Game Of Thrones star Joe Dempsie has revealed he felt ‘uncomfortable’ over Arya and Gendry’s romance in the final series of the show.
Arya and Gendry spent most of season eight flirting with one another, talking about blacksmith Gendry’s ‘special weapon’ made out of Valryian steel before finally getting together as a couple.
Fans at the time were torn over the romantic storyline – some loved the pair together, praising the old gods and the new after seeing #Garya becoming a thing.
Others, however, though found the whole thing as ‘uncomfortable’ as actor Joe, having watched Arya grow up.
While star Masie was in her 20s when the romantic scenes were filmed, she first appeared on the show when she was 14, and Joe has revealed that the storyline initially didn’t sit well with him during filming.
Joe told the Independent: ‘It was an odd transition purely because I’d seen Maisie grow up. I’d met her when she was a child and, during the course of the first three seasons, it was something I was asked regularly because [the Game of Thrones] books suggest there’s a possible romance. It always made me slightly uncomfortable.’
He added: ‘They were asking me to comment on whether I – at the time, a 25-year-old man – would like my character to hook up with a 14-year-old. I always avoided answering the questions. But it was something I then had to think about.’
Joe went on to say that the scenes were ‘absolutely fine’, adding that he ‘didn’t want to patronise’ Maisie by refusing to film them.
Game of Thrones came to a close in 2019, but there’s more from the world of Westeros arriving soon.
Spin-off series House Of The Dragon is set to arrive in 2021, set centuries before the original Game Of Thrones series, and focusing on the Targaryen family. It will feature Paddy Considine as King Viserys I.
The show is set to start filming in 2021, and Ryan Condal, who is co-showrunner on the series alongside Miguel Sapochnik, has admitted the pair have ‘big shoes to fill’ if they’re to satisfy fans of the show.
Joe is currently starring in the controversial Channel 4 drama Adult Material, which explores life in the porn industry.
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