From Game of Thrones to Gentleman Jack: Gemma Whelan talks the Iron Throne and new series
- Whelan, who plays Queen of the Ironborn Yara Greyjoy in Game of Thrones, talks about script leaks and her co-stars
- In her latest series, Gentleman Jack, she plays the sister of Victorian politician and lesbian Anne Lister
After wrapping up on the hit HBO series Game of Thrones, Gemma Whelan, who plays Queen of the Ironborn Yara Greyjoy in the show, will be taking on another HBO role.
Gentleman Jack, which has already premiered on HBO and is gaining fans, tells the story of unconventional 19th-century English landowner, politician and lesbian Anne Lister, who earned her own money, travelled the world, dressed in a masculine way and was known as “Gentleman Jack”.
The show is written by Sally Wainwright and stars Suranne Jones as Anne Lister. Whelan plays her sister, Marian.
In a group phone interview with the South China Morning Post, Whelan tells us about Marian, talks chemistry with her co-star Jones and the challenges of mothering while filming Game of Thrones, and her pick for the Iron Throne.
Q: What is Marian like?
She’s a perfectly interesting woman in her own right. Once you put her against her sister Anne, then she certainly looks rather ordinary. But she holds the household together. She’s very politically minded, very sure of what to do and how to run a household, and so when her sister comes home, she looks very boring and uninteresting. Of course, there’s a bit of comedy to be had in that contrast.