Game of Thrones star Gemma Whelan says actors were ‘left to get on’ with filming sex scenes

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Game of Thrones star Gemma Whelan has revealed that shooting sex scenes on the HBO drama could be a “frenzied mess”. Whelan told The Guardian: “ used to just say, ‘When we shout action, go for it!’ And it could be a sort of frenzied mess.” The 40-year-old added: “But between the actors there was always an instinct to check in with each other.” “There was a scene in a brothel with a woman and she was so exposed that we talked together about where the camera would be and what she was happy with.” She continued: “A director might say, ‘Bit of boob biting, then slap her bum and go!’ But I’d always talk it through with the other actor.” Whelan went on to address a specific sex scene in season two that she shot on a horse with Alfie Allen, who played her brother Theon. She said: “With intimacy directors, it’s choreography – you move there, I move there, and permission and consent is given before you start.” Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. Earlier this year, her Game of Thrones co-star Hannah Waddingham – who played Septa Unella – described filming her torture scene as “the worst day of my life”.