Game of Thrones’ Nikolaj Coster-Waldau on Jaime and Cersei’s relationship this season: ‘He’s never seen her this broken before’

Jaime and Cersei Lannister aren’t exactly a couple you root for on Game of Thrones.

Their shared interests include political scheming, murder and “twincest,” as the Kingslaver himself, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, put it on EW Morning Live. But one of the most powerfully emotional moments from Sunday night’s season 6 premiere came when Jaime returned to King’s Landing with their daughter’s body — and vowed to avenge their once proud House.

“When someone you love is in pain, you want to do anything to comfort them, and he kind of goes to that moment of saying, ‘Listen, it’s you and me against the world, we can do this, we’re gonna fight back, we’re gonna take revenge,’ because he’s never seen her this broken before, I think, and now he wants her back,” Coster-Waldau, 45, said on Monday’s show. “But of course he has no idea what’s happened in King’s Landing before. As we found out, the whole power dynamic has changed, we have the religious uprising. It’s a tricky situation.”

Part of what made the siblings/lovers’ reunion so beautiful — even if you’re staunchly on Team Stark — was the fact that the characters had been separated for much of the last couple seasons, and the strain showed.

“She hasn’t been happy with him for a long time, I think actually since he came back with no right hand, she kind of lost a bit of interest in him,” the actor said with a wry laugh. “And I think now she needs him, and he at first, well, for now, he’s happy to step up. But she’s not an easy lady to deal with.”

As for what the rest of the episodes hold for Jaime? Family drama, especially with his (secret) son Tommen, whose beloved Queen Margaery Tyrell remains imprisoned for sins she didn’t commit.

“His father’s gone, Tyrion’s gone. He’s all Cersei has now. He has to deal with protecting their kid, Tommen, who’s also the king, who’s also a teenager in love, which is not easy to deal with. So it’s hard to control him,” Coster-Waldau said. “The biggest enemy here of course is the faith militant, this religious uprising being spearheaded by the High Sparrow. He has to deal with him.”

Game of Thrones airs Sundays at 9 pm ET on HBO. Hear more scoop on the fantasy series on SiriusXM’s Entertainment Weeky Radio (Ch. 105).

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