Hannah Waddingham‘s time on the iconic fantasy show ‘Game of Thrones‘ may have adorned her with fame after the memorable role, but it also left her grappling with chronic claustrophobia. The actress, known for playing Septa Unella’s character, revealed how she underwent an indelible ordeal during the infamous “wine-boarding” scene on the popular show.
In an interview with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show during ‘The Fall Guy’ press tour, Waddingham recounted the traumatic experience. “Thrones gave me something I wasn’t expecting from it, which was chronic claustrophobia,” Waddingham said.
“It was horrific. Ten hours of being actually waterboarded…Like actually. I’m strapped to a table with all these leather straps. I couldn’t lift up my head because I said that would be too obvious that it’s loose,” she added. The grueling scene has her character facing the evil character Cersei’s wrath, which apparently took a toll on Waddingham both physically and mentally.
The actress described how the grape juice used in the scene turned her hair purple and left her with strap marks all over her body. “I had strap marks everywhere like I had been attacked,” Waddingham said.
“One of the other guys who had been shooting something else was like, ‘What has happened to you?’ And I told him everything, and he went, ‘You’re lucky. I’ve just been crawling through s– on my elbow for four days.’ And we were laughing about how both of us are in Game of Thrones, and it kind of doesn’t matter when you’re in Thrones. You just want to give the best,” she added.
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Hannah Waddington Says Her Waterboarding Scene Wasn’t What She Signed Up For
This is not the first time that Hannah Waddingham has opened up about the ordeal. In a previous interview at with Collider Ladies Night, Waddington described the experience to one of the worst days of her life. Despite the discomfort, she grappled with the decision to either “serve the piece and get on with it” or back out.
“Definitely other than childbirth, [it] was the worst day of my life,” she said then. “Lena was uncomfortable pouring liquid in my face for that long, and I was beside myself. But in those moments, you go, ‘Do you serve the piece and get on with it?’ Or do you chicken out and go, ‘This isn’t what I signed up for.'”
The actress also shared about her exchange with director Miguel Sapochnik, who revealed the extent of the simulation to her. She recalled telling him “Not really,” when he asked if she was all right. “[He then said], ‘The crew have just been saying we are actually really waterboarding you here.’ And I was like, ‘Yup, you don’t need to tell me that!'”
Reflecting on the incident, Waddingham asserted the sad reality of filming such scenes. “As with all these things, you know that they’re not actually going to kill you so you just get on with it and do it,” she said.
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