MAJOR SPOILERS

Even though it will be in a future book, many of us are still upset about Sunday’s episode of Game of Thrones, specifically Stannis Baratheon’s “sacrifice” of his daughter Shireen. Many GoT-watchers had been pro-Stannis up until that point, but now it doesn’t seem like anyone wants him on the Iron Throne. I personally hope Stannis just lives long enough to kill some major Boltons. Anyway, Carice van Houten – who plays Melisandre – sat down with The Daily Beast to talk about that terrible scene.

Carice on Ramsey Bolton’s assault on Stannis’s camp: “I think the event is pretty shocking to her, and she didn’t see it coming at all—that’s troubling to her, because she’s foreseen most things. But sometimes, I think her visions are a little blurry.”

Why Melisandre wanted to sacrifice Shireen: “She has proven that King’s Blood works. She is, first and foremost, a religious person—a priestess—and follows exactly what the Lord of Light wants her to do. She’s not just superhuman, but sees her missions in the flames and follows the visions. Melisandre is a total believer.”

Playing the scene with Shireen: “It’s a very weird scene to play. I had to close certain parts of my soul. It’s appalling. And the only way I tried to play it, which comes across as purely evil, is to be content with the fact that we were doing this because in Melisandre’s head, it’s the only way to save us all. She can’t show any emotion. She wants Stannis on the throne because she thinks he’s the rightful king she saw in the flames, so she sees the bigger picture—them or us. Melisandre thinks, ‘If we let the girl live, we’re going to die anyway, so we need to make this big sacrifice.’”

Working with Kerry Ingram, the actress playing Shireen: “We had a lot of fun in the tent before, and she is the sweetest girl. She gave me a little present—and she was dying! I felt bad and thought I should have brought her something. She got me an eternal flame, one of those candles with a fake flame on it. Really cute.”

The sexual violence: “It’s tricky. I tend to think we’re doing the right thing because we have a lot of strong female characters, and it’s true what George R.R. Martin says—it’s a mirror of what happens in reality. It’s confrontational. If you made a truly historical series, you’d see even worse things—especially with women. That being said, I can imagine people find a lot of it hard to watch.”

It can’t get any worse? “I get good stuff, man: births with shadow babies, leeches, and this. But this is the worst because it’s a child. You have to always defend your own character, you know? But in this case, it’s not easy. How far do people go for power? It can’t get worse than that.”

[From The Daily Beast]

“The only way I tried to play it, which comes across as purely evil, is to be content with the fact that we were doing this…” That’s a good way to explain it. Because Melisandre looked really pleased that they were burning this little girl alive and I think a lot of viewers turned on Melisandre in that moment. But here’s a question: while Stannis can be killed like a normal person, can Melisandre? Or do you need something special to kill her?

Also – Liam Cunningham spoke to Vulture about the last episode and he was really horrified about what was done with Shireen. He had really lovely things to say about Kerry Ingram too, saying that they exchanged gifts before her character died – she gave him “a beautiful cushion with an embroidered stag” and he gave her a silver stag figurine. He also says she is “a glorious young lady and a beautiful human being, but she’s also fantastically professional and well prepared on set” and that some of his favorite scenes on GoT were with her. Ugh, so sad!!!

Photos courtesy of WENN, HBO.

Netflix made a trip to Cannes’ Marche du Film, as the streaming service is looking to expand into the feature film market. They’ve already picked up Idris Elba’s Beasts of No Nation for distribution, and they have a deal to make and distribute Adam Sandler’s turds that no one else wants, but they…      

Netflix made a trip to Cannes’ Marche du Film, as the streaming service is looking to expand into the feature film market. They’ve already picked up Idris Elba’s Beasts of No Nation for distribution, and they have a deal to make and distribute Adam Sandler’s turds that no one else wants, but they…      

These Benedict Cumberbatch quotes sound old, but I did a Google search for them, and by all accounts… they are new. Benedict maybe spoke to German Lufthansa Magazine and confessed that he enjoys… diving? Of course he does. Otters love the water. Their pelts are oily and water-friendly. I can picture Otterbatch diving and playing in the water right now.

Benedict Cumberbatch goes diving when he needs to switch off from filming. When roles get a bit heavy, the 38-year-old knows the perfect way to relax.

“When it’s possible, I get into a plane and fly off to a place where I can go diving,” he revealed to the German Lufthansa magazine. “There’s nothing I find more peaceful than being underwater.”

He might be picking up awards regularly these days, but even Benedict has had to deal with rejection in the past. Luckily he’s able to shake things off and not take them too personally.

“I’ve learnt that with this job, you can’t spend too much time thinking about the little things. You don’t have any control over some things anyway,” he reasoned. “I learnt that very quickly, when I didn’t get a job for six months after finishing drama school.”

Benedict and his wife Sophie Hunter are currently expecting their first child and there’s no doubt the star will make a great parent. It was his own father who really spurred him on and supported his career choice.

“I played Mozart in a theatre production of Amadeus and when we were sitting in the car after the show, my father said: ‘Boy, you are better than I ever was and ever will be. If you decide to do this professionally, you will have a great career ahead of you.’ We both started crying and embraced each other. It was one of the best moments of my life.”

