Nathalie Emmanuel has praised ‘Game of Thrones’ for starting a “conversation” about the “treatment of actors of color”.
The 30-year-old actress starred as ‘Missandei’ in the HBO fantasy series, and has said her character’s tragic death in the show’s eighth and final season earlier this year helped to start an important conversation about “representation” in film and TV.
Missandei was beheaded in front of her queen and closest friend Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) and while some mourned her loss for the support she offered to the Mother of Dragons, others said it was a savage way to kill off the show’s only woman of color.
Nathalie said: “It sparked a conversation about representation and the treatment of actors of color, which I think is very welcomed. It should be had, absolutely.”
And although the star also admits she was given some “beautiful scenes” throughout her time on the show, she does wish there were more women of color among the cast.
She added to ‘Entertainment Tonight‘: “I think it’s really important to say … I was given so much to do with Missandei over the course of the seasons that I was in, and the beautiful scenes and words that I got to say, like, and the kind of nuance of the scenes that I got to do was so amazing. But there is a wider issue of representation.”
Meanwhile, Nathalie recently said she couldn’t understand the criticism toward the show’s final season and defended showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.
She said: “In light of the reaction to the end of the season, which, by the way, I think most people I know enjoyed it – I think it’s easy to focus on the negative, and I think people forget what those two did.
“And obviously the whole writing team and everyone responsible and involved, but I think people forget that … they literally made us hang onto their every word for 10 years. And to me, that makes them legends.”
