The Game of Thrones scene Jaime Lannister thinks was just too 'cruel'
Game of Thrones star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau - who plays Cersei Lannister’s twin brother Jaime on the HBO series - has revealed that there was one scene in particular that was too ‘cruel’ for him to bear.
During an interview at the 2018 Cannes Lions film festival with Variety, the 47-year-old actor revealed that the season five moment when Stannis Baratheon lets Melisandre burn his daughter alive was too excessive.
“I thought [it] was just cruel,” he explained. “It made sense story wise and I understand why they did it. But I just couldn’t watch it. It was difficult to even read it.”
Coster-Waldau also said he struggled to sit through the scenes where Catelyn Stark’s sister, Lysa Arryn, breastfeeds her 10-year-old son Robin.
“It was so weird and wrong on every level,” he recalled.
He added: “Even the most extreme things are driven by story, and I think up to this point in the show, up to the final season you're reaping the rewards of the work that's been put into all these characters.”
.@nikolajcw discusses the 'fine balance' of controversial storylines on #GameOfThrones https://t.co/M7AeczDJAA #VarietyStudio at #CannesLions presented by @inscapetv | @ispottv pic.twitter.com/eqh0GhefWp
— Variety (@Variety) June 20, 2018
"So now as an audience member you're kind of invested in every single one of these people,” Coster-Waldau explained. “It makes it very interesting storytelling."
Coster-Waldau further explains that the “shocking moments” are what have made Game of Thrones so successful.
Some of the most appalling Game of Thrones scenes have included the rape of Cersei Lannister by her twin Jaime, when Daenerys Targaryen consumes a horse heart and King Robert Baratheon’s babies are slaughtered.
Game of Thrones’ final season will air in 2019.
