Natalie Dormer on her Game of Thrones character Margaery: “She’s a good person, I stand by that”

Talking to RadioTimes.com, Natalie Dormer, who plays the savvy queen, praised her character's impressive instinct about the desires of those around her.

"Margaery would be a great psychotherapist," said Dormer, "because she’s just really good at pinpointing what makes human beings tick, whether its Cersei or one of her husbands."

While the queen's subtle, non-violent and shrewd means of achieving power served her well in Westeros, they also meant that Queen Cersei came to see her as a colossal threat who had to be eliminated — and Margaery also left some viewers worrying that her ultimate aim is more sinister than it might appear.

But Dormer said she believes that Margaery's intentions are genuine, and she's just a clever woman trying to protect her family by achieving power.

"She’s a good person, I stand by that. It’s not mutually exclusive that you can be a politically savvy player and be a good person. I think she’s just trying to do the best she can with the cards she’s dealt."

And she was certainly dealt a bad hand in series five, when she was taken captive by religious fanatics the Faith and will find herself and her family in even greater jeopardy in the new season.

"Series six is uncharted territory," said Dormer. "We stepped away from the books so it was always going to be special. The stakes have got even higher — you think that’s not possible every year — but every year the boys [producers Dan Weiss and David Benioff] knock the ball out the park."

Game of Thrones series six will air on Monday 25th April at 9:00pm on Sky Atlantic, and Natalie Dormer's new film The Forest is out on Friday 26th February