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

Game of Thrones has one of the largest casts on TV. You’ve probably noticed the stars popping up all over, but where? We’ve tracked them down for you.

Did you ever wonder where else you’ve seen members of the Game of Thrones cast? Some of them—like Ian McShane, Tobias Menzies and Indira Varma—are well-established veterans with huge lists of credits. Others, like Pedro Pascal and Daniel Portman, were little-known performers who became overnight successes after appearing on Thrones. Still others, like Isaac Hempstead-Wright, had no acting experience whatsoever before joining the cast. But almost all of them have at least one oddball credit most of us aren’t aware of.

We’ve already done one list cataloging the minor credits of 50 Game of Thrones cast members, but because this cast is so huge, we can easily do 55 more. Let’s go digging to see what we can find.

1) RICHARD MADDEN

It’s been a while since we last saw the honorable, chip-off-the-old-block Robb Stark, but Scottish born actor Richard Madden has has been doing quite nicely since getting beheaded and paraded through the Twins, thank you. Although Thrones was a big break for the young actor, he told The Telegraph he knew from the very beginning that his character wouldn’t last:

"Right from the start, the other cast members would say, ‘You’ve read the books, right? You know you’re going to die?’ There were lots of tears. I’d spent more time with my on-screen mother, Michelle Fairley, over those years, than my real mother, so we were having to say goodbye as friends as well as colleagues, in the most violent and horrible way. And the whole structure of these six-monthly shoots disappeared overnight … It seemed natural to draw a line under it and move on."

And move on Madden did. Since Thrones he’s starred in the TV series Klondike (2014), Medici: Masters of Florence (2016, 2018, pictured above), Oasis (2017, with Thrones alumnus Mark Addy) and Bodyguard (2018). His movies include A Promise (2013), Cinderella (2015) and The Take (2016).

So Madden is out there. He wants to be successful and isn’t apologetic about it, as he explained to The Guardian:

"I suppose ambitious isn’t the right word. I think ‘hungry’s’ the word. I’ve not got a plan. I don’t have an ambition to be a superhero. Maybe I’m a shit liar, but I don’t want to get up at 4am every morning for something I don’t care about."

Madden started out young, landing a role in the film Complicity (2000) when he was 11 years old. He then jumped straight into TV as a fresh-faced student in the Scottish BBC show Barmy Aunt Boomerang (2000, pictured above). Not wanting to be a child star, Madden headed off to school and didn’t return to theater until he was 18. He soon found work in TV on shows like Hope Springs (2009), Sirens (2011) and Birdsong (2012).

What’s next up on Madden’s busy schedule? He’s slated to appear in the feature Ibiza in 2018.

2) ESME BIANCO

The British actress Esme Bianco has starred in a number of films both before and after landing the role of Ros on Game of Thrones, including Secret Past, Scorpion King 4: The Quest for Power and The Big I Am.

The character of Ros does not exist in George R.R. Martin’s novels, and in fact, she wasn’t originally supposed to be in the show, as Bianco explained in an HBO website interview:

"I was supposed to be in one scene in the pilot, the scene she has with Tyrion in the brothel. Just after they got the greenlight, I got an email from David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss] and they said, “We love your character, we really like what you did. Would you consider coming back if we wrote you in?” So they kept sending me scenes and it went from there. It progressed naturally as they were writing the season."

Ros was a character the audience rooted for, as we wanted to see if she could find a way to improve her lot in life. But for Joffrey Baratheon, she might have.

Bianco has gone on to star in the TV horror flick Ominous, above (with co-star Barry Watson, 2015). She’s also appeared in the TV series The Magicians (2015-2018, photo below) and voices the character Eclipsa in the animated Star vs. The Forces of Evil (2017-2018).

Bianco has also gotten into modeling, representing lingerie brands like Agent Provocateur, Modern Courtesan and Atsuko Kudo. She has also tackled theater, and put on burlesque and cabaret shows all over the world. Her next film project is Hypnotized, currently in post-production.

