“Hey, they were in Game of Thrones”—Where else have you seen these 55 GoT cast members? (Part 2)

6) PILOU ASBAEK

It takes a guy with a lot of chutzpa to play the volatile Euron Greyjoy, and there’s no doubt that Copenhagen-born actor Pilou Asbaek has the gobs of crazy required to fill those big Ironborn boots.

In a sit-down with Interview magazine, Asbaek mentions that his first professional job was as an amusement park clown. “[P]eople would throw beer cans and harass me for a month.” As with his clown job, Asbaeck is always ready to suffer for the sake of entertainment, like when he was drowned during the Iron Islands Kingsmoot. He elaborated on that to Vulture:

"When you’re underwater, and there’s a guy holding you down, and you have to open your eyes, and you have to open your mouth, in salt water? It’s not the nicest thing in the world. But it was fun to be a part of the whole story line."

Aesbeck started out in theater in 2008 and quickly found roles in TV and movies. His film roles include R (2010), A Family (2010), Lucy (2014), Ben-Hur (2016), The Great Wall (2016, with Thrones alumnus Pedro Pascal) and The Ghost in the Shell (2017, above). Continuing with his Interview conversation, Asbaek raves about working with his female costars in Ghost in the Shell :

"[I]t makes me so happy that we have Scarlett Johansson and Juliette Binoche in the same film. It’s two strong women who discuss identity and life, and not sex and marriage and men. That’s so rare that there’s a big-budget American film that would actually discuss other subjects."

The Danish-born Asbaek is well-known in Denmark for his role in the political drama Borgen, which also stars fellow Thrones vet Brigitte Hjort Sorenson (Karsi). He’s also worked on The Borgias (2013) and1864 (2014, above).  What’s coming up for Asbaek? He has parts in the features Overlord and The Guardian Angel.