MAJOR SPOILERS
Even though it will be in a future book, many of us are still upset about Sunday’s episode of Game of Thrones, specifically Stannis Baratheon’s “sacrifice” of his daughter Shireen. Many GoT-watchers had been pro-Stannis up until that point, but now it doesn’t seem like anyone wants him on the Iron Throne. I personally hope Stannis just lives long enough to kill some major Boltons. Anyway, Carice van Houten – who plays Melisandre – sat down with The Daily Beast to talk about that terrible scene.
Carice on Ramsey Bolton’s assault on Stannis’s camp: “I think the event is pretty shocking to her, and she didn’t see it coming at all—that’s troubling to her, because she’s foreseen most things. But sometimes, I think her visions are a little blurry.”
Why Melisandre wanted to sacrifice Shireen: “She has proven that King’s Blood works. She is, first and foremost, a religious person—a priestess—and follows exactly what the Lord of Light wants her to do. She’s not just superhuman, but sees her missions in the flames and follows the visions. Melisandre is a total believer.”
Playing the scene with Shireen: “It’s a very weird scene to play. I had to close certain parts of my soul. It’s appalling. And the only way I tried to play it, which comes across as purely evil, is to be content with the fact that we were doing this because in Melisandre’s head, it’s the only way to save us all. She can’t show any emotion. She wants Stannis on the throne because she thinks he’s the rightful king she saw in the flames, so she sees the bigger picture—them or us. Melisandre thinks, ‘If we let the girl live, we’re going to die anyway, so we need to make this big sacrifice.’”
Working with Kerry Ingram, the actress playing Shireen: “We had a lot of fun in the tent before, and she is the sweetest girl. She gave me a little present—and she was dying! I felt bad and thought I should have brought her something. She got me an eternal flame, one of those candles with a fake flame on it. Really cute.”
The sexual violence: “It’s tricky. I tend to think we’re doing the right thing because we have a lot of strong female characters, and it’s true what George R.R. Martin says—it’s a mirror of what happens in reality. It’s confrontational. If you made a truly historical series, you’d see even worse things—especially with women. That being said, I can imagine people find a lot of it hard to watch.”
It can’t get any worse? “I get good stuff, man: births with shadow babies, leeches, and this. But this is the worst because it’s a child. You have to always defend your own character, you know? But in this case, it’s not easy. How far do people go for power? It can’t get worse than that.”
“The only way I tried to play it, which comes across as purely evil, is to be content with the fact that we were doing this…” That’s a good way to explain it. Because Melisandre looked really pleased that they were burning this little girl alive and I think a lot of viewers turned on Melisandre in that moment. But here’s a question: while Stannis can be killed like a normal person, can Melisandre? Or do you need something special to kill her?
Also – Liam Cunningham spoke to Vulture about the last episode and he was really horrified about what was done with Shireen. He had really lovely things to say about Kerry Ingram too, saying that they exchanged gifts before her character died – she gave him “a beautiful cushion with an embroidered stag” and he gave her a silver stag figurine. He also says she is “a glorious young lady and a beautiful human being, but she’s also fantastically professional and well prepared on set” and that some of his favorite scenes on GoT were with her. Ugh, so sad!!!
Photos courtesy of WENN, HBO.
I wanna hear stories about how she and Davos are buddies in real life.
There’s a couple interviews with them on youtube up. Not like I spend my whole day being a Raging Throner or anything…
Carice van Houten, one of the best actresses in the Netherlands!
Her portrayal alone of Melisandre is a testament to what a great actress she is. A little *too* convincing! 😉
She’s incredibly beautiful. Hate the character Melisandre, but I’m always mesmerized by her stunning looks when she comes on screen.
Yes, the actress is absolutely stunning.
Yeah Netherlands! 🇳🇱
OMG, and that dress with the blue belt!! She is STUNNING!! And, yes, a little TOO convincing as Melisandre!!
LOVE her in the film Black Book. Incredible. She should have been nominated for an Oscar, I think she gave the best lead actress performance that year.
So I wasn’t as upset as everyone else seemed to be when it happened. I think because I’ve known since last season that they were building to this. Did I hope Stannis would deny her? Yeah. But I wasn’t shocked when he approved it.
However, after reading that Kerry Ingram gave her a little candle as a gift… now I’m crying. What an amazing little girl.
She also exchanged gifts with Liam Cunningham. He sounded quite sad in the interview about Shireen’s fate.
He did. Some of the most tenderest scenes in the show were between Kerry and Liam.
She must get a lot of hate because of her character but she’s a good actress and I find her breathtakingly beautiful.
I know the actor that plays Cersi gets A LOT of hate at cons and she smiles and says, “That means I’m doing a good job.” IT is disturbing though that people can’t tell “character” from “actor”.
I love the fan loyalty and general geekery that GOT inspires, I haven’t followed the interviews/events at any of the cons but I have unfortunately stumbled into some dark corners of the internet where some can’t tell the difference between the two and the vitriol can be downright frightening.
Melisandre is horrible and repulses me, but I still cannot deny how stunning Carice Van Houten is.
I want her face to be my face…not in the ‘it rubs the lotion on its skin’ sort of way, of course 😉
She just needs to stop having work done. She was beautiful before, and she’s starting to look a little too worked on.
Yes, she is perfect as Melisandre. I hate her but she’s certainly captivating on screen. Much like Jack Gleeson as Joffrey she is just such a good actor that I can’t imagine casual fans hating on HER, just on her character
Oh ffs, it’s only acting, and in a fantasy show at that. Jesus, get a grip.
Fiennes didn’t complain about portraying the real-life Nazi butcher Amon Goeth. I’m sure she’ll survive portraying a make-believe witch…
Or Voldemort.
Haha, indeed 😀
When I heard that Fiennes was playing Voldemort, the first thought in my head was: Great. Now he can scare the hell out of all the kids, just like he scared the hell out of all the grown ups who saw Schindler’s List.
Great actor.
I always find her character to be too camp and her manners, voice and acting belong to a soap opera.
But she is a beautiful woman. Her wig is not always on point so i prefer her IRL.
What’s in for Mel If or when Stannis gets the throne?
She can’t do all this just because R’hllor says so.
People in King’s landing don’t worship R’Hllor or the Drowned god or.. all the remaning gods.
Is this an attempt to bring R’hllor to the capital?
If Cersei has in mind to burn the city to the grounds she may have found a friend in R’hllor after all.
She thinks she’s saving the world. She’s being given true visions in the flames and that its her job to see them through. That’s the interesting thing about the followers of the red god: they are truly in it. Even drunk Thoros.
Kerry Ingram is on Twitter and she’s adorable (and totally alive and healthy and happy).
Hodor!
WUN WUN!
Wiener!
WHATEVER SOUND WHITEWALKERS MAKE!
Knowing the way they work on this show all will be forgotten until two seasons later when the issue pops back up for some random reason.
The thing about Melsandre her god is the most real god in the series. She never gets cold, he raised someone form the dead after the hound killed him, the army prevailed when Stannis sacrificed others, she produced a smoke monster from her body…etc. So she has no problem offing others because her god has worked for her….but in the end she is wrong about Stannis. Stannis will never be king, not with Dany, the white walkers & Jon snow on the horizon. Melisandre will abandon Stannis once she realizes he will come nowhere close to the throne, unless he dies first. Then she will move on to someone else.
Melisandre will absolutely move on from Stannis without a thought. She’s got confidence not only in her visions but also her purpose.