A lady never kisses and tells.
Lucky for “Game of Thrones” fans Gemma Whalen, like her character Yara Greyjoy, isn’t one for following the rules.
The British actress told Entertainment Weekly the now infamous lip lock between the ironborn leader and Ellaria Sand, played by Indira Varma, wasn’t planned.
“It wasn’t directed that we would kiss,” she said.
“It just seemed like something we should do. We led it, very much so. It was meant to be a suggestion (of flirting) and then it became more sexual than we expected because it seemed right. There was only a skeleton crew working because the rig could only take so much weight, so we were left very much on our own. And who wouldn’t want to kiss Indira? I mean, come on!”
While the crew was on board with Whelan and Varma’s improvised smooch, there was one person on the “Game of Thrones” Season 7 set who wasn’t quite comfortable with the idea.
Whelan’s stunt double was forced to sit in for the actress at one point during the kiss scene, when their ship — bound for Dorne — came under attack from Euron Greyjoy and his men.
“Gemma had hurt her back so there were some stunts she couldn’t do,” Varma recalled. “So I had to start kissing this poor stunt double and she was so terrified! That was quite funny, bless her. I don’t think she’d ever been put in that situation before. She’s used to falling over and being attacked and all the stunts, but to be kissed by an actress was a bit beyond her.”
“Game of Thrones” fans, on the other hand, fully embraced the budding relationship.
Although Thronies were quick to begin shipping Yara and Ellaria, their romance was short-lived. Euron’s attack forced the pair to put passion on the back burner to fight for their lives.
As Season 7, episode 2 of “Game of Thrones” came to a close both Yara and Ellaria were taken captive by Euron and ruthless band of fighters. Meanwhile, Theon Greyjoy jumped ship — quite literally — when the going got tough.
