Game of Thrones: Ramsay Bolton actor Iwan Rheon defends controversial Sansa Stark rape scene

'It isn't the worst thing that's happened on Game of Thrones'

In season five of Game of Thrones, there was one moment that proved increasingly controversial; the scene in which Ramsey Bolton rapes Sansa Stark on their wedding night.

Petitions were set up soon after, pushing people to stop watching the show because of the vile depiction. The showrunners eventually announced that season six would tone down the sexual violence following the outcry.

In an attempt to justify the scene, Bolton actor Iwan Rheon told The Independent: “I understand why the reaction's there because people have watched this girl grow up and they love her.

"But at the same time there was such an intense backlash about it, and it isn't the worst thing that's happened on Game of Thrones. You know, burning a child... nobody seems to go mad about that.”

The actor went on to detail how the entire cast and crew felt uncomfortable filming the scene: “It was horrible. I didn't sleep a wink the night before, when usually I'm quite good at detaching from Ramsay.

“Also Sophie (Sophie Turner who plays Sansa) is young herself and such a lovely girl... it just felt like nobody wanted to be there and nobody wanted to be doing it and it just filtered all the way through the crew. But you've just to get on with it, and Sophie dealt with it very well.”

In the same interview (which you can read here), Rheon talks about male nudity in the show and his next role, Hitler.