‘Game of Thrones’ actress says Septa Unella’s death scene was changed at the last minute from explicit sexual assault to ‘waterboarding’

• "Game of Thrones" star Hannah Waddingham opened up about the challenge of filming her death scene.
• Speaking with Collider, the actress revealed that Septa Unella was originally going to be raped.
• She said that changed at the last minute, which led to a 10-hour day of filming the "waterboarding."
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Few shows developed a reputation for brutal on-screen character deaths the way HBO's "Game of Thrones" did in its heyday. But in the sixth season finale, the show chose to leave Septa Unella's demise behind a closed door, and director Miguel Sapochnik told Insider at the time that "the point was to leave it to our imagination."

Now, actress Hannah Waddingham has revealed new details about how Unella's death scene was changed at the "last minute," and how that led to one of the most challenging days on set she's ever experienced.

"She was meant to be raped by The Mountain, and I think they'd had so many complaints about the rape of Sansa that they chose not to go with it," Waddingham told Collider's Perri Nemiroff in a recent interview.

Sansa was one of three main characters in "Game of Thrones" who experienced a sexual assault in the show that didn't happen in the books. Waddingham says she thinks the intense backlash to Sansa's assault in the fifth season was the reason Unella's death scene wasn't made as graphic.

HBO did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

The exact nature of Unella's death was left vague on purpose, according to the director

Unella's death comes in the sixth season finale, after Cersei had successfully blown up the Sept of Baelor and murdered hundreds of her enemies (along with innocent King's Landing folks) in the process. Cersei then takes her revenge on Septa Unella, the woman who had helped the High Sparrow torment Cersei in season five. Most memorably, Unella walked behind Cersei during her "walk of atonement" while yelling "Shame!" and ringing a bell.

So, in the sixth season finale, Cersei had Unella strapped to a table in a dungeon and poured wine repeatedly over her face. She then leaves the room, allowing the zombified Gregor Clegane (aka "The Mountain") alone in the room with Unella. We hear Unella scream, but otherwise the scene cut left the details to viewers' imaginations.

"I think the point was to leave it to our imagination as to what exactly a hideously deformed zombie giant is going to do alone with a hateful sociopathic fanatic. Scrabble, anyone?" the episode's director Miguel Sapochnik said in an email interview with Insider back in 2016.

"The scene was meant to be worse, but they couldn't do it," Lena Headey (Cersei) told Entertainment Weekly after the episode aired. "This is like the tame version. It's pretty bad still though."

Waddingham says aside from childbirth, filming her 'waterboard' scene was the worst day of her life

Waddingham says that the change from an explicit rape scene to the "waterboarding" with wine came as a surprise to her when she got an updated script while "mid-air flying to Belfast" to film her scenes.

"I got sent these new sides that said that I would need a wetsuit top," she told Collider. "And I thought they'd sent me the wrong bits. And sure enough, when I got there, I was then put in a wetsuit top and I was like, 'Because?' And they went, 'Oh, it's waterboarding instead.'"

Waddingham says she spent 10 hours strapped to the table, filming Cersei pouring liquid in her face repeatedly. When Sapochnik passed her later that day, Waddingham says he asked if she was "all right" and she said, "Not really."

Collider asked Waddingham if there was one thing she had to do for a movie or a show that now makes her say, "I'm glad I did that, but never, ever again." Waddingham says the "waterboarding" scene is definitely it.

Now, Waddingham is starring in Apple TV's critically acclaimed comedy "Ted Lasso," one of many fantastic movies and TV shows where you can spot ex-"Game of Thrones" stars.