'Game Of Thrones' Star Daniel Portman AKA Podrick Says Fans Sexually Assault Him Due To His Character's Sexual Prowess

*Please* control yourself around Pod the sex god.
Game of Thrones actor Daniel Portman revealed that he’s been sexually assaulted by “many” fans over the past several years thanks to the reputation of his character, Podrick Payne.
Fans will know that Podrick — or Pod, as his friends call him — became a favorite character for many by Season 3 when it was revealed that the shy and awkward squire was dynamite in the bedroom chamber. How dynamite? At the end of Season 2, Tyrion employed a handful of Littlefinger’s prostitutes to pay thanks for saving him — but the women refused to accept payment, because Pod was that f**king good.

QUIZ: Which ‘Game Of Thrones’ Character Will YOU Marry!?

Since then, Pod’s casanova ways have become a running joke among the show’s fandom — which, in turn, have made for some awkwardly close fan encounters for the actor who plays him.
In a new interview with Esquire, the 27-year-old admitted he’s been “grabbed by so many [people],” over the past few years, describing his attackers as predominantly “older, older women.” 
While this type of intense affection is clearly NOT okay and would bother some, Portman has seemingly adopted a “¯\_(ツ)_/¯” mentality about it, musing:

“What can you do? You know? Obviously tell them not to do it. It hasn’t happened for a while. In this day and age you’d think that people would be able to separate reality from fiction. I don’t want to say it comes with the territory, but, you know, people are crazy about it. It’s certainly not cool.”

Not cool, indeed. No one should have to deal with sexual assault — not even Westorosi sex symbols.

Portman wouldn’t say what exactly makes Pod the ladyslayer of King’s Landing — he joked that “a magician never reveals his secrets” — but the actor’s not too upset about his character’s reputation, as he quipped:

“It’s really not a bad thing, to be tied to your character.”

Tell that to Jack Gleeson (who literally retired from screen acting in 2014 after playing Joffrey Baratheon to focus his life’s purpose on service)…
Related: Penn Badgley Has Also Lamented About Being Groped By Fans!
Despite the occasional unwanted grabbing, Portman, who was 19 when he joined the show in Season 2, confessed it’s been “fun” to play a character that makes people wonder if his real life talents live up to their wildest Podrick fantasies.
He added:

“When you tell a 20-year-old actor, who’s sort of stumbled onto this big TV show, that all of a sudden you’re meant to be Casanova, people all over the world wonder whether or not it’s true. I would be lying if I said that that hadn’t been fun.”

We guess he’s enjoying himself after all!
[Image via WENN]