NOT A GAME
Game Of Thrones’ Hannah Waddingham suffering ‘chronic claustrophobia’ after filming ‘horrific’ scene for the HBO series
The actress said filming the scene was one of the worst days of her life
GAME of Thrones star Hannah Waddingham has revealed she still suffers from chronic claustrophobia after filming a scene as Septa Unella in the HBO series.
During Tuesday's episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Hannah, 49, opened up about doing her own stunts for shows like Game of Thrones and the upcoming film The Fall Guy.
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Hannah portrayed Septa Unella in the series, who had wine repeatedly poured all over her face by Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) as an act of revenge.
Septa Unella paraded a naked Cersei through the streets of King's Landing in a bid to humiliate the woman, ringing a bell and yelling out the word "shame!" repeatedly.
This walk of shame was Cersei's punishment for admitting to committing adultery with her cousin Ser Lancel Lannister (Eugene Simon).
Once Cersei was free of her tormentors, she took all of her rage out on Unella.
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Hannah had to suffer through the scene, which she said that, other than childbirth, was one of the worst days of her life.
"Lena was uncomfortable pouring liquid in my face for that long, and I was beside myself,” she said.
"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.'"
Labeling the moment "horrific," the actress said the moment actually felt like being waterboarded.
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As a result, she was left with what she calls "chronic claustrophobia" around water from filming the scene.
The 'secret' job Hannah Waddingham bagged before landing Ted Lasso & how it explains a lot about her wardrobe choices
Originally, the scene was going to include a grisly sexual assault by Gregor Clegane (Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson), but that did not occur.
"I think they’d had so many complaints about the rape of Sansa, that they chose not to go with it," Hannah said of the Stark daughter, portrayed by Sophie Turner.
"Unbelievably, they changed it quite at the last minute. I think they possibly changed it when I was mid-air flying to Belfast because suddenly I got sent these new sides that said I would need a wetsuit top. I thought they’d sent me the wrong bits."
Ultimately, the experience changed Hannah in a way that's still rippling through her all these years later.
"Thrones gave me something I wasn’t expecting," she said, admitting she had spoken about her newly acquired condition with Game of Thrones co-creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.
HANNAH'S OLD JOB
Though she appeared in Game of Thrones as a prominent character, Hannah didn't quite rocket to fame until after appearing in three seasons of the Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso.
The show debuted in 2020 and ever since, Hannah has played Rebecca Welton, the owner of a struggling Premier Football League team.
Before that, however, she found work as a plus size model.
Hannah admitted to having the secret job in an older interview.
"One thing I will say, before I was an actress and a singer, I was a plus size model," she said.
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"It wasn't at a time when it was embraced. So I'm always down for any designer that actually has booties, tummies and boobies very much taken care of."
Hannah's 5-foot-11 frame caused her issues in the entertainment industry, something that didn't seem to affect Ted Lasso co-creator and writer Jason Sudeikis.
She's been more than accepted in her role on the show ever since, working with costume designer Jacky Levy to create her character Rebecca's looks.
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She told Women's Wear Daily that the pair collaborate together and have done so since the beginning of the series.
"We go out shopping together and I’m very, very, very specific about Rebecca’s style and her palette of color."
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