Was her death a difficult place for you to get to as an actor?
That was one of the scenes I was most proud of. In the script, it’s really only two lines — it says something like “They fight and she’s killed” — and I got to decide how I wanted to play that. The obvious way to play it would have been that she fights to the bitter end and goes down with a sneer of hatred. I decided that in those final moments, she is afraid. I wanted the audience to sympathize with her and to see what this journey of revenge has cost her. The theme of this season is the cost of war, and I wanted to set us up for that.

Something that all the female reporters I’ve spoken to have picked up on is how that scene where she dies is a hard watch, because it’s a much larger man strangling a woman to death. I was never scared of being in physical danger during the battle, but there are moments that are emotionally difficult. I mean, being strangled underwater by a much bigger man is a scary thing. I have been attacked by men, as almost every woman has, and it is a scary thing to go through, even if it is just pretend. The emotions sink into your soul a little bit.

Even though we’ve seen her do all this stuff, there’s something about that which is hard to watch, and I deliberately chose to make that hard for you to watch. Fortunately, Abu is a very professional and kind guy. I remember when we watched it back, Abu said, “They’re gonna think I’m a monster. They’re gonna hate me.” I was like, “I know!”

I interviewed Abigail Thorn about playing Sharako Lohar on House of the Dragon for Vulture.