UPDATE: Since this post went up last night, HBO has confirmed that Pilou Asbæk is indeed playing Euron Greyjoy in Game of Thrones Season 6.
After sitting out most of Seasons 3 and 4 and the entirety of Season 5, the Greyjoys look like they’re coming back in a big way on Game of Thrones Season 6. Earlier today, the production filmed a scene in Ballingtoy Harbour, which stands in for the Iron Islands. Now, fan site Watchers on the Wall is reporting that the show has cast an actor to play vicious pirate and Greyjoy family blacksheep Euron Greyjoy: Danish actor Pilou Asbæk, best known for his role a maladjusted adviser to the prime minister of Denmark on Borgen. Asbæk also starred alongside Scarlett Johansson in Lucy and will play Pontius Pilate in the upcoming remake of Ben-Hur, so he’s got some cred. Here he is being all intense about political rhetoric in Borgen.
If true, and we hasten to add that HBO hasn’t confirmed anything, Asbæk would join Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister) as another Danish member of the cast. Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, who played Karsi the wildling in Season 5’s “Hardhome,” was also Danish. I guess that if at first you succeed, you might as well try again. This choice would also end speculation that the show had cast Ian McShane as Euron. It would seem that whatever role McShane is playing is still up in the air, although this narrows the field a bit.
Watchers also reports that the scene filmed in Ballingtoy Harbour today involved a crowd of people cheering for Euron. Yara Greyjoy (Gemma Whelan) was also present, so it seems likely that the production was filming the Kingsmoot, a scene from A Feast for Crows where the Iron Islanders choose a new leader. A reader told us that “Lily Allen’s brother”—aka Alfie Allen, aka Theon Greyjoy—was also in the area, but that seems suspect, as it’s unclear how Theon would have made it back to the Iron Islands considering where he is at this point in the story. As the production continues to film, hopefully things will get a little more clear.
In the meantime, let’s all welcome Pilou Asbæk to the cast (probably). Here comes the Crow’s Eye.