Game of Thrones star has perfect response when asked what playing 'strong female character' is like

Game of Thrones actress Gemma Whelan, who plays the cutthroat Yara Greyjoy, appeared on Sky News to talk about her role – and how she’s quite done with being asked what it’s like to play a “strong female character”.

Sky News presenter Adam Boulton told Whelan that her character is “scarey... quite tough”.

“I enjoy playing her,” Whelan said. “It’s a lot of my qualities just with the volume turned up a bit.”

She hastened to add: “I don’t murder people, obviously.”

“One of the arguments about Game of Thrones,” Boulton continues, “Is, ‘Does it empower women or does it objectify them?’"

With a world-weary sigh, Whelan launches into a great explanation for why she believes Game of Thrones is empowering women:

I feel like it’s empowering. I certainly do. For me, playing Yara.

The question I’m asked most often is, ‘What’s it like to play such a strong female character?’ And I think it’s such a redundant question because women by default are strong, and independent and free, and all the sort of spectrum of emotions as are men.

But men are never asked, ‘What’s it like to play a strong man.’

And that's how it's done.

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