Natalie Dormer Says She Almost Turned Down Game of Thrones

Natalie Dormer is currently shilling for her January thriller The Forest, but the project people most want to ask her about is Game of Thrones. Because Dormer can only speak about Season 6 in the most broad and teasing terms, instead she chose to tell Den of Geek how she nearly turned the role down altogether.

Her reason? At the time, Dormer has just finished her turn in another high end costume drama on a pay cable network, The Tudors, which was loosely based on historical events in the 16th century. Game of Thrones is very loosely based on historical events from about a hundred years earlier, the War of the Roses. And her role of Anne Boelyn, the conniving woman whose single-minded goal was to become “The Queen” seemed a little too much like the role of Margaery Tyrell.

I contemplated not taking the role of Margaery Tyrell because I thought it was too close to what happened to Anne. So I spoke to David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss] about it, and I said, ‘I love the show, I’ve watched the first season as a fan, and I’d love to be in the show with you, but I’m scared that on the page, the events that happen to Margaery are too close to Anne Boleyn. And I don’t want to play the same character twice. And Dan and David were like, ‘Nat, we trust you. You’re a talented actor,’ bless them for saying. ‘Don’t worry about it, that’s not going to happen. Your characterization will be different, we trust you.’

She says she was glad she believed them enough to agree to the part, and not just because it vaulted her into a different stratosphere of celebrity. In the end, it turned out that Margaery and Anne are two very different roles.

They want to be queen for different reasons and also, their demise of being thrown into a jail cell has definitely been played very differently. So, I think I had real trepidation and concern about doing that… [but] I think, if I believe what fans have told me in hindsight, they were right. They read as different people completely.

Dormer’s portrayal of Margaery, who is a deliberate cipher on the page, seen only from others’ perspectives, has given new dimensions to the character. I personally cannot imagine someone else in the role at this point, even though it almost happened.

Elsewhere, a few new clips from The Forest have emerged. Warning: some of this is gross.

In this clip, Dormer has fun with maggots.

Here, she and costar Taylor Kinney stare at stuff.

Here she inside a spooky tent.

And here her compass malfunctions. You better run, Margaery.

The Forest opens on January 8.

Next: Disappointment over The Winds of Winter Delay Was Inevitable Long Ago