Diana Rigg Celebrates the Strong Women on Thrones
Dame Diana Rigg is one of the greatest joys to watch on Game of Thrones. Her performance as Olenna Tyrell, one of the best characters to come from the A Song of Ice and Fire series, is up there with Charles Dance as Tywin Lannister and Sean Bean as Ned Stark. Of course, the difference is, she was smart enough to outlive them both.
Rigg, like Dance and Bean, is a legend in her own time, a woman who started out her career with an iconic role in the 1960s runaway hit “The Avengers.” She’s famous for demanding to be paid the same amount for her work as male actors are for theirs, as well as for the stunning sex appeal she displayed as Mrs. Emma Peel. And yet she declined to be the face of feminism in the ’70s. To her, it was a practical matter, and one Olenna would appreciate—what would really bring her equality and respect with men was money.
One can see why Rigg was Benioff and Weiss’ first choice for the role of “The Queen of Thrones,” the most wily woman in Westeros and the current Game of Thrones VIP, a title she earned by taking out nearly the entire Lannister house with the strategic removal of one small Joffrey. Even if , in her mind, the role “just sort of happened,” according to an interview with The Daily Beast.
Much like standing in a blood-splattered brothel full of broken dildos sort of happened last week during her scene with Littlefinger in “The Gift.” “I loved that!” she said. “I thought I’d have a photograph taken and use it as a birthday card. There were broken dildos all over the floor—ceramic dildos.”
That’s not the only fun she’s had this year. She also loved her tête-à-tête with Cersei a few weeks back. “It’s great fun to have a scene like that where you’re sparring across the desk together. We’re both very strong women, but we’re vying for the top position, as it were—both of us wanting to control the other,” she said.
They’re both very determined women and don’t let anything get in the way of their goals, so they have that in common…Olenna has a bit more humor—I think Cersei is quite serious, and doesn’t see the funny side, which Olenna does quite often. And for the sake of their family, they would do anything.
She loves the abundance of strong women portrayed on the show, and gets along with all her female costars. “I think it’s absolutely terrific. I’ve always been on the side of fully emancipated women with independent minds.” She says the younger ones all call her “Dame.”
“That’s their tease, actually…It’s sweet. It’s a sort of tease, because we’re very friendly and they’re sending me up, really!”
Does she worry, like some do, about the abundance of rape scenes and violence against women? To be honest, no. After all, Westeros has been in a constant state of war the last few seasons.
“I think people just don’t like to be confronted with that sort of reality, and obviously react…But the fact of the matter is it does go on—not least of which in Africa and places of war. Wherever there’s a war, there’s rape.”
When asked about starring on the show fifty years into her career, she says she feels blessed, but it’s not like she has anything lined up after it. After all, at her age, she should be enjoying the fruits of her career.
I have a chateau in France that I go to from time to time. Armagnac and—I hate to say it, because it’s about to be banned—but foie gras is delicious. Animal rights people, please don’t send me bombs!
For more on Rigg, her long career, and a reminder of just how she got out of marrying that Targaryen she was engaged to back in the day, check out the whole interview here.
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