[From TV3]

I hate that story about his dad telling him “you are better than I ever was.” He’s told several different versions of that story over the years, in several different interviews. It seems humble-braggy, but it also seems like an insult to his father. As for Benedict’s love of being underwater… so ottery. I love it.

Steven Moffat recently revealed that, in his mind, Sherlock and Irene Adler have had sex. The characters, not Bendy and Lara Pulver. After Benedict rescued Irene, Moffat theorizes, Irene dominated him sexually and they meet up every six months for a night of passion. Hm.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

These pictures of Prince Harry and Lady Gaga, with Tony Bennett last night, crack me up. It’s the glitter eyebrows, which I totally want to try one day. And she’s standing there, with her glorious cleavage front and centre (and this is TAME by her standards!), next to a dude from the squarest fam…      

The last time we (Kaiser) reported on the upcoming Ridley Scott movie, The Martian, we heard that Matt Damon got a whopping $25 million for his role while Jessica Chastain pulled in a comparatively measly $7 million. Several of you who have read the book by Andy Weir note that Damon’s role was more central than Chastain’s. Now that we’ve had a chance to see the trailer, below, it’s clear that’s the case. (Not that it justifies the pay disparity, it just explains it somewhat.)

Take a look at the trailer, which was just released, (if you’re able to) and we’ll talk about it in a moment.

That was incredible, right? It was one of the most powerful trailers I’ve seen and I know I’ll see it when it comes out in November. Damon MacGyvers his way through a presumed four years of survival in a harsh environment while the team on earth goes rogue to save him. It’s rare that you get to see such a full plot outline and yet still want to have the details filled in. I love that there are so many excellent supporting actors in this, particularly Chiwetel Ejiofor, Chastain and Kristen Wiig.

Many people are pointing out that this film bears at least a superficial resemblance to Interstellar, particularly because Damon’s astronaut character in that film, Dr. Mann, similarly gets stranded. (Note that the Netflix DVD for Interstellar is sitting right next to my XBox and I haven’t seen it yet. I hate when this happens.) Here’s a tweet from book author Andy Weir acknowledging this coincidence.

Why yes, Matt Damon did play a stranded astronaut in Interstellar. Thank you, thousands of people, for pointing that out over and over.

— Andy Weir (@andyweirauthor) June 8, 2015

Critics are saying that this film looks much better than Interstellar, though, particularly because the science shown is actually realistic. (Unlike Interstellar or Gravity.) Business Insider points out that author Weir researched the book extensively. He said “To a nerd like me, working out all the math and physics for Mark’s problems and solutions was fun. The more I worked on it, the more I realized I had accidentally spent my life researching for this story.”

What’s more is that NASA experts have consulted on the film for authenticity and “production has worked very closely with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab“. NASA even gave permission for their actual logo to be used in the film.

Here’s a tweet from NASA tacitly acknowledging that the book is realistic.

Andy Weir compares our habitat to Hermes in his book The Martian. This may be living quarters on a #JourneyToMars. pic.twitter.com/y0OZhxdTYU

— Johnson Space Center (@NASA_Johnson) April 30, 2015

Oh and there’s a new promotional video featuring interviews with the “astronauts” on board before the disaster. I really enjoyed this, particularly the faux tweets from fans in the background. This is clever. At one point there’s a German tweet about Damon and Kate Mara’s characters acting like brother and sister. Why do we have to wait until November for this?! I want to see it now.

photos are screenshots from the trailer

We haven’t written about Ariana Grande since she and Big Sean broke up in April. I was actually pretty happy with that arrangement – Ariana annoys the hell out of me, but she’s been less “extra” this year after her bratty explosion last year. And yes, she did behave like a brat. It was well-documented. In any case, Ariana was getting some criticism…?? Or something. Somebody, somewhere, said something about Ariana having a bad attitude, being a diva or a bitch or whatever, and she decided to write a Grande Thesis on feminism. From her Twitter (minor NSFW warning for language).

pic.twitter.com/ifMzCfMA9Y

— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) June 7, 2015

Okay. I’ll say something positive: I would much rather see a pop star engage in this kind of conversation about feminism, being objectified, sexual agency and society’s double standards as opposed to “OMG, I don’t know anything about feminism, gosh!” Love her or hate her, Ariana is furthering the discussion in the right direction.

Now, all that being said… I still think Ariana needs an attitude adjustment in general.

PS… I think Ariana was being attacked by crazy 1Ders and that’s why she’s specifically talking about friendship-versus-romance after being seen out with Niall Horan. Ah, I think the same thing happened to Betty Friedan. All of the great feminist manifestos begin with crazy 1Ders.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Dear Gossips,

Today is Johnny Depp’s 52nd birthday. Do you think he thinks about the number? Conveniently a new poster for his upcoming film, in which he plays Whitey Bulger, has been released. Meanwhile he continues to work on Pirates 5 in Australia, monitored by drones. TMZ has the video. N…      

Here are some photos of Prince Harry at last night’s WellChild Gala Concert at the Royal Albert Hall. Harry went business-casual for the event, with a nice blue suit, crisp white shirt and no tie. This is a great summer look for a prince or a peasant!

