Natalie Dormer and Sophie Turner tease what’s in store for Margaery and Sansa
By Dan Selcke
A pair of new interviews catch us up with what two of the women of Game of Thrones will be up to during Game of Thrones Season 6, which is premiering in only five days! First up, Natalie Dormer teases Margaery’s interactions with her new “sparring partner,” the High Sparrow. Last we saw her, Margaery had been thrown in prison on the High Sparrow’s command, and Season 6 will find her out of her element. “She’s always given the impression, at least, of being a step ahead,” Dormer said. “In season 6, you see her genuinely fearful of how best to handle the situation. She is scared and uncertain. She starts to look unrecognizable in places.” Margaery’s used to navigating the politics at court, but being jailed by religious fanatics is something very different, and it’s made Margaery “desperate.”
Dormer had a lot of praise for Jonathan Pryce, who plays the High Sparrow, but admits that Margaery has trouble dealing with the character.
"He’s not like any other man Margaery has had to handle, where she could just throw her sensuality at him, or use their greed or ego against them – the most common human foibles. The High Sparrow indulges none of these things. She’s trying to work out whether he’s for real. There’s a bit of ‘who’s bluffing who."
This sounds similar to what happened when Margaery’s grandmother, Olenna Tyrell, butted heads with the High Sparrow in Season 5. No matter how savvy Margaery and Olenna are, there’s little they can do against a man who doesn’t just play the game differently—he’s not even playing the same game.
Margaery will just have to adapt if she wants to avoid what happened to Cersei. “The Walk of Shame looms large in Margaery’s brain, that somebody as powerful and savvy and veteran as Cersei can be taken down that way,” Dormer said. All things considered, the actress would rather Margaery face off against Cersei again that battle the implacable High Sparrow.
"Cersei and Margaery are two women who in a different context might have been friends and great allies. But the religious revolution that’s happening is something that is much more dangerous and harder to navigate. I’m sure she rather be locked in the Red Keep with Cersei managing her – because she knows she can handle that."
Meanwhile, Dormer’s former Game of Thrones scene partner Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) gave an interview to GQ, and while she was pretty mum about what’s in store for Sansa this year, she did drop some fun quotes, for example:
"GQ: “On a scale of 1 to 10, how badly do you wanna see Sansa fuck shit up this season?”Turner: “Ten! TEN! Obviously. I want her to raise hell.”"
This interview is pretty light, but here are the highlights:
- Turner on being envious of onscreen sister Maisie Williams (Arya Stark), who gets to run around and sword fight. “But Sansa’s never gonna be doing that. Her weapon is her mind. Her intellect. She’s a sharp one.”
- On how Kit Harington (Jon Snow) achieves his trademark curls: “He’ll kill me for saying this, but if we’re on the red carpet, I promise he’ll stand in front of the mirror for hours. I’ve seen him do it. Even though he wakes up perfect, it’s never good enough for him. He’s gonna absolutely kill me.”
- On the general experience of playing Sansa: “Now all I do is sit and cry. That’s, like, my thing. Trademark it.”
She also teases her upcoming role as Jean Grey in X-Men: Apocalypse, but before that, we’ll be seeing her back in action as Sansa when Game of Thrones Season 6 drops on April 24.