Natalie Dormer Talks Training for Margaery Tyrell

Those who are familiar with Natalie Dormer know she’s a fierce actress as well as a fierce competitor. Recently, it was announced that Dormer would be running the New York City Marathon come this November as part of the charity organization New York Road Runners’ Team for Kids. But this isn’t her first marathon. Dormer got into running them last year during her marathon workload filming Game of Thrones Season 4 back to back with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Parts 1 and 2.

According to a recent interview with SELF Magazine, that training and her “attention to the physical” has helped her embody the character of Margaery Tyrell. See what she had to say about it below!

“Being strapped into a corset with this long flowing skirt immediately changes the way you look in the mirror,” she says. “My way into Margaery is actually quite physical, even though she’s not a physical character in the way that Cressida [from The Hunger Games] is.”

According to Dormer, training for marathons also helps with the unnatural and long hours of filming: “When you work the unnatural hours that actors work, and when you fly as much as we do, you have to pay attention to your body—or else you’re a disaster ready to happen.”

Speaking of disasters ready to happen, SELF asks Dormer about Season 5 of Game of Thrones, during which Margaery is expected to marry yet again, having already had two kingly husbands conveniently die off before they could bed her. “Third time’s the charm!” she says. But like everyone else, she admits that after this season, she has no idea what’s in store for her character. SELF points out that, as it stands currently, Season 6 will start filming in the late summer and early fall with or without The Winds of Winter. As we know, the producers are ready for the moment when the show truly passes the books (although Martin is loudly dropping hints that he could finish The Winds of Winter any minute now). But Dormer says that not knowing Margaery’s fate makes it fun for her.

 “[T]hat’s what makes for good drama. It’s fun to shoot. We do have a laugh. It’s kind of the only way to navigate all that death.”

All that death? That sounds ominous, though I suppose in the world of Westeros, anyone could drop dead at any minute. And with not just one, but three weddings on the docket this season, let’s hope for Margaery’s sake (and Tommen’s, and Ser Pounce’s!) that the third time really is the charm.

• Published on 03/24/2015 at 12:30 PM CDT
• Last updated on 10/21/2016 at 1:05 PM CDT