Carice van Houten’s Melisandre is one of the most mysterious characters on “Game of Thrones”by a wide margin. A constant reminder that magic is still very much a thing in the brutal fantasy world of HBO’s fantasy series, “The Red Woman” is the show’s zealous priestess of the Lord of Light deity, and wields an array of mysterious power and soothsaying abilities. She’s one of the main supporters behind Stannis Baratheon’s quest to sit on the Iron Throne, and later allies herself withJon Snow (played by Kit Harington).
Formidable as Melisandre is, she wasn’t van Houten’s first-ballot “Game of Thrones”role. In a 2012 interview with Vulture, the Dutch actor revealed that she was originally on series creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss’ radar to play none other than Queen Cersei Lannister. “I thought the queen would be a great part,” van Houten said, “and they asked me to audition, but I couldn’t do it, because I was shooting something else.”
Melisandre was the right role for van Houten
The role of Cersei Lannister ultimately went to Lena Headey, who played the cold and conniving queen with a steely edge that earned her five Emmy nominations. The part also was relatively cushy, as “Game of Thrones”gigs go.Instead of trudging through the mud during cold nights of filming while holding a massive sword, as many of her co-stars did, Headey was upfront about how her salary was earned under considerably more comfortable conditions. “I am always in Belfast in a room,”she said of her estimated 15 filming days per season during a 2019 appearance onthe Virgin Radio Breakfast show, also noting that much of her character’s time was spent drinking wine.
Meanwhile, though the character of Melisandre didn’t last untilthe controversial “Game of Thrones” series finale. However, she managed to get a satisfactory end on her own terms in “The Long Night.” (Read our obituary for the Red Priestess here.) Since the show’s conclusion in 2019, van Houten has starred in a number of European films and TV shows. Her most prominent post-“Thrones”role to date is arguably the British medical comedy-drama “Temple,” on which she starred for two seasons oppositeMark Strong (“Penguin”).She’s also starring alongside David Duchovny and Jack Whitehall in Prime Video’s psychological thriller miniseries, “Malice,” which starts streaming onFriday, Nov. 14.
