One of the stars of Game of Thrones once opened up on her most famous scene in the show - which has been described by some as the ‘most paused’ scene in television history.
If you’re a GoT fan, you probably already know the one.
Esmé Bianco shot to fame in Game of Thrones
Esmé Bianco played Ros, a scheming and upwardly mobile sex worker, on the hugely popular HBO show.
Her character was known to be quick-witted and definitely more clever than a lot of the men in her… sphere gave her credit for.
That’s why she moved from the frozen north of Winterfell down to King’s Landing to make her fortune working under the equally as conniving Littlefinger.
But one scene made her stand out from an early stage, and you probably remember it.
It’s with Alfie Allen’s character Theon Greyjoy - one of the aforementioned men - who is clearly sad to learn that his favorite is moving down south.
As she leaves on a cart, he asks to see her… you know what, one last time.
After receiving the coin, she obliges, providing a quick flash that thousand - perhaps millions - of teenage boys must have tried to pause exactly on.
It’s all a bit of fun, and Bianco herself has even spoken about it before.
At the premiere of the final season, she told Refinery29: “I think two of my top scenes would be my scenes with Alfie Allen [Theon Greyjoy],
“We had a scene together in Winterfell and then we had a great scene together on the back of the turnip cart.”
There is a serious side to Esmé Bianco’s tale
After that scene aired, Bianco was ready to tell her story as a survivor of abuse.
That gave her a fresh perspective on some of the work she’d done on screen.
Bianco explained: “I was just chatting with someone about the fact that I think because of my experience, some things other people might have struggled with were sort of normalized to a certain extent,
“My trauma clouded over them and made them actually more palatable for me, which in retrospect, it worries me a little bit.”
Sharing her story further on Twitter, she explained how she used to ‘hide in a cupboard to call [her] family and friends’ as she was tormented by her abuser.
She also revealed that she had taken medication for PTSD.
However, she has no regrets about the work she did on Game of Thrones, which was criticized by some for the laissez-faire attitude it took to sexual violence, abuse, and other subjects.
“I don’t have any regrets about any of the scenes that I did,” she said.
“I feel very comfortable with what I did, and I was treated with respect the entire time.”
If you have experienced sexual violence and are in need of crisis support, please call the RAINN Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).