Rose Leslie and Kit Harington have Game of Thrones to thank not only for the most high-profile roles of their careers but also for their relationship. The couple, who married in Scotland last summer, actually met while filming the hit HBO show.
It’s been a while since we’ve seen Leslie’s Ygritte, a wildling who Harington’s Jon Snow met after he joined the Night’s Watch at The Wall—but the actress’s mark on the show lingers on via one of its most famous lines: “You know nothing, Jon Snow.”
Well that—and their characters’ steamy sex scene in a cave. Now, in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, she reveals how her now-husband made filming those scenes more comfortable for her.
Leslie recalls that only necessary personnel were on set that day and that she “felt very safe,” which Harington played a huge role in.
“[Harington] was, as ever, a gentleman, and he made sure that I was comfortable where he was going to be positioned, and he would always then turn around when they called cut, and the lovely wardrobe dailies would come in with a dressing gown, and then I would be covered. And only then would notes be spoken to us from the director,” she said. “But he was very considerate and made sure as much as possible that I didn’t feel awkward standing in front of people with your tits out. So it’s never going to be an enjoyable day, it’s always going to be an awkward one, but he and the rest of the crew were incredibly considerate, and it’s a conversation that we most certainly had in terms of where the boundaries lay.”
And as for that iconic line? Leslie loves being associated with it—but she and Harington don’t go around saying it to each other at home. “I feel incredibly privileged to have a catchphrase whereby, especially for the last few years, it’s been around me,” she says. “How lucky for any actor to walk away from a television show and have a catchphrase, but I’m sure many people find it the most irritating thing in the world, but there are still some people who find it fairly endearing. I think between he and I, no, we never say it to one another for obvious reasons—and not just ’cause it’s corny.”
Speaking of knowing nothing, we still have absolutely no idea what’s going to happen in the eighth and final season of Game of Thrones—even the cast, Leslie included, doesn’t. But luckily there’s not much longer to wait: It’ll premiere Sunday (April 14) at 9 P.M. ET on HBO.
Obviously, Outlander is more than just steamy sex scenes. But at its core, this is a show about Jamie and Claire’s relationship—and their intimate moments, sexual or not, are important to fans. It’s also important that this series consistently shows female pleasure and consent as sexy, as we’ve pointed out before.
But season four, which just wrapped, was largely focused on setting up new characters and storylines for the series. Sure, the couple made a new home for themselves in colonial America, but most of our time was spent diving deeper into Brianna and Roger’s story. While it’s exciting to see where that goes, it meant less screen time for Jamie and Claire, and the intimate moments we did get were often cut short, fading to black before things heated up.
For many fans, this was frustrating. “The show is brimming with adventures, cliffhangers, great characters and performances, social commentary, and lots of sentimentality,” Andrée Poppleton wrote on Outlandercast.com. “It has lost touch, however, with the thrust and depth (puns intended) of the writings of Diana Gabaldon, who shows us a relationship like nothing we have seen before on television—an egalitarian relationship where the joy, intensity, fun, playfulness, and excitement of being a couple never stops for Claire and Jamie, despite the passing of years and all the dramas that develop and revolve around them.”
Mark Mainz
We asked co–executive producer Maril Davis about this shift at the Television Critics Association winter press tour. “I think every season is different,” she tells Glamour. “This season we were introducing more characters, and there was a lot of story to get in. We’ve always talked about the sex scenes—we love them too—but they have to be organic to the story.”
Sometimes, she says, the story just doesn’t allow for as many slowdown times—intimate moments between Jamie and Claire, specifically—that fans can get in the books. “I do anticipate a return, hopefully, to that next season a little more,” she says. “Every season has its different storylines and where we’re going. It can’t always re-create the first season, which was very special, but it just has to be within the story and feel like it’s organic. That’s something we work on, and the actors work on. It’s a collaboration.”
As a fan herself, Davis says she totally gets that a fade-to-black in the middle of a sex scene might not be satisfying for some fans. But “this is the fifth season, and we’re trying to find those intimate moments without always having to show everything and putting actors in that position. But I get it! I want everyone to be satisfied.”
The next season will start production some time this year, though she won’t reveal exact timing yet. As for the storyline, Davis says they hear truly every kind of request from fans. “It’s hard to please everyone,” she jokes. But production knows the “heart and soul” of the story is Claire and Jamie: “We never forget that.”
