The women of “Game of Thrones” have weathered rough times, and season 6 will be no different, the female stars told ABC News.
The new season premiered Sunday night to huge buzz online. Many of the 1.5 million tweets about the show generated in a span of 24 hours said this season will be all about the women of the show.
Emilia Clarke, Sophie Turner, Hannah Murray, Lena Headey, Maisie Williams and Nathalie Emmanuel sat down with “Good Morning America's" Jessie Palmer to reflect on their characters’ hardships from season 5 -- including blindness, a perilous plunge off a wall and a nude walk of shame.
The agonizing public shaming of Queen Cersei Lannister in season 5 brought the character to her lowest point, said Headey, who plays Cersei.
“It's kind of interesting that all these women have hit these lows and highs, and she's been brought to her knees and isn't really sure of her place anymore,” Headey said. “And so you find her at the beginning of this season really quite lost and vulnerable, and slowly but surely back comes old Cersei with a colder heart.”
Palmer asked whether there could be a reunion of the Stark sisters in season 6 of the epic fantasy that premiered April 24 on HBO.
Williams, who plays Arya Stark, said she hoped it would be in the cards, while Turner, who plays the character’s sister, Sansa, added: “Whether it's this season or next season or the season after -- who knows? Or ever. I feel like in ‘Game of Thrones,’ they won't have that, because that would be too fun and happy.”
'Horrific Behavior' in Store for 'Game of Thrones' Season 6, Star SaysLegions of women are tuning in to watch the show, and Palmer asked the actresses if they thought those viewers were attracted to the depiction of a fight for female equality.
Headey replied that she though the draw was “because all the women are flawed. Do you know what I mean? There's no sort of vision of perfection. I think that's why women dig it, because we're all a little crazy.”
Turner told Palmer that her character would be “taking some ‘me time’” in the new season, adding: “She's no longer anyone's prisoner, which is amazing. And she's, like, becoming ... like a leader in her own right.”
Williams added that her character -- known for her cheeky one-liners and having the upper hand -- would be “genuinely, like, broken down” in the new season. Clarke plays Daenerys Targaryen, a fan favorite. She said it’s been wonderful to see her character overcome adversity.
“And so as soon as you get to watch someone go through that and still kind of rise up from it, you can't help but want to want to see them succeed,” she said.
“And then, just, you know, you can't, you cannot hate on dragons. Like, you just can't,” she said, to laughter.
Emmanuel revealed that she’s very strict about spending time to perfect her Valyrian, the fictional language spoken by her character, Missandei, as well as by Daenerys.
“Well, I mean, a lot of the directors and the guys are like, ‘It's fine. It sounds great. Just keep going.’ And I'm like, ‘No. It has to be perfect,’” she said. Murray’s character, Gilly, will have “a different season,” the actress said.
“I think you when you see her, she's very much out of her comfort zone -- but in kind of in a fun way rather than in a scary way for the first time, which is very cool,” Murray said.