Playing Gregor “the Mountain” Clegane for the past four seasons on Game of Thrones has afforded Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson opportunities the professional strongman might not otherwise have enjoyed. From hawking home carbonation products to cutting his comedy chops with public stunts, the Icelandic behemoth is a man of many skills. At one point, he even got to spar with UFC superstar Conor McGregor, a bout that he lost…or so it looks.
Speaking to RT at a sports nutrition exposition in Moscow, Björnsson painted a different picture, and talked a little about the role that got him here. “Yes, I had a sparring session with him,” the said of McGregor. “Just a joke one. A while ago, before his big fight against (Jose) Aldo. I had to hold myself back because I have too much power for a man of his size. If I would push all my power into him I would crush him.”
Björnsson weighs 400 lbs. McGregor weighs 155. We can believe some crushing could have happened, although after what happened to Oberyn we’d just as soon not think about it.
As for his Game of Thrones counterpart, Björnsson is fond of Cersei’s murderous enforcer, although they don’t have much in common…thankfully.
"I do like him. He’s an interesting character and I do like to act him. It is different because I’m used to talk, but in the show he doesn’t talk. So it can be very difficult sometimes when you are just standing there and doing nothing, or just killing people. Obviously in real life I don’t kill people. So it can be very difficult."
At least Björnsson can relax on set without having to worry about memorizing all those tricky lines; it’s much more fun to just stand around until it’s time to rip someone’s head off.
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