Celebrity Roundup: The Mountain Has a New Toy, Karsi Gets a New Gig…
Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson is back in the news and he’s lifting super-heavy things again. This time he’s lifting a custom-made 284.4 pound new toy called Thor’s Dumbbell. According to Stack.com, the actor posted a photo of himself one-arm-lifting Thor’s Dumbbell over his head.
It’s a tad unnerving to think that Björnsson can lift over his head—with one arm—an object that’s heavier than I am…it’s enough to make a man feel quite small. According to Stack, the dumbbell The Mountain is lifting seems to be a version of what they are calling the “mythical Inch Dumbbell.”
"In about 1906, he [Thomas Inch] unveiled what is now known as the famous Inch Dumbbell—a thick handled dumbbell which he claimed no man but him could lift. Inch took the insurmountable dumbbell on tour with him, challenging the top strongmen and courageous spectators. As legend has it, no man was able to successfully lift it—except for Inch himself, of course."
So there you have it: another notch in the belt of the man who portrays the Mountain that Rides, Hafthór Björnsson. What will he lift next?
In other news, the rumor mill for Star Wars: Episode VIII has begun to churn, and Birgitte Hjort Sørensen (Karsi the wildling) has found herself right in the middle.
According to MoviePilot.com, Sørensen has been cast as a Knight of Ren, an acolyte of Supreme Leader Snoke, a compatriot of Kylo Ren, and a follower of the Dark Side of the Force. It should be noted that MoviePilot doesn’t link to an official source, so for now we will have to consider this just a rumor, but it does fit with a pattern for Star Wars casting. For The Force Awakens, casting director Nina Gold went to the Game of Thrones well and came back with Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth/Captain Phasma), Max von Sydow (Three-eyed Raven/Lor San Tekka), Jessica Henwick (Nymeria Sand/Jessika Pava), and Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Jojen Reed/First Order officer). It’s hard to believe she might go back.
We probably won’t know anything official for a while, but let’s hope that Sørensen did land a role in the Star Wars franchise, as it has a knack for launching careers…something it has in common with Game of Thrones.
Finally, George R.R. Martin made a small announcement on his Not a Blog: he’ll be attending MystiCon, being held in Roanoke, Virginia from February 26-28, as a Guest of Honor. Although he vowed last year to go to fewer cons in favor of working on The Winds of Winter, this particular one has been on his schedule since 2013, and according to a comment, “the plan” is to read from the book at the con.