Game of Thrones actor Ciarán Hinds believes the classic drama series' many sex scenes took away from its storytelling.
During an interview with The Independent, Hinds, who played Mance Rayder on Game of Thrones between Seasons 3 and 5, claimed the added focus on intimacy during the show hurt its premise. "I was rather put off by the amount of sexuality that was going on in it, because it was taking away from the actual political storytelling," Hinds said. "But that's business, I guess, from their perspective."
Ciarán Hinds Doesn't Like Intimacy Coordinators for Sex Scenes
Additionally, Hinds bemoaned the increased number of intimacy coordinators on the Game of Thrones set, calling the idea of having them "strange." He talked about it with his daughter and fellow actor Aoife Hinds who had experience working with such coordinators on the romance series Normal People. While he had a more old-school mindset with fleshing out more risqué scenes, Hinds said his daughter found the experience fulfilling.
"I didn't come from that generation. Anything we had to create together, in scenes of a sexual nature, we just talked about it," Hinds said. "It's about how we tell the story together, so I didn't understand why intimacy coordinators were suddenly everywhere. As actors, you let your own spirits inform what you're doing. Aoife said, 'No, it was fantastic because your own emotional context was put on hold, and it became not quite balletic, but not your libido.'"
Game of Thrones' Heavily Sexual Tone
Game of Thrones was well-known for its litany of sex scenes, from the multiple rendezvous involving Jaime and Cersei to Arya Stark and Gendry during the final season. While Hinds thinks they distracted from the overarching narrative and critics voiced their concerns about the constant nudity, as well as sexual violence, portrayed during the fantasy drama's run, the intimacy added to Game of Thrones' appeal for many fans. The sexuality hasn't toned down for its prequel series House of the Dragon, either, as Season 1 treated viewers to several intimate scenes.
In the meantime, Hinds signed on earlier this week to appear in Season 2 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, with Amazon Prime Video confirming his casting in an undisclosed role. His most recent TV appearance came in the 2022 Netflix miniseries, Treason, starring alongside Daredevil: Born Again's Charlie Cox and Black Widow's Olga Kurylenko.
Fans can stream Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon via HBO Max.
Source: The Independent via Entertainment Weekly