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him-e · 7 years

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I liked your review on Sophie/Sansa, I think that Sophie is a gorgeous Sansa and a talented actress, I hope she will have a good career. Now the small question, what is your opinion on the performance Sophie and Kit in season 6?

Their interactions specifically?

I think Sophie and Kit were excited to have so many important scenes together in season 6, had been waiting for this for a long time, they’re clearly good friends irl, and all of this transpired from their onscreen interactions. At the same time, they were instructed to play two estranged half siblings who finally connect with each other, not without difficulty, after years of pain, terrible losses and intense trauma, and they do because they literally have no other choice but each other (Jon is Sansa’s last hope, and Sansa gives Jon a new purpose after he lost all sense of belonging in the NW). All these different factors resulted in a complex and unpredictable dynamic, the icing on the cake being the natural chemistry Kit and Sophie have.

Let’s start with their reunion scene. A lot has been written about it, about the way both actors played it as a crescendo from anticipation, to recognition, to the final explosive momentum of the physical embrace. I like how both actors’ performances convey an almost dreamlike sense of disbelief in seeing the other, almost if the characters were not sure if this was real or not. For Jon, Sansa’s arrival was an absolute shock that he wasn’t prepared for, and Kit plays it beautifully. Note how he exhales and draws back for a second as soon as he recognizes her face, as if he needs a moment to truly absorb this information and isn’t really sure what to do, and then proceeds to collect himself and climb the stairs, slowly but deliberately, towards her:

I really love the cinematic crescendo of the camera following Kit steps just as Sansa’s gaze does, while Sophie stands still, waiting, holding her breath:

(gifs by cerseilannister)

Sophie plays Sansa as visibly distraught on top of physically and mentally exhausted: her face (and hair) is a mess, she’s holding back a variety of emotions from anticipation to childlike vulnerability to fear (fear that this moment isn’t real, fear that someone will come and destroy everything, maybe fear of Jon’s rejection, because she honestly has no idea if he’s going to take her in or not—note the quick blinking and the nervous hand wringing, that Sophie routinely uses to convey Sansa’s anxiety).

another fantastic acting detail is Kit watching Sophie with his head slightly tilted as he’s studying her face and isn’t really sure if he should trust his own eyes and he’s probably thinking you look like a girl I used to know a lifetime ago, my lady

(gif by cerseilannister)

again, he draws back a bit before Sansa throws herself in his arms. It’s a matter of split seconds, but it’s actually Sansa who makes the first move. He reacts immediately though, instinctively. The whole scene was very, very carefully staged, otherwise you wouldn’t get this level of synchronicity.

Both actors use sharp, deep breathing to underscore the building tension and the swelling emotion. It’s actually a major defining element in their scenes together—like it happens A LOT—and I think it’s very interesting. People picked romantic vibes in their interactions because of stuff like this:

I mean what the fuck:

(gifs by harleygrenade)

why did they play it like this? couldn’t they just have a regular sibling fight?

Now, I don’t think Sophie and Kit were playing romance, no. I think they were instructed to play their scenes as two people who clearly want to see each other as family, and are desperate to connect, but are also complete strangers, fighting a war they’re already losing, fighting for a brother they’ll most likely never see alive again, fighting for their own lives, and not knowing if they can fully trust each other. There’s tension in their scenes because there is tension in their lives at this point—they’re in a dangerous, potentially lethal situation. But this translates, as I said earlier, in a deliciously vibrant, nuanced dynamic, fraught with affection but also building anxiety, lack of familiarity and some simmering, unresolved grudges.

Some viewers complained that their scenes, especially in Book of the Stranger (huh, now I see how fitting that title is), were too affectionate for two half siblings who spent their lives in Winterfell carefully avoiding each other. The reunion scene with the hug was perceived as “too much”, and the following one, with all that playful teasing and remembering Winterfell togetherand sharing beers, made some people actually scream OOC. To be fair, in THAT scene, you can clearly see the real Sophie and Kit slip out of character and into their real selves in a few brief moments:

(gifs by thatonekimgirl)

However, I don’t think this was a mistake. It MIGHT be! (as I said, Sophie and Kit are very comfortable around each other, and this was certainly a funny scene to play, and it’s not impossible that they went slightly off script.) But I think they were given specific directing instructions to play it as “natural” as possible so that the audience could be sucked in this intimate, familiar moment of catching up between two siblings, and believe that they’ve known each other since birth even though we never saw them interacting onscreen before. It was also a much needed moment of genuine levity, of healing, after the horrors of Sansa’s abuse and Jon’s revenant storyline, and before the hardships of the upcoming war for Winterfell.

