From Claire Foy’s Anne Boleyn in Wolf Hall to Adriana in The Sopranos, we meet the actors who had to bump off TV legends … and then face the wrath of the public
T
alk about being a pantomime villain. It’s unpopular enough playing the antagonist who murders a long-running TV character. When your victim is a fan favourite, though, you risk being vilified even more. So what’s it like being the ultimate baddy and breaking viewers’ hearts? Do they get booed in the street or trolled online? We asked five actors who killed off beloved characters – from Spooks to The Sopranos, Wolf Hall to Westeros – about their experiences …
Michael McElhatton played Roose Bolton, who stabbed Robb Stark in the infamous Red Wedding episode of Game of Thrones
“It was 13 years ago but I vividly remember filming the Red Wedding. How could you not? We shot it over five days, all blocked out like a play, which never happens in film or TV. Three major characters got killed: Talisa (Oona Chaplin), Robb (Richard Madden) and Catelyn (Michelle Fairley). It’s a huge turning point and where Game of Thrones truly took off. In fact, that was the part of the books that convinced David Benioff and DB Weiss to acquire the TV rights. They said ‘As long as they don’t cancel us before the Red Wedding, we’re fine!’
