'Game of Thrones' Star Arrested in the Netherlands

Game of Thrones star Carice van Houten was arrested last week at a massive protest for climate change action in the Netherlands. Van Houten played the mysterious sorceress Melisandre on HBO's fantasy series, and it looks like she's committed to fighting real-life environmental threats just like her character. She was released after the protest died down, and it's not clear if she will be among those that are prosecuted by local authorities.

Van Houten participated in a protest event organized by a group called Extinction Rebellion. A group of 1,579 people walked onto the A12 highway in The Hague, completely blocking traffic and demanding that lawmakers end subsidies for the fossil fuel industry. According to the BBC's translation of local reports, police asked the protesters to disperse and gave them some warning before blasting the assembly with a water cannon. The protesters still did not leave, and were finally arrested.

Carice van Houten, who played Melisandre the Red Woman on Game Of Thrones, was arrested in the Netherlands yesterday.

The actress was apart of a group of environmental activists who blocked a road for a protest demonstration. She was also drenched with a water cannon by police. pic.twitter.com/PEAsK0ifw8

— westerosies (@westerosies) May 28, 2023

The protesters were apparently prepared for this demonstration to go as far as possible. Anticipating the water cannon, many showed up wearing swimsuits and raincoats to weather the blasts. After resisting that onslaught, they forced police to lift them and carry them onto buses for their mass arrest rather than cooperate in any way. Van Houten was not the only local celebrity among them, but most of those arrested were released relatively quickly.

Local police said that only 40 protesters would be prosecuted for the demonstration. The others were arrested only to end the blockade and allow traffic to resume as usual. Police called it a "minor offense" for most of the individuals. Extinction Rebellion counted the protest as a success, with over 6,000 people turning out in total.

Van Houten helped bring publicity to the protest as well. She played one of the most magically-knowledgable characters on Game of Thrones – a sorceress with true powers dedicated to fighting the White Walker invasion. Many critics have agreed that the White Walkers are analogous to real-life climate change, and author George R.R. Martin even has a history of civil disobedience himself, so fans generally seemed to applaud Van Houten on social media this week.

So far, lawmakers in the Netherlands have not commented on any potential changes to their subsidies for fossil fuel companies. Extinction Rebellion has a website with information on their protests around the world for those interested in learning more.