Reporting by Jessica Radloff. Anna Moeslein is a senior editor at Glamour. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @annamoeslein.
My Outlander habit started because it looked like something my husband and I would be able to watch together. I like historical fiction, he’s got a thing for kilts and bagpipes (and can trace his own ancestry to the Cameron clan); so when a coworker described it to me about three episodes after the premiere, I paid little attention to her telling me how “hot” it was and more to the 18th-century Scotland bit.
Then, of course, 11 minutes in, Claire was initiating sex with Frank in Mrs. Baird’s creaky bed and breakfast. Later on a countryside tour, she enticed Frank to get down on his knees and please her as she sat on the table in a room we would later learn would be Claire’s surgery as a healer.
At the time I hadn’t read any of the books—I’ve since listened only to audio books one and two; Davina Porter is a fantastic narrator—so I had no idea what steaminess was coming next. And I don’t mean the full-on naked sexiness that has become synonymous with the show, I mean the wonderful, obvious, repeated references to consensual sex and female pleasure.
PHOTO: Neil Davidson
First there was Claire and Frank, where she felt free to kick things off whenever and wherever in prudish post-war 1945. The examples continued to pile up in season one: Before the wedding, Jamie doesn’t slut-shame Claire for being more experienced in bed; he seems happy about it. “You don’t mind that I’m not a virgin?” she says, after MacDougal has arranged the marriage. “Not so long as you don’t mind that I am,” he replies. “I reckon one of us should know what we’re doing.” It’s like sexting in 1743.
Soon after, in the biggest fight of their young union, Jamie follows Scottish tradition and punishes Claire for not obeying him. Claire stands up to the domestic violence, and when they get around to the make-up sex Jamie won’t proceed until he gets Claire’s go ahead. “I want you Claire. I want you so much I can scarcely breathe. Will you have me?” he asks. She doesn’t just grab him or pull him to her, she gasps, “Yes.” Clear, audible sexy-as-hell consent.
While it’s fun to watch, portraying sex this way matters. “It’s incredibly important to show sexy, consensual sex on mainstream and popular shows,” says Jean Kilbourne, creator of the Killing Us Softly film series, media critic, and feminist activist who has studied how women are portrayed in advertising and media. “In this #MeToo era, it seems that some men are confused about what consensual sex is. Really guys?” It’s also important to show female pleasure and desire. Seen together it’s a magic cocktail, she says, “it helps people understand that consent can be sexy, and can be part of the whole experience—rather than an interruption of it. Consent can and should be enthusiastic!”
Rewatch the sex highlights (admit it, you’ve done it) and there are plenty of reminders. In episode 110, Jamie may have a chance to clear his name. He’s waited years for this information, and his very life may depend on it. But when Murtagh is banging on the door to tell him all the details, Jamie will not give up going down on Claire. He ignores the thundering racket until she climaxes. Oral and an orgasm? When was the last time you saw that, even on cable?
That wasn’t a one-off. The night before Claire returns to her time through the stones, Jamie pleasures her so he can watch; her pleasure is more satisfying and important than his own. “They are two equals. Neither is on a pedestal,” Sam Heughan told Glamour about the consensual sex. “He always puts her first, but he listens to what she has to say. … he’s always seen her as his equal. I think that is probably what makes their relationship work.”
Season two—as everyone bemoaned—was largely a dry spell, even as Jamie frequented a brothel with the bonnie prince. (Though Jamie’s initial reaction to the Parisian approach to grooming is worth noting: “Claire, what have you done to yourself? Your honey pot is bare,” he says. As Claire points out she waxed her legs too, he continues: “That’s bad enough, but to rid yourself of such a lovely forest!”)
Season three followed largely the same sexless trajectory with the two cross-century love birds trying to find their way back to each other.
But with season four, the Easter eggs are back. (Spoilers ahead if you aren’t up to date.) In 1970, when Brianna rebuffs Roger’s proposal, she points out his hypocrisy that he’s slept with other women without marrying them, but she can’t do the same. In the New World, as Mr. Myers explains the ways of the Cherokee as he guides Jamie, Claire, and Ian to their plot of land, he says “Cherokee women choose who they marry. And before that who they bed with,” as if consent were an act of honor as old as time. (Ian’s treacly, “I love this land!” almost kills the moment, but wouldn’t we all love to live in a world where consent is a given?)
