Game of Thrones and “sex scenes” pretty much go hand and hand, but, to our surprise, all of those steamy scenes actually came with little-to-no direction, according to Gemma Whelan.
In an interview with The Guardian, Whelan revealed that the show did not have an intimacy coordinator—which is used to not only help achieve the director’s vision, but to also maintain the actors’ safety. Without one, the cast was left to look out for each other on set, and apparently led to a bit of a “frenzied mess.”
“They used to just say, ‘When we shout action, go for it!’,” the Yara Greyjoy actress told the publication. “But between the actors there was always an instinct to check in with each other.”
Whelan recalled that one scene had her checking in on her scene partner. “She was so exposed that we talked together about where the camera would be and what she was happy with,” she continued. “A director might say, ‘Bit of boob biting, then slap her bum and go!’, but I’d always talk it through with the other actor.”
