'Games of Thrones' Star Gemma Whelan Says the Show's Intimate Scenes Were 'Sort of a Frenzied Mess'

Gemma Whalen is getting candid about her time on Game of Thrones.

The 40-year-old actress, who played Yara Greyjoy on the HBO series, discussed what it was like filming sex scenes for the show in an interview with The Guardian published Tuesday (November 2).

Click inside to find out what she said…

“They used to just say, ‘When we shout action, go for it!’, and it could be a sort of frenzied mess,” Gemma told the outlet, adding that the lack of an intimacy director forced actors to bond and look out for each other.

“There was a scene in a brothel with a woman and 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.”

The actress went on to reflect on her infamous scene with Alfie Allen, who played her on-screen brother Theon, where the two characters share a sexually-charged moment while riding a horse.

“Alfie was very much, ‘Is this okay? How are we going to make this work?’” she recalled. “With intimacy directors, it’s choreography – you move there, I move there, and permission and consent is given before you start. It is a step in the right direction.”

Find out what George R.R. Martin recently revealed about the final book in the Game of Thrones series…