GAME OF THRONES rescued me from prostitution
(By role) giving me the of, yes, a prostitute!
IT’S the hit TV show watched by millions for its intricate plot lines, bellicose characters – and generous helpings of sex.
But when fans tune into Game Of Thrones tomorrow night and see the return of Marei, the lithe, red-headed courtesan, they will find themselves watching a real-life drama every bit as compelling as the action on screen.
For British actress Josephine Gillan really did earn her living as a prostitute before finding stardom in Game Of Thrones. And she suffered a childhood corrupted by sex abuse, alcohol and drugs.
Today, the 27-year-old is in demand as a actress even though she had no professional training when she started the show.
‘Game Of Thrones saved me from a life of prostitution, and has made me a much stronger person,’ she says. ‘I was working as a whore and making X-rated movies, using the name Sophie O’Brien, when I saw an advert on a website for actresses in the film industry. They were looking for young women with natural breasts, who didn’t mind being filmed naked. I sent in a picture.
‘They wrote back that they wanted me and I was thrilled. But I had no idea how much it would change my life.’
Based on author George R. R. Martin’s books, Game Of Thrones has become one of the most watched dramas on TV.
It’s clear that success in the show is potentially life-changing.
Josephine herself survived considerable hardship to get into acting. She went to 24 different schools as her mother fled a violent relationship, and was taken into care at 12 and then fostered.
‘They put me in a household where I was groomed by a family friend, who gave me cannabis and alcohol when I was 12 and got me hooked on cocaine when I was 14. He raped me two years later and pimped me out to his friends.
‘I was too frightened to tell anyone. He threatened to bury me in the garden if I did. He said he’d done it before and I believed him,’ she says. As an adult, she turned to prostitution to earn a living.
By the time she arrived on the Game Of Thrones set, she was nervous, but made friends. She reveals: ‘With so many people working together so closely you can imagine that there have been a few affairs, but I haven’t had one!’