“Hey, they were in Game of Thrones”—Where else have you seen these 55 GoT cast members? (Part 2)
34) ROGER ASHTON-GRIFFITHS
When the Game of Thrones producers needed to cast the doddering, pompous and ineffectual Mace Tyrell, they hit the nail on the head when they found veteran Canadian/British thespian Roger Ashton-Griffiths. Whether crooning (he started his career singing for the English National Opera), kowtowing to his mother Olenna or being flustered by this or that, Ashton-Griffiths was always entertaining.
Ashton-Griffiths’ Mace Tyrell debuted in season 4 and lasted through season 6. “Who was it who said, ‘There’s only two things you can be sure of in life, death and taxes?'” he asked The Statesman. “Well, there’s a third thing, which is your character death in Game of Thrones.”
Ashton-Griffiths has been on the big screen ever since he popped up as a priest in Brazil (1985). He’s worked regularly from then on, taking parts in films like Haunted Honeymoon (1986), Empire State (1987), The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989), The Madness of King George (1994), A Knight’s Tale (2001), Gangs of New York (2002, with Thrones alumnus Jim Broadbent), You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010, above), The Lobster (2015) and The Death of Stalin (2017).
TV has also been kind to Ashton-Griffiths; he’s appeared in many programs, including The Young Ones (1982), Tales from the Crypt (1989), Ivanhoe (1997), Mystery! Cadfael (1997), The Tudors (2009), Coronation Street (2014-2015), Taboo (2017, below, with Thrones costars Jonathan Pryce and Oona Chaplin ) and a string of Thrones veteran favorites such as The Bill (1989), Merlin (1998) and Doctor Who (2014).
Though the character of Mace Tyrell is much maligned for his dull-minded oafishness, Ashton-Griffiths reminds us of the man’s strengths in the Statesman interview:
"I think one thing nobody predicted was the great sense of homeliness that came out of this character, how much he cared for his children: that is what mattered to him more than anything else, which ultimately made his end so telling, that he went with his children."
Ashton-Griffiths remains busy post-Thrones, appearing in Stan Lee’s Lucky Man TV series and the movie Christopher Robin this year.