And then, when a bear-like creature haunts both the Frasers and the Cherokee, we learn that it’s actually a former member of the tribe. “One year ago, he lay with [his woman] against her wishes, and that is not our way. So he was banished to live alone in the woods,” a Cherokee explains. “He did not accept this. He returned to us again and again. But we would not see him.” The man was once a great warrior and leader in the tribe, but there was no “hey Louis C.K., you’re welcome back any time” here. (It’s worth noting that this is different than in the book, where Jamie defeats a real bear; hat tip to the writers and producers for making this bit a little more relevant to modern day.)
The series is best when Jamie and Claire are in Scotland, but season four may bring back some of that ruggedness in a new world on the cusp of revolution. (There are signs of strain, though, particularly over major issues like slavery and the theft of Native American lands. Claire and Jamie were willing to try to rewrite history—to murder Dougal even—to save the Highlanders. But they aren’t willing to do anything to try to save the lives of millions slaves or Native Americans?)
But as all good streaming relationships go, my husband and I are now watching episodes at our own pace. He petered out before Jamie and Claire even set sail to the west. But for now, I’m sticking with this season for the sex—the consensual, feminist sex. How revolutionary.
Game of Thrones is one of the most beloved shows on television, but there’s one element to it that’s quite polarizing: the sex scenes.
GoT is infamous for its gratuitous—and sometimes problematic—sex. It’s part of why so many people love the show…and why others hate it. Granted, much of the criticism concerning the nudity on GoT is valid (it has depicted sexual violence against women on several occasions) but not all of it. There’s a certain subset of fans who’re just annoyed by the amount of sex—consensual, good, healthy sex—that Game of Thrones shows. And that’s the chatter Emilia Clarke, who plays Daenerys Targaryen, has an issue with.
“I’m starting to get really annoyed about this stuff now because people say, ‘Oh, yeah, all the porn sites went down when Game of Thrones came back on.’ I’m like, The Handmaid’s Tale? I fucking love that show, and I cried when it ended because I couldn’t handle not seeing it. That is all sex and nudity. There are so many shows centered around this very true fact that people reproduce,” Clarke told Harper’s Bazaar for its December/January issue. “People fuck for pleasure—it’s part of life.”
Clarke expressed similar sentiments back in March when she wrote an essay for The Huffington Post. “If you’ve watched Game of Thrones then, spoiler, you will have seen me in the nude,” she wrote. “There are plenty of ways in which people want me to respond to questions about this fact. And plenty of reasons why I do not feel the need to justify myself.”
Retweet. Whether you like the sex scenes on Game of Thrones or not, it shouldn’t have to be Clarke’s job to defend them. (It’s funny how the male actors on the show are rarely ask about their nudity.) At the end of the day, she’s an actress doing her job—and if she’s comfortable, that’s all that matters.
Let’s be honest: The best part about Outlander is the sex. The love scenes on this hit Starz series are some of the best on TV, and there are several reasons why. For one, there’s the way in which these scenes are framed: They’re completely dictated by Caitriona Balfe’s character, Claire. The sex is seen through her eyes, which makes it pretty damn empowering—not to mention saucy and sweaty and primal and just amazing. It doesn’t hurt that the three actors doing the most boning—Balfe, Sam Heughan, and Tobias Menzies—are insanely good looking, either. And these 10 scenes, below, are the hottest of the bunch. Grab a glass of water before reading. You’ll need it.
Season one, episode 11: Jamie gets handsy.
Claire doesn’t waste any time telling Jamie that she’s a time traveller, and his reaction to the news is incredible: He brings Claire to orgasm by using his hands. “I want to watch you,” Jamie says to Claire seconds before she climaxes. Damn.
PHOTO: Starz
Season two, episode four: In Paris, with blue light.
The context here is what makes this scene so significant. Remember, Jamie was so traumatized from being raped by Jack Randall that he couldn’t sleep with Claire without picturing him. It’s in this moment, though—after several months in Paris—where they reconnect for real. It’s glorious.
