Game of Thrones star Nathalie Emmanuel has opened up about the fantasy epic almost one whole year since it came to an end.
The 31-year-old played the part of Daenerys’ right-hand gal Missandei, who was savagely murdered at the hands of Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey), in season eight.
And while she has since taken on the role of Deet in Netflix’s The Dark Crystal – the star has confessed just how much the HBO saga changed her life.
‘I really am grateful for that time, because it pulled me out of a slump,’ the actress told Glamour magazine before adding: ‘Suddenly, I was being thrown onto these big stages and I had to woman up to it.
‘I had the opportunity to shape a person who had been through unimaginable things and really tell her story.’
Nathalie then turned her attention to the character’s race and how her death scene made people ask a whole load of questions.
‘It sparked such necessary conversation around diversity and inclusion. I’m used to there being only one role for the “brown person,” but when you’ve got a show that has so many eyes on it, you realise she represented so many people,’ the star stated.
‘When you kill the only woman of colour, there’s going to be a huge reaction.’
This isn’t the first time she has spoken about diversity in the show, and recently told the Evening Standard how they could have ‘done better.’
‘They really gave the characters of colour they did have some great stories and scenes to play [because] in the books, my character isn’t really prominent,’ Nathalie said.
‘Hopefully that criticism will be heeded for future shows of that magnitude.’
It’s definitely not the first time the show has been criticised for its lack of diversity, with John Boyega previously saying it has ‘no black people’.
‘There are no black people in Game of Thrones. You don’t see one black person in Lord Of The Rings. I ain’t paying money to always see one type of person on-screen,’ he told GQ.
‘You see different people from different backgrounds, different cultures, every day. Even if you’re racist, you have to live with that. We can ruffle up some feathers.’
Game of Thrones seasons one to eight are available to stream on NOW TV.
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