How Game of Thrones Cast Really Felt About The Show's Most Brutal Death
From the moment the door was closed and the foreboding music began, it was clear the Red Wedding was about to take a sinister turn. But what followed shocked viewers. And even cast members who knew what was coming were blown away by how the scene actually played out on screen.
Finn Jones, who played Loras Tyrell said he "knew what was gonna happen" so watched his flatmate's reactions which he described as "just brilliant!"
Likewise, Richard Dormer (Beric Dondarrion) said the scene was "pretty intense." Dormer's daughter, Natalie who portrayed Margaery Tyrell, was in Madrid for a screening when the episode aired and said she watched it with "800 shocked and awed Spaniards."
Natalie described how the scene took her breath away and was "handled really well."
Clive Russell (Brynden Tully) had read the books and knew exactly what to expect. But that didn't stop him from saying the whole scene was "really shocking." Like many others, he felt the scene was "played so beautifully, so horribly and so feelingly."
Finn Jones agreed and said, "Oona (Chaplin), Michelle (Fairly) and Richard (Madden) absolutely smashed it."
Like many fans, Kristian Nairn (Hodor) said he was "willing it not to happen," while Pypar actor Josef Altin said the scene was "amazing" but that he "wasn't really ready" for it despite being fully aware of what was coming.
Joe Dempsie (Gendry) found it a tough watch, saying it's "not a nice thing to see your friends murdered" even if it is part of a show in which violent deaths are very much par for the course.
Charles Dance, who played Tywin Lannister, was quite pragmatic about the scene. He said "Tywin is just doing what he has to do (to) retain his position" and that he "can only do that (by) being strong and ruthless."
But perhaps the most notable reaction came from Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) who posted a video on YouTube in which she adopted a Southern drawl, saying, "They dead, like soooo dead. Like OMG dead, my mother and brother."
She later confessed that this was posted before she had watched the scene and that, once she had seen it, she felt her reaction video had been "really unsympathetic" as the massacre – and in particular deaths of Robb, Talis and Catelyn Stark – "was really sad."
So, if you were shocked, dumbstruck or overwhelmed the first time you watched the Red Wedding scene, you're in good company.