PHOTO: Starz
Season one, episode one: Frank gets on his knees.
Yes, Frank and Claire have sexy scenes too. Exhibit A: This moment from the pilot, where Claire makes Frank go down on her outside while they’re exploring the Scottish ruins. What an amazing detour.
PHOTO: Starz
Season one, episode one: Claire and Frank’s second honeymoon.
It’s the first sex scene in Outlander—ever—and it’s an important one. This moment explains just how integral sex is to this series: It’s used as a communication tool more than anything. Claire and Frank’s bone session here is smoldering, but it’s also the primary way they’ve connected since Frank’s return from war. She says this in her voiceover.
PHOTO: Starz
Season one, episode seven: Claire and Jamie’s first time.
This happens at the top of their wedding night. Granted, it’s not that great—Jamie’s a little rusty—but its significance earns it a spot on this list. After all, it’s the gateway sex for the amazing orgasms to come.
Season two, episode eight: A makeout session that’s hotter than sex.
Jamie and Claire don’t even take their clothes off here, but they still give me heart palpitations. Seriously, who in real life kisses like this? They’re just so into it—like horny 16-year-olds on prom night. I’ll die happy if I can have just one makeout session this explosive.
PHOTO: Starz
Season one, episode nine: Claire punishes Jamie.
This moment starts out uncomfortable: Jamie thinks it’s a good idea to spank Claire as punishment for her getting caught by the British. She pushes back, of course, but then shows Jamie she’s cool with rough sex if it’s consensual. That’s when the heat turns up. “Raise your hand to me again, James Fraser, and I will cut your heart out,” Claire says during their rendezvous.
PHOTO: Starz
Season one, episode 10: Knock-knock.
We’ve all been there, right? Your partner’s going down on you, but then a nosy Laird starts tapping at the door. Mere mortals would be startled by this, but not Jamie. Nope, he keeps going—even when the knocking intensifies—and gets Claire to climax. Whoever’s outside can wait, damn it!
PHOTO: Starz
Season one, episode eight: Jamie and Claire bang outside.
Do we need to explain this further? They’re outside! Everyone knows sex in the grass is better than sex in the bed.
PHOTO: Starz
Season one, episode seven (part two): Jamie and Claire’s wedding night gets steamy.
Their wedding night started off slow, but by round three they’re off to the races. The foreplay in this scene is arguably better than the actual sex: Claire has Jamie strip for her. The vibe is electric by the time they make it to the actual bed.
PHOTO: Starz
So did this headline lie? Are you not feeling things? Maybe this final nugget will do the trick: Here’s a super-cut of these scenes. You can thank me later.
Riverdale co-stars Lili Reinhart and Cole Sprouse are keeping their off-screen relationship hush-hush, but what they do on screen is more than public knowledge. Their characters, Betty Cooper and Jughead Jones, are an item on Riverdale, and show-runners have been hinting for months that trouble’s ahead for them. For now, though, they’re still pretty lovey-dovey. Granted, they haven’t turned the heat up quite like Archie and Veronica have (um, that shower scene?), but they do kiss on the show—often. And two weeks ago Betty implied to her mother she and Jughead almost had sex, so it’s safe to say there’s still a ton of passion between them.
That passion, according to Reinhart, isn’t uncomfortable to shoot, either. In a new interview with Entertainment Tonight, the young actress reveals the Riverdale core four have no qualms about kissing each other on screen.
“I think we’re all so comfortable with one another that it’s not even really a thing,” she said. “If we have a kissing scene, it’s fine. We don’t really think twice about it. When new characters have to kiss, it’s a little different and you’re like, ‘Oh, OK! What this?’ But it’s easy, we’re all friends. It would be more nerve-wracking if you had to make out with someone that you didn’t know. So if by chance we do end up having to kiss each other, it’s fine and it doesn’t feel weird.”
Notice how Reinhart strategically says the word “friends.” She makes no indication that she and Sprouse are more than that. When asked about him, all Reinhart said was, “We get along quite well. We’re doing good.” Ugh, all these evasive responses.
Of course, Reinhart doesn’t have to say anything about her relationship with Sprouse, but all this kissing talk will definitely drive their fans nuts. At this rate, we may never know what’s happening between. Hey, at least we’ll always have Bughead.