Interacting with Jon also allowed Sophie to finally play her smug angle:

(gifs by davis-viola and sansastlark)

We’ve never seen this expression on Sophie’s face in the show. This is Sansa, finally able to focus on what she wants and to freely express her opinion, because she knows she’s safe, she’s around Jon who has her back. Brienne, Theon, Tyrion, Sandor, all helped her, but they weren’t family; Jon is.

Interestingly, being able to focus on what she wants for once results in Sansa deciding she’s going to play a game without letting anyone in—not even Jon.

Like I said, it’s a very nuanced dynamic between them. The angle that Sophie is playing is that Sansa hasn’t been able to fully trust anyone for so long that she feels she has to guard herself even from Jon, because that’s how you play the game—you keep your cards to yourself, trust nobody, and care only for yourself. This is Littlefinger’s lesson: people are either pawns or players, and I think Sansa gave a quick look at Jon and decided he’s a pawn for now, as he lacks the acumen and the charisma to be a player (or so she thinks; by the end of season 6, she has to reassess her strategy, because Jon is absolutely a Player—even if he doesn’t know it yet).

(another moment of lowkey Smugface by Sophie, gif courtesy of bericdondarrion)

It’s unusual to see Sansa like this and people were a bit disoriented by how quickly she went from vulnerable little bird in search of her big bro’s protection to boss ass bitch looking almost too… ambitious? Cunning? Treacherous, even? (see also the controversy arisen by the Look she gives to Littlefinger when Jon is proclaimed KitN). I talked in the other post about Sophie’s sympathy for the Dark Side, but I think there are precise directing and writing choices behind her acting.

Whatever it is—and rest assured it’s now an important aspect to the character, something we’re going to see more of in season 7—it coexists*** with the Sansa who desperately tries to convince Jon to hold back until they have more men, the Sansa who spends hours to make a Ned-cloak for him, the Sansa who has tears in her eyes when she declares he’s a Stark to her, and who looks like this:

(by gifsofgot)

when Jon kisses her forehead.

*** incredible how (female) characters can have more than one (1) note, emotion or personality trait, right?

SPEAKING OF THE FOREHEAD KISS, there would be a lot to say about Kit’s acting choices, because they’re a major factor in how ridiculously shippy their interactions came across.

Most of the time, Kit plays Jon as if he’s somewhat lost around Sansa—lost in trying to understand who she is, slightly nervous and upset by her presence, stealing glances at her while she’s not looking or busy doing something else. This is definitely consistent with the idea that Jon isn’t very comfortable with Sansa due to their lack of familiarity, Sansa’s resemblance to Catelyn, and her own history of looking down on him for his bastardy. It’s clear that, despite their promises in 6x04, neither has fully moved past this huge roadblock in their relationship. It’s also in line with Jon not being exactly used to familiarize with women and being a grumpy goofball around them.

The forehead kiss, however, remains inexcusable and inexplicable, lol.

Really, Kit, did you HAVE to plant an INTERMINABLE kiss on Sophie’s forehead, eyes closed as if you’re both savoring the moment and being consumed by some heart wrenching emotion?

It’s not like you had to take a good look at her lips while you reluctantly withdraw from her, either.

(by gifsofgot)

IN CONCLUSION:

Kit and Sophie did their job so well that an alarming number of viewers started to suspect there was something “more” going on between Jon and Sansa. In fact, there is something more: the growing political tension between them, overlapping with their newfound, frail sibling bond (soon to be tested by Jon’s parentage reveal). So when people perceive “tension”, it’s probably THAT kind of tension.

however, for the audience, it’s incredibly easy to forget that Jon and Sansa are supposed to be siblings, as they’re played by two insanely good looking actors, who’ve never interacted on screen before, and who really don’t look like they share any genes… at all. Kit could have chemistry with a broomstick as far as I’m concerned, and watching him bat his long eyelashes at Sansa while holding his breath did not help. As for Sophie, this is the first important series of interactions she gets to have with a male lead who isn’t a) significantly older than her; b) a creep; c) gay, so do the maths.

I don’t know if the showrunners were familiar with the fandom concept of jonsa, but even if they weren’t, they should have probably imagined how certain scenes would look in a series that became famous for its iconic twincest, no less. People tend to pick up incestuous vibes more easily, if the narrative has already proved to be able to go in that direction. And Game of Thrones definitely has.

whatever the authorial intent is, as far as I’m concerned I’m enjoying the fuck out of this. Sophie and Kit are absolutely magnetic when they’re on screen together, regardless the nature of their canon dynamic.

#sorry this is incredibly late but it got buried under a ton of drafts and I kept forgetting to post it #got for ts #anon #asks #got asks for ts #js**#got6 #jon and sansa #jon x sansa for ts

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