Ellie Kendrick has played Meera Reed with toughness and grit since Game of Thrones season 3. But while she’s embedded deep in the fabric of the show, Reed admitted to The Independent that actually watching the epic fantasy drama can be tricky:
"For most people I know who are in the series, the magic is so often lost when you are in something. It becomes harder and harder to watch it. You think oh, I was having a pint with him the day before he filmed that scene. It destabilizes the drama when you can see the mechanics behind the scenes and the puppetry that takes place."
Seeing behind the curtain may not be all its cracked up to be, and not being able to enjoy Game of Thrones sounds like some sort of corporal punishment.
Still, filming the show isn’t any less fun for her. Kendrick spoke fondly of some of the action sequences she’s gotten to be involved with:
"There was one series where I had a fight with a group of zombies, the ‘whites’… I had to learn all the steps of it, like a dance. We were filming in a disused quarry just outside Belfast that had been covered in fake snow. I had to fight these stunt men who were dressed in green Lycra suits because they were going to be replaced (in the post-production) by the skeletons. It was such a surreal experience. I had to do that, remember the precise timing and then film it again but with no opponents."
That sounds like Bran and Meera’s arrival at the cave of the Three-Eyed Raven in the season 4 finale “The Children,” which was quite the fight scene. As tricky as that was to film, Kendrick quipped that she gets “off easily” compared to star Emilia Clarke, who is forced to act opposite dragons that aren’t there.
Finally, when asked about what’s coming in season 7, Kendrick claimed ignorance. “It’s all shrouded in HBO’s mystery,” she said. “What the future of the series is going to be I’d like to know! People often think the actors know…but I genuinely don’t know.”
We aren’t sure we buy that completely, but we’ll allow it…for now.
Season 7 of Game of Thrones premieres on July 16th, and it’s but one of several projects Kendrick has debuting over the summer. She’s also in a remake of Whisky Galore! (May 5), a small indie drama called The Levelling (May 12) and a London play Kendrick isn’t allowed to discuss. She probably used to that.