He’s the most despicable, hateful scumbag on television.
Ramsay Bolton is Game Of Thrones’ ultimate boo-hiss bad guy right now – and that’s really saying something. Reminder: this is the guy who castrated and tortured Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen), who, to be fair, at the time was also a hateful little shit, but the Lord of Winterfell’s brutal treatment of him turned Theon into one of the show’s most sympathetic characters.
He also killed his father, and threw his stepmum and baby stepbrother to the dogs.
But it was Ramsay’s appalling treatment of his bride Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) – including a sexual assault on their wedding night – that really elevated him to a new level of hatred.
He’s even more hated than King Joffrey these days. “After we lost Joffrey, we had a psychopath-shaped hole in the Thrones world,” Sophie Turner said in an interview last month. “But Iwan brings a terror and a creepiness that Joffrey never had. We needed someone to hate, and we love to hate him.”
It makes you wonder how Iwan Rheon, the Welsh actor who plays Ramsay, ever got into the mindset of playing such an evil villain.
(Stuart C. Wilson/Getty)Well, it turns out, he took some inspiration from popular culture – and at least one influence is rather surprising.
In an interview with the Independent, Rheon was asked if he based his characterisation of Ramsay on anyone in particular.
“Initially Heath Ledger’s Joker,” he says at first.
That one makes sense: Ledger’s legendary Oscar-winning performance in The Dark Knight is imprinted on an entire generation of young actors.
Rheon then continued: “And then I kind of thought Dennis the Menace… it’s great to have that childlike glee in doing all these horrible things.”
Erm, okay. You can probably see that, if you really want to see it.
Via BBC.
But there’s one more influence that Rheon cites: “Liam Gallagher’s attitude and walk.”
Yep, Liam.
(Ian Gavan/Getty)Don’t know about you, but we’d love to hear Rheon read out Liam’s tweets in character as Ramsay.
I'm ere all wk more entertaining than your shower of shit so called Rock stars Rock n Roll for the toffs
— Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) May 24, 2016
It also got us thinking about which of Oasis’ hits could be repurposed for a Game Of Thrones character. Obviously ‘Wonder-The Wall’. Maybe ‘Heads Roll With It’? ‘Morning Gory’? ‘Some Might Slay’? ‘Cock n Roll Scar’?
Though with Sansa and Jon Snow on the advance, one Oasis song that almost certainly won’t apply to Ramsay Bolton is ‘Live Forever’. We hope.
