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Naomi Watts compares Game of Thrones to Shakespeare, and she’s not wrong

By Cheryl Wassenaar

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 11: Naomi Watts attends the The Hollywood Reporter's 9th Annual Most Powerful People In Media at The Pool on April 11, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for THR)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 11: Naomi Watts attends the The Hollywood Reporter's 9th Annual Most Powerful People In Media at The Pool on April 11, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for THR) /
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You know how George R.R. Martin gets called the “American Tolkien“? That might not be the best literary comparison out there. Naomi Watts, star of the upcoming Game of Thrones prequel series Bloodmoon, made some flattering comparisons when talking to Nerdist. “Game of Thrones is a phenomenon,” she said. “It’s amazing how that has just swept up the entire world, every type of demographic you can imagine. People are obsessed with that show.”

"And it does feel like it taps into the world of Shakespeare. That’s what’s so exciting. We love to go back in history and even fantasy, and imagine how society evolves or has not evolved."

All of this is true. But there’s also something to be said for how Martin’s choice of themes dovetail with the Bard’s.

Sure, we might not have a Cersei Lannister as a sibling, but family drama never goes out of style because it’s pretty common, in life and in art. Nerdist mentions Hamlet, which is about a nephew seeking revenge after his uncle murders his father. And what the perils of falling for the wrong person? Romeo and Juliet, or Jon and Daenerys? How about power? What does it do to a person, and what is the cost of obtaining it? Pretty much any of the contenders for the Iron Throne could find something to talk about with Macbeth.

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We could go on, but you get the idea. We have a whole article about the Shakespearean ending to Game of Thrones. And like Martin, Shakespeare was not unpopular during his day. The upshot of all of this is that Watts isn’t wrong about the Shakespeare comparison.

If you’re wondering what brought her comment on, Watts was talking about playing the duel role of Queen Gertrude and Mechtild, Gertrude’s “witchy” twin, in Claire McCarthy’s Ophelia, a retelling of Hamlet due out this weekend. Sounds like good practice for Bloodmoon.

Next. Don’t worry: Science says Drogon probably didn’t eat Daenerys’ corpse. dark

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