The Game of Thrones‘ scene in which Melisandre gave birth to a murderous shadow demon is one of the show’s most memorable moments. But for Carice van Houten — who plays the Red Priestess — it seems safe to assume that delivering her first real child was a more momentous occasion.
The 41-year-old actor welcomed her son Monte with her husband, Guy Pearce, in August 2016 — just six weeks before she was due back to film the seventh season of Thrones. But as is evidenced by the behind-scenes photo she shared on Twitter Wednesday, van Houten tried to be a good sport about it.
“Game of Thrones 2016 (six weeks after giving birth) when Conleth Hill (Lord Varys) kept calling me ‘James Brown,'” she captioned the shot of herself bundled up in a blanket and earmuffs on set.
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However, van Houten told The Telegraph in July that returning to work so soon after giving birth was not without its share of difficulties. “It was not great timing,” she said. “So I had a little bit of a breakdown one day when I was with Emilia [Clarke]. I burst out crying and said, ‘I want to go home to my baby.’ You’re just completely full of hormones.”
