouting from Yara's on-screen journey.
"At the height of it, you'd have people queuing up for your photograph and autograph and chatting about how you've influenced their lives, or women who were gay and able to come out because of Yara... just small things and tiny differences that you'd never get to understand if weren't out meeting the fans," she explained.
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV.
Read more:
'I'd given up on Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon clawed me right back in'
How the original Game of Thrones pilot episode nearly doomed the show
This article originally appeared on Yahoo TV UK at https://uk.news.yahoo.com/game-of-thrones-gemma-whelan-audition-114838679.html
