Iwan Rheon Hits Back at Critics of Season 5 Sansa Storyline
By Ani Bundel
With the release of the Game of Thrones Season 5 DVD around the corner, it was inevitable that the events of episode 6, “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken,” would be dredged back up. The episode caused a huge outcry when it aired and has become a flashpoint for the series, mainly because of the final scene where Ramsay Bolton rapes Sansa Stark, his new wife, on their wedding night. At the time the episode aired, those involved wisely stayed mum, lest they find themselves the focus of an internet hate mob. But in the last few months we’ve heard first from the director, and then recently from writer Bryan Cogman, that both the scene itself and the outcry that followed affected those involved with the show deeply.
Now, finally, some of the actors are beginning to have their say as well. Natalie Dormer recently stated that the show isn’t for those looking for escapism through television, but about working through social issues in the medium of fantasy. Now Iwan Rheon, who plays Ramsay Bolton, is speaking out.
According to The Telegraph, when asked about it, Rheon was blunt: “I think if more people put their effort into the charities that help women in the world today deal with the horror of rape, and less effort in social media about a fantasy show, then maybe things could change.”
“They didn’t oversexualise it or make it too gratuitous. They didn’t trivialise it and I thought it moved the characters forward. I think it could have been done in a much more brutal way.”
Why does Rheon think this particular scene cause an outcry, when the show has depicted horrific events in the past (e.g. Joffrey murdering Ros with a crossbow at point-blank range after she was sent to his room in her capacity as a prostitute)? One reason, Rheon believes, is because it was Sansa, who has been viewed by many as the innocent ingenue type.
She’s a character that everyone loves and, apart from Theon Greyjoy, has had the worst time of it on the show. If it had been someone else, there would have been no mention of it. There are so many rapes on the show. A lot of people do get raped and nobody bats an eyelid.
To be fair, I think there are a few other characters for whom this sort of thing might have caused an outcry: Arya comes immediately to mind, for instance. But I have to take his point that the show could have been far more brutal to Sansa in this scenario, especially if it had followed the events of the books concerning what happened to the character whose place Sansa took, Jeyne Poole.
Rheon also admitted that the scene was one of the worst moments he’s had on the show. “I was dreading it,” he said. “I couldn’t sleep.” He also praised Sophie Turner, who plays Sansa. “That particular scene, for such a young actress, she dealt with incredibly well.”