Curtain Call: Kerry Ingram 

And yet the cold light of day brought the greatest terror yet. It may be bordering on heresey to say that this was the absolute most horrifying moment on Game of Thrones–a show whose bread and butter is upping the “horrific” ante each and every week–but I don’t know that I’ve ever experienced the collective howl of crushing loss from the fandom after sweet Shireen burned.

And people will want to stroll back through time and reminisce on better times, but for me what truly solidified Kerry as an A-caliber actress was how she played those final moments. The glum look on Shireen’s face as she was being marched out to witness a burning she did not yet know would feature her. The barely discerned slowing of her pace when she realized something was truly different. The almost-blink (not quite!) when that disbelief washed over her… her sheer terror, and oh, man, those screams.

I can’t imagine she was anything other than completely hoarse after that day of filming. Maybe left with no voice at all. And it’s hard to say,

since we’re essentially thanking her for her pain. But man…

She sold it, she sold it, she sold it. And we all bawled like babies. But don’t take my word for it; director David Nutter went out of his way to praise her in this interview in Vulture, calling Kerry

“…a wonderfully talented and seasoned actress who understood very clearly how she would react as a young woman in Shireen’s place.”

So I want to not only take this opportunity to thank Kerry, but to welcome her into the next stage of her acting career. Because gone is the talented ingénue that charmed people as

Hell’s bells, this teen is nigh a woman grown now. And with the depth of talent she possesses… the sky’s the limit. She is currently slated to appear in the new BBC adaptation of

Kerry also happens to be ab-fabulous besties with Aimee Richardson (aka

); the English and Irish girls hang out on occasion, and I have it in pret-ty good confidence that Kerry is an absolutely fabulous person (with perhaps a more-than slightly wicked sense of humor)!

Shireen Baratheon may be gone… but Kerry Ingram is wonderfully alive, vibrant, and quite ready for her next big step.

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Amazing actress, amazing character (one of my favorite secondary characters). Though the narrative did earn that moment and the acting and filming were excellent, I’m still still sad to see the actress go, and horrified to see how the character went.

Still reeling occasionally. Kerry’s acting was always the best out of the child actors, by far, but she pretty much rivals some of the best and most experienced older actors in the show IMO. Screams aside, when she’s walking through the mass towards the pyre is absolutely devastating and she sold it with facial expressions only.

Gonna miss Shireen and Kerry! Damn it, another great female character/actress gone, two in a row now.

If only that last pic could have been!

Kerry really sold her scenes. I don’t think I’ve ever bawled that hard over a death in any series. Hell, I’m still getting teary eyed thinking about it!

I miss Shireen so much but I’m looking forward to any and all future roles for Kerry. She’s going to soar, no doubts about it.

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