The enormous cast of Game of Thrones has gone on to do lots of great stuff in TV, film and on the stage. Take Gemma Whelan, who played Yara Greyjoy, sister to Theon (Alfie Allen). She's appeared in shows like The Tower and Gentleman Jack, but there will always be fans curious about her time in the Seven Kingdoms.
"It's very nice and I look back incredibly fondly," Whelan told Hello! "What a rich and brilliant experience it was. When you’re in it, you don't realize. Not that you take it for granted but when you’re making it, particularly with season two, I just thought, ‘We’re making a bit of TV and let's see what happens.’ And it just blew up, didn't it? I think everyone was very grateful all the way through about what we had and what we were making."
HBO has one Game of Thrones prequel series already on the air and another on the way. Both are set generations before Yara was around, so there's no way for Gemma Whelan to appear in those. But HBO is working on other spinoffs beyond that, and it's possible one be set closer in time to the original series. Would Whelan be interested in appearing in a show like that?
"If the right thing came up and they thought I was right for it. Of course, I'd love to," Whelan said. "I love my job. I love what I do. So anything that comes along, of course." That said, Whelan isn't expecting anything. "I don’t imagine [going back to the Yara Greyjoy character] would happen," she said. "I’ve still got her boots upstairs but that’s about it."
Yara was a fairly minor character, so I get why Whelan wouldn't expect to return. Then again, she was in charge of the Iron Islands when the show ended, so if they want to follow up the story of Game of Thrones, she might well show up. Anything's possible.
Gemma Whelan admires Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey "enormously"
Game of Thrones is firmly in the rearview mirror, but Whelan assured Hello! that the cast still talks to each other in WhatsApp. "Birthdays are remembered, big announcements are made, children are announced," she said. "We're all still in touch, I was speaking to Alfie [Allen] last week as I’m going to try and see his play at the Donmar."
She's also watched proudly as some Game of Thrones veterans have gone on be in giant hits, like Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey — who first blew up as Oberyn Martell and Lyanna Mormont on Game of Thrones — starring in HBO's The Last of Us. "We’re loving Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal [in The Last of Us], both of whom I know from Game of Thrones," Whelan said. "I do admire them enormously."
Those two will be back in The Last of Us season 3 in...probably a very long time. As for Whelan, she's currently on stage in a musical called This Is My Family.
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