3) MILTOS YEROLEMOU

We all loved Miltos Yerolemou’s smooth performance as bravo and master sword-fighter Syrio Forel. Like so many Thrones characters, he left us far too soon (unless you buy into the theory that he didn’t perish offscreen in “The Pointy End“). The Greek-born Yerolemou sat down with New Hampshire Magazine to talk about his influences for the character:

"My open-minded attitude and watching too many films like “The Matrix” and “Star Wars” and “The Karate Kid” and probably the first film that I was taken to by my dad, “The Big Boss” (with Bruce Lee). I have loved the way unconventional teachers have been represented on film and I am sure George R.R. Martin must have been influenced himself."

In the same interview, Yerolemou also addresses the ‘Syrio-is-still-alive’ theory. “No comment.” I think that counts as addressing it.

Although his movie parts have been on the smallish side, Yerolemou has been in big Hollywood movies like The Danish Girl (2015), Murder on the Orient Express (2018) and as a bar patron in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015, above picture, far right). He’s also appeared in TV series such as Hububb (1997-2003), Wolf Hall (2015) and New Blood (2016).

Yerolemou’s great love is the theater (that’s him as Bottom in a Barbican production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream above), and he’s hoping to return to the stage with The Royal Shakespeare Company. If you want to see some more of him, Yerolemou is appearing in the film DJ and in the TV series Marcella in 2018.

4) NATHALIE EMMANUEL

As the resilient and ever-loyal Missandei, actress Nathalie Emmanuel has won the hearts of both Grey Worm and all Game of Thrones fans. The British-born Emmanuel’s father is of English and St. Lucian descent, and her mother is from the Dominican Republic.

Emmanuel’s Game of Thrones exposure has landed her roles in big movies like Furious 7 (2015, pictured below), Maze Runner: Scorch Trials (2015), The Fate of the Furious (2017) and Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018).

Encouraged by her mother, Emmanuel landed her first role at age 10, as Young Nala in a stage production of The Lion King in London’s West End. Opportunities in TV came knocking, and she snagged roles on series like Hollyoaks (2007-2010, photo below) Hollyoaks Later (2008), Casualty (2011) and Misfits (2011).

Emmanuel says she’s been to so many auditions that “they’ve all blurred into one.” She recounted her worst experience in an interview with Backstage: “Sometimes nerves can get the better of me. I had one where I was so nervous that I walked out the room and vomited in the bathroom afterward. I’ve gotten better at dealing with them.”

As for how she feels about the end of Game of Thrones, Emmanuel sounded off in an interview with RAW:

"Oh my goodness, it’s going to be so good. We really could feel the magnitude of what we were shooting. You just feel the weight of all the seasons being carried with us too. And the implications of certain characters feeling the same space for the first time. Everyone is so good. I’m going to be sad when it’s done."

Thrones may be ending, but we’ll be able to see Emmanuel’s work for years to come. She’s currently appearing in The Titan with Sam Worthington and has a part in the upcoming Holly Slept Over (2018).

5) IAN BEATTIE

We all loved to hate the vile knight of the Kingsguard Meryn Trant on Game of Thrones, but kudos have to be given to veteran actor Ian Beattie for bringing this shady villain to life. Born in Ireland, Beattie is a prolific actor who has worked in both TV and film, and he isn’t always the bad guy. That said, Beattie told Digital Trends that Thrones will probably end up to be the highlight of his career:

"I think Game of Thrones will have gone down in history for setting a benchmark for the new Golden Age of Television … If I’m still shuffling around 20 years from now, this series, and my having been in this series, will certainly go down in my book as having been the best of the best. I will always remember the fact that I was part of a Game of Thrones, and that fills me with a huge pride."

Beattie has appeared in numerous movies , including Alexander (2006, above), Closing the Ring (2007) and Starred Up (2013). One of his first roles was as a Trooper in Space Truckers (1996). He also boasts a strong TV resume, with credits on shows like The Tudors (2006), Number 2s (2015), Vikings (2015) and Barbarians Rising (2016). Like many Game of Thrones alumni, Beattie also had a stint on Doctor Who (2017, below).