As we discussed yesterday, Prince Harry was recently seen looking rather cozy and flirty with actress Jenna Coleman, a brunette. There really was some photo evidence of this flirtation too, which was interesting. My current theory is that Harry is still “single” but he enjoys a good mingle, possibly with ex-girlfriends and possibly with attractive actresses. He’s not currently looking for The One, mostly because he’s about to spend three months in Africa. People Magazine says that Harry will be leaving soon, so he’ll probably miss his niece’s christening.

Prince Harry may be widely tipped as a possible godfather to his niece Princess Charlotte, but he won’t be in attendance when the special ceremony takes place on July 5, PEOPLE has learned. Harry – who was on a royal tour Down Under for Charlotte’s May 2 birth – is likely to be in Africa, at the beginning of his three-month visit to the continent as he pursues conservation work there following his upcoming departure from the army.

While his exit date has not been confirmed, the 30-year-old prince is expected to have said his goodbyes from military life by the end of the month and, in the short term, immerse himself in helping the cause of wildlife in Africa and the ongoing battle against the illegal trade in animal parts.

Prince William and Princess Kate have said that they will welcome family and friends to St. Mary Magdalene Church on the Queen’s Sandringham estate for the private christening of their daughter. The church, where the late Princess Diana was also christened, is only a couple of miles from their country home, Anmer Hall.

Harry, who announced earlier this year that he was leaving the army after a decade of service, explained last month that he is eager to join one of South Africa’s top veterinarians to learn more about the cause that is close to his heart.

“For me, it’s three months of hard grafting, working with animals,” he told British newspapers The Sun and The Sunday Times. “To actually get the chance to embed myself with the top vet in southern Africa, travel with him for three weeks and every job he gets called up to do. That’s like my dream.”

It’s also been reported that he will head to Namibia to help efforts to save the black rhino. The palace would not comment on the details of his upcoming plans.

[From People]

Do you think it’s notable that Harry isn’t going to stick around for his niece’s christening? I do not. I do think it’s notable that Harry – famously kid-friendly – barely has any contact with his niece and nephew. But I think this three-month trip to South Africa and Namibia (and probably other countries as well) is more about Harry finally doing something he’s always wanted to do now that he’s resigned from his military career. I’m also assuming he’s just staying in England through this next weekend, which is Trooping the Colour.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Kylie Jenner has a new interview with InStyle UK to promote her Nip + Fab anti-aging endorsement. Yes, Kylie is still 17 years old. In this interview, Kylie talks about how her skin is really dry, so she uses the serums for hydration. I still think Nip + Fab is silly to hire a teenager, but Kylie is making a killing on several endorsements. Over the past week alone, she’s posted product-friendly selfies for both FitTea and CocoaBrownTan. Kylie makes a lot of money in addition to whatever she brings home from KUWTK.

The InStyle journo describes Kylie as having a “bee-sting pout,” which only encourages the continued use of lip fillers. Kylie talks about her style influences (her sisters) and money stuff. She allegedly pays for all of her necessities and luxuries herself:

She gets dolled up for the show: “Sometimes I look back at myself on previous seasons of KUWTK and think, ‘Why didn’t you let your hair down then, or put on something nicer?’ I think now I’m much more aware when the cameras are around and I do doll up a lot more.”

Her style influences: “I feel like I dress like Khloe on my down days and Kim when I’m going out. If I’m just running out I’ll throw on a cute T-shirt, a pair of leggings and my Timberland boots. If I’m dressing up I love Celine and Saint Laurent, or for accessories Alaïa, Givenchy or Gianvito Rossi.”

Her financial independence: “My Mum cut me off financially three years ago so I pay for everything — my car, my gas and food as well as my clothes. There are so many outfits I bought in the past that I just think now are NOT cute — but there’s not very much I can do about it!”

She’s not into exercise: “I haven’t worked out in two and a half years. I’m living out my youth not doing any exercise and eating what I want, which is pretty bad. I’m into yellow rice — you just cook it for 15 minutes, it tastes so good.”

[From InStyleUK]

There are plenty of awful things to say about Kris Jenner’s parenting, yet I don’t see anything wrong with this money issue. Kylie still (until she turns 18) lives with Kris, so it’s not like Kris kicked Kylie onto the street at age 14.

Kris did allow Kylie to quit school around that time, which was a bad move. Is it so awful that Kylie paid for own car, gas, and clothing when she had her own income? Kylie probably could have eaten at home for free but chose to eat out instead. In which case, Kylie should have paid for that indulgence. When I got my first job, my parents made me pay for all that stuff too. Kylie didn’t get a real education, but maybe she’s learned something about managing money.

Here’s a photo of Kylie working out decor details at her new mansion.

A photo posted by King Kylie (@kyliejenner) on Jun 7, 2015 at 3:51pm PDT

Photos courtesy of Kylie Jenner on Instagram & WENN