On Game of Thrones, Carice van Houten plays a scheming high priestess, desperate to follow the correct path to world domination. In her real life, Houten has just had a child. These two roles bled into one another during filming of the seventh season — six weeks after having a baby, the actress found speaking Valyrian "fucking difficult."
"Especially when you've just had a baby six weeks earlier, and you're just like, 'Holy shit, wait a minute ... Lines! What language is this?'" Houten told The Hollywood Reporter of speaking the made-up language on the show. She compared her post-pregnancy brain to "fucking gouda cheese," although it should be said that the language would probably be difficult for anyone. High Valyrian is one of the languages concocted for Game of Thrones and, as per Houten herself, it doesn't reference any other active language.
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"I find it difficult to learn, because there's no reference to any other language," Houten said, adding, "I'm always very impressed that the language exists at all." (You can actually learn the language yourself on Duolingo, as per The Huffington Post.)
As for Melisandre, season 7 is a little different — she's less confident than she was before, as her last two attempts at finding "The Prince That Was Promised" didn't seem to pan out. (Jon Snow (Kit Harington) is still TBD, but prospects look grim, given that Jon sent her away from Winterfell.) According to Houten, we'll see Melisandre gain confidence throughout the season.
"She slowly regains her confidence [this season]," Houten said. "Not so much her own confidence, but maybe her faith. She sees herself as a vessel. I don't think she's in it for her own gain. I don't see her as a selfish person, per se." These days, Melisandre is serving Daenerys Stormborn at Dragonstone — in the most recent episode, the priestess suggested that the Targaryen princess is the Prince.
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