Iwan Rheon: Ramsay Bolton is the new Joffrey

In a recent interview with Digital Spy, Iwan Rheon said what a lot of Game of Thrones fans have been thinking for awhile: that Ramsay Bolton has supplanted Joffrey Baratheon as the show’s most reviled presence. “I guess after the demise of Joffrey, [Ramsay has] sort of stepped into that antagonist role.” he said. “He’s a different enemy to Joffrey, I think people like him a bit more.”

I’m not sure about that last part, but it makes sense that Rheon, as the guy who plays Ramsay, would stump for his character, however loathsome he is. Rheon went on to qualify his statement—you can decide for yourself whether he has a case.

"Not necessarily like him as in ‘I’d want him round for tea’, but at least he’s got something interesting about him, he’s not just a little s***. He’s got his own struggle. There are some more redeeming features if you can find them!"

Yeah…not sure I buy that. From where I’m sitting, Joffrey and Ramsay are at least as unlikeable. If anything, Ramsay may have pulled ahead. Let’s briefly compare their résumés.

Joffrey:

• Had Ned Stark beheaded, basically just because he could
• Had Sansa stripped and publicly humiliated
• Degraded and embarrassed Tyrion at every opportunity

Ramsay:

• Hunts and kills people with dogs
• Tortured Theon to the point where he lost his identity
• Raped Sansa and kept her imprisoned in her room

It’s gonna be tough to sell people on the idea that Ramsay is more likable than Joffrey. Let’s just agree that they’re both the worst.

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Speaking of Sansa’s rape, Rheon said that he had a lot of “sleepless nights” preparing for that scene. “It’s a horrible place you have to go,” he said. “It’s our job as actors to portray the world that our characters live in, truthfully.”

"We had to be professional and just get on with the job and trust the director. It wasn’t going to be sexualised or trivialised like it could have been. The build-up was horrific, but Sophie dealt with it brilliantly."

In other Game of Thrones interviews, Dean Charles-Chapman (Tommen Baratheon) spoke to Express about his sex scene with Natalie Dormer (Margaery Tyrell) last season. “We’re actors, Natalie’s a lovely person, she made me feel unbelievably comfortable,” he said. “Hopefully she was comfortable with me. But the sex scene and stuff, it all ran smoothly. It’s all planned, we talk about it, it’s a normal day.”

Both Ramsay and Tommen will return on April 24, when Game of Thrones Season 6 premieres. Not returning, for sure and certain: Stannis Baratheon. While promoting his new show The Tunnel in Swiss magazine 24 Heures, actor Stephen Dillane confirmed that his character was dead, just in case anyone was still wondering. He also said he’s not interested in reading any rumors to the contrary on the internet, displaying a very Stannis-like intolerance for foolishness.