Jessica Chastain Slams Game of Thrones: "Rape Is Not a Tool to Make a Character Stronger"

Chastain's criticism comes after a particular scene involving her Dark Phoenix costar Sophie Turner

By Chris Harnick May 07, 2019 4:33 PMTags
Jessica ChastainNathan Congleton/NBC

Jessica Chastain isn't happy with Game of Thrones.

The Oscar nominee took to Twitter after the Sunday, May 5 episode of the series to call out a specific moment involving her Dark Phoenix costar Sophie Turner.

In the episode, titled "The Last of the Starks," Turner's Sansa Stark had a conversation with The Hound (Rory McCann) about the sexual and physical abuse she survived at the hands of Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon). Sansa said it made her a stronger person.

"Rape is not a tool to make a character stronger. A woman doesn't need to be victimized in order to become a butterfly," Chastain tweeted. "The #littlebird was always a Phoenix. Her prevailing strength is solely because of her. And her alone."

photos
Game of Thrones Season 8 Photos: Farewell to Westeros

See the tweet, complete with a GIF of Turner on the Iron Throne, below.

The scene harkened back to earlier moments with the characters, specifically in season two when The Hound tried to recuse Sansa from King's Landing. She declined to go with him. Calling her by her nickname, little bird, he said if she had gone with him she wouldn't have been the subject of abuse and manipulation.

"Without Littlefinger and Ramsay and the rest, I would have stayed a little bird all my life," Sansa said.

Chastain has taken to Twitter in recent weeks to celebrate Game of Thrones, especially Maisie Williams' character Arya Stark. Her tweet about Sansa Stark took off, it echoes criticism of the episode from around the web. Outlets like Vanity Fair, BuzzFeed and IndieWire have all written about the scene, and viewers posted their own takes on Twitter.

Game of Thrones airs Sundays, 9 p.m. on HBO.