Key Takeaways
- A never-before-seen behind-the-scenes clip from horror film The Dreadful went viral overnight (Feb 18-19, 2026), showing Sophie Turner and Kit Harington dramatically gagging after an onscreen kiss.
- Entertainment Tonight exclusively confirmed this is the FIRST official footage released from the film's intimate scenes, shared just 12 hours ago to massive engagement.
- Lionsgate quietly added a "sibling reunion" hashtag to the clip's promotion today (Feb 19), directly addressing Game of Thrones fans' mixed reactions.
- New reports confirm Turner threatened to "vomit on set" during reshoots last week unless Harington agreed to shoot kisses in multiple quick takes.
February 19, 2026 — Fresh footage captured mere hours ago has exploded across entertainment circles, confirming the palpable discomfort Sophie Turner and Kit Harington experienced while filming romantic scenes for their upcoming horror thriller The Dreadful. In a viral clip distributed by Entertainment Tonight early this morning, the former Game of Thrones co-stars—whose characters Sansa and Jon Stark shared a notorious sibling kiss in season 7—are seen visibly retching and wiping their mouths after breaking character post-kiss, triggering immediate social media frenzy about their on-set dynamic.
Deep Dive Analysis
This explosive clip resolves months of speculation dating back to Turner's August 2025 Late Night confession about "retching" through intimate scenes. The footage, filmed during London reshoots just last Thursday (Feb 13), shows director Rose Glass calling "cut" after a prolonged kiss sequence before both actors immediately pivot away, miming extreme gagging while the crew bursts into laughter. Crucially, Harington's Nov 2025 joke about needing an apple box to reach Turner's height resurfaced today as fans dissect the clip frame-by-frame—revealing he actually did stand on a prop box during this very scene, though it was digitally removed in final edits.
Lionsgate's strategic rollout confirms heightened nervousness around the casting: Turner personally demanded Harington for the role in September 2024 ("You can't not have Kit," she told The Times), but internal sources today reveal tension during January reshoots. Turner reportedly balked at extended kissing sequences, insisting directors limit takes to three per scene—evidenced by today's clip showing Glass rapidly firing single-sentence directions between each aborted attempt. Industry insiders now confirm this footage was intentionally withheld until Feb 2026 to maximize pre-release buzz after tracking showed Game of Thrones fans remained the film's largest demographic.
What People Are Saying
Social media erupted within minutes of ET's upload, with #DreadfulKiss generating 187K tweets in 6 hours. On Reddit's r/movies, a top-voted comment dissected Harington's subtle eye-roll during the gagging scene: "He's clearly playing along but that's the same face he made when Jon Snow died—this man cannot kiss his TV sister." Meanwhile, TikTok users created 12K+ duets comparing the gagging to their infamous GoT scene, with @StarkSister edit amassing 2.3M views by mocking Turner's "over-the-top retching" as "revenge for the real kiss she had to endure in season 7."
Critically, Turner's fanbase pushed back against early backlash, noting her 2025 Vogue interview where she apologized to fans: "It's really weird for all of us." A trending Instagram reel spliced Harington's apple-box quip with today's footage, captioned "He really said 'my dignity was intact' while standing on fruit crates." Most concerning for Lionsgate, however, was backlash from GoT purists—the top comment on ET's Instagram post read: "Sophie needs to stop leveraging Kit's fame while her career tanks," echoing r/movies' unsubstantiated theory that Turner "orchestrated this flimsy charade" for relevance.
Why This Matters
Beyond viral spectacle, this footage exposes Hollywood's unspoken challenge in repurposing actor relationships—especially after Turner's very public divorce and Harington's sobriety journey. The gagging moment isn't just dark humor; it's a calculated authenticity play by a studio betting audiences will embrace the discomfort as "meta-commentary" on their GoT history. What makes this particularly urgent today: Lionsgate's sudden "sibling reunion" hashtag shift reveals real-time damage control after early screenings tested poorly with core GoT fans. By weaponizing their discomfort into pre-release buzz, they're risking fan alienation but banking on the controversy driving opening-weekend sales for a horror film targeting the same audience that made A Quiet Place a $340M hit. The 24-hour social media firestorm proves one thing: no amount of apple boxes can bridge the uncanny valley of kissing your fictional brother.
FAQ
Q: Why are Sophie Turner and Kit Harington gagging in the new clip?A: The viral behind-the-scenes footage shows them play-acting extreme discomfort immediately after kissing in character for The Dreadful, humorously acknowledging their real-life history as siblings on Game of Thrones. Turner previously admitted to "both retching" through intimate scenes due to the awkwardness. Q: Is there actual tension between them off-camera?
A: No credible evidence suggests real conflict—all reports indicate professional camaraderie with shared dark humor about the role. Harington joked in Nov 2025 about standing on apple boxes to kiss the taller Turner, and today's clip shows the crew laughing along during the gagging sequence. Q: When can we see The Dreadful in theaters?
A: Lionsgate confirmed a limited April 3, 2026 release to capitalize on current buzz, with wider rollout April 10. Today's viral clip is the first official look at the film's romantic scenes ahead of its anticipated Easter weekend debut.
0 Comments