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on HBO's Game of Thrones, bratty King Joffrey is one of the more compelling figures in Westeros, mainly because he's just so content on being that guy. He's a powerful putz, a total asshole with a superiority complex, which makes his new bride-to-be, Margaery Tyrell, all the more interesting to watch as season three, which premiered last weekend, unfolds. Played by British actress Natalie Dormer, Margaery's task seems to be that of a lion-tamer who's now found herself quite close to the Iron Throne and someone Joffrey might even turn to in his times of need. We talked to Dormer recently about her thoughts on the Joffrey-Margaery relationship, working with Ridley Scott and Ron Howard on their upcoming films, and the underwater equivalent of the Iron Throne.

ESQUIRE.COM: Joffrey looks like he's going to be a bit of a handful.

NATALIE DORMER: Yeah, he does. The audience has the advantage over me. They're two seasons acquainted with him. Margaery and her grandmother Olenna are going to get a nasty shock when they work out what little darling's really like.

ESQ: What's the best way to Joffrey's heart?

ND: She's trying to work him out psychologically. If she can work out what makes him tick, hopefully she can control him.

ESQ: Which may be tough for a guy with mommy issues.

ND: Cersei issues, yes. I don't think you have to live in the fantasy world of Westeros to have problems with your mother-in-law. [Laughs.] I think that would probably be a common situation to your readership. Problems reconciling mom and the wife are difficult in the best of times, and you ramp that up seven-fold by putting it in Westeros. It's not going to be pretty, is it? Family dinner times and holidays, etc.

ESQ: As we saw in episode two, Joffrey seems turned on by the thought of you killing something with that Medieval crossbow.

ND: It's very clever. That was a direct echo of a scene he did with Sansa in an earlier season. I think David and Dan did that on purpose for direct comparison to how Margaery can handle him in comparison to how Sansa said. She walks in that room in season two and he's holding the crossbow directly at her. It's like holding an AK-47 at somebody. People have told me, "Margaery seems quite fearless." My answer is, no she's not fearless, she'd be a fool to be not scared of what Joffrey is capable of. I think she's very scared of what Joffrey can do and where his head can go. I think the beauty of the writing of Game of Thrones is not that the characters are fearless; it's how they overcome their fear, you know?

ESQ: More cunning ways and not so extroverted about their fear.

ND: Exactly. Which is very much the way things operate at King's Landing, whether you're talking about Tyrion Lannister or Cersei Lannister or even Littlefinger. Instead of swinging swords around or raging into deep battle, King's Landing is about taking a deep breath and trying not to give anything away. It's going to be very interesting to see how the boys, David and Dan, ramp up the levels and things start to get more and more uncomfortable.

ESQ: It seems there's going to be a wedding at some point. Is it safe to assume that there will be a Joffrey and Margaery consummation scene?

ND: Oh, I can't be telling you things like that! You know that!

ESQ: I feel like he could be into some weird fifteen-year-old-boy stuff.

ND: I think we all know that Joffrey is the epitome of perverse. He's like the worst teenager ever times, like, a thousand. His concept of having the power that he has. He's starting to pull away from his mother's apron strings. Joffrey is a loose cannon. Does anyone benefit? It's like, for the good of the country, who can actually control Joffrey?

ESQ: Because of the scope of Game of Thrones, are there things you're doing on this show where you try to maximize your character's depth with the few scenes you're given?

ND: That's what makes it interesting, if you're trying to guess what's behind their eyes. The politics of Thrones is written so well that way, whether your'e talking about Littlefinger or Michelle Fairley as Catelyn Stark — what the characters don't say is a sign of a good drama.

ESQ: You've just completed Ridley Scott's The Counselor and Ron Howard's Rush. What can you tell us about those experiences?

ND: I was so excited to work with Ridley Scott. Who wouldn't be? I managed to work a couple of days with him, and it's a very dark Cormac McCarthy script. It's the first time Cormac McCarthy's gone straight to screenplay without the small detail of a book in between. It's exciting to be on that unprecedented project. In that Joffrey way, it really articulates that darker side of human nature. It stays with you and haunts you for days after. I'm hoping the film will do the same. Rush is much nicer. Ron Howard is doing this wonderfully exciting movie about James Hunt, the 1970s racing car driver. It was a lot of fun, because it's cars and women. The cinematographer — the Oscar-winning cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle — he's doing some really interesting things, where it really looks properly '70s. It's fun to do those genre, historical pieces. I was a big fan of Formula 1 when I was a little girl.

ESQ: Really? You were?

ND: I used to watch it with my grandpa. I was sitting down on the sofa watching Nigel Mansell. I found it fascinating to learn about the generation before. This was back when driving was a whole other ball game. There weren't incredibly advanced computers, the way they are now. Driving was really driving.

ESQ: Game of Thrones has an obsessive fan base. Is there something you're obsessing about these days?

ND: I love my scuba diving at the moment.

ESQ: Was the training strenuous?

ND: There was a lot of academic stuff as well. There's a lot of studying with a beer in the evening, looking at texts. A few years back, I was shooting an American TV pilot and we were doing a car crash underwater scene. My first experience with a regulator tank was because we were shooting an underwater car crash scene. I got the bug while they were training me up to do that. When you get sent to far-flung corners of the world to shoot something, it's a nice skill to have. It's an interesting way to see another country, another coast.

ESQ: Would you be someone who does one of those crazy shark dives?

ND: Oh, God, you know ... I think it's on the list. I don't know. Of course it's on the list. I don't think you can be a diver without a shark on the list. I managed to tick off the green sea turtles and a manta ray when we were in Indonesia. The manta ray is a pretty big deal. But I'm going to be chasing the Holy Grail, the Iron Throne of the shark within the next few years.

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