Game of Thrones star Faye Marsay says they had to quit social due to online backlash. The English actress appeared in the fifth and sixth seasons of HBO's fantasy adaptation as the Waif, an acolyte of the Faceless Men serving in the House of Black and White in Braavos. One of her duties was to help train the beloved Arya Stark to become a Faceless Man by repeatedly beating her with a stick. Because of her cold disposition and abuse of Arya, the Waif became quite a hated character among some Game of Thrones viewers.

In a conversation with The Independent, Marsay opened up about how playing the Waif on Game of Thrones actually impacted her own life. The actress says the backlash to the character was so intense that she had to step away from social media to avoid it. In fact, Marsay actually starred in the Black Mirror episode "Hated in the Nation" all about the dangers of social media. Today, Marsay is only moderately active on social media. Read what she shared below:

After Thrones came out, there was quite intense backlash at one point. Just because of the character I played, [The fans] hated her. Because Maisie's character was, like, the one — and there I am, hitting her with a stick. Social media can be a brutal tool, and we all know it. Look at the mental health crisis that young people are going through right now — that's not just because of the pandemic, or teenage angst!

The Game of Thrones Fanbase Can Be Toxic At Times

The Waif holding Arya's face on Game of Thrones

Marsay is one of a few Game of Thrones stars who were the target of online backlash due to the reprehensible characters they played. Perhaps no one can relate to Marsay's experience more than Jack Gleeson, who played the universally despised Joffrey Baratheon on Game of Thrones and following the role, decided to take an extended hiatus from acting. However unfortunate, the backlash is a testament to how well these actors portrayed their characters.

Another example of the show's toxic viewership was the vitriolic response to Game of Thrones season 8, as several petitions circulated online demanding for the final season to be remade. The unreasonable backlash even attracted the ire of author George R.R. Martin who slammed the audience as "toxic." However, the backlash has always been confined to a small number of vocal online users and has not slowed down the Game of Thrones franchise as a whole with House of the Dragon season 2 on the way and more spinoffs in development.

Source: The Independent