Beattie will be star in the upcoming Hayfields TV series premiering later this year.

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.

7) INDIRA VARMA

As the leader of the Sand Snakes, Ellaria Sand was a potentially great Game of Thrones character that got mired in the underperforming Dornish storyline. Veteran actress Indira Varma certainly had the chops to do great things with Ellaria, but we only got a glimpse of her range in moments like her dramatic final scene in “The Queen’s Justice” in season 7. In an interview with Cosmopolitan, Varma talked about how she got stuck in her shackles:

"They very kindly put some felt inside the handcuffs so we didn’t get bruised and battered — though we ended up doing that anyway because your acting takes over. The shackles kept coming off so they had to tighten them and then we couldn’t get them off at all. At the end of the day I was like, ‘I’m stuck! I need somebody to help me!’ and they had to cut me out of them. All in a day’s work."

Born in England to an East Indian mother and a Swiss father, Varma burst onto the movie scene in the steamy Karma Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996, above) and followed it up with tons of film credits that include Clancy’s Kitchen (1997), Bride and Prejudice (2004), Basic Instinct 2 (2006) and Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014).

If Varma has been prolific on the big screen, she’s been even busier on TV. Her CV includes shows like HBO’s Rome (2005-2007, above, with Thrones costars Ciaran Hinds and Tobias Menzies), Luther (2010), Human Target (2010-2012), Silk (2012) and Paranoid (2016).

What’s up next for Varma? Look for her in the TV miniseries Patrick Melrose this year, and the miniseries Carnival Row in 2019.

8) MARK GATISS

You don’t know who Mark Gatiss is? Yes you do, because he is everywhere. The prolific British actor/writer/playwright does a nice turn as the snooty Braavosi banker Tycho Nestoris on Game of Thrones, but that’s just the tip of the Gatiss iceberg.

Gatiss is big on comedy, even if it’s at his own expense. He described his earliest memory to The Guardian: “[B]eing in my pushchair, and my mum plucking a branch of lilac from a tree and putting it in my lap. I was enchanted by it and then it exploded with earwigs. My life in a nutshell.”

Gatiss founded the popular comedy quartet The League of Gentlemen in 1996 and he’s been involved in a myriad of projects ever since. He works primarily in TV, and his credits include The Midsomer Murders ( 2010), Wolf Hall (2015), Sherlock (above, 2010-2017), Taboo (2017), Gunpowder (2017, below, with Thrones costar Kit Harington), The League of Gentlemen (1999-2017) and as a writer/producer/actor on Doctor Who (2007-2017).

The Doctor Who series has featured many actors seen in Thrones, including David Bradley, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Maisie Williams, Roger Ashton-Griffiths, Iain Glen, Tobias Menzies, Paul Kaye, Ian Beattie, Donald Sumpter, Liam Cunningham, Ron Donachie, Joe Dempsie, Tom Hopper, Ben Crompton, Faye Marsay and Diana Rigg. Gatiss is part of a long tradition.

“I was a very lazy child, but I think I’ve made up for it by being a workaholic,” Gatiss told The Guardian. Naturally, he’s got a number of projects coming down the pipe, including The Mercy, The Favourite and Christopher Robin in 2018 and Good Omens in 2019.

9) CLIVE RUSSELL

Ah, how we miss the irascible and defiant Bryden ‘Blackfish’ Tully, played with relish by veteran actor Clive Russell. Born in England but raised in Scotland, Russell started out as a teacher but has been working in TV and film since 1960.

Despite his plentiful resume, Russell mentioned on an installment of Celebrity Antiques Road Trip that nobody knew who he was when he was first cast as the Blackfish on Game of Thrones. “That is a complete one-off in my life. I’ve never been involved in anything with that visibility … When I was chosen, the blogs were like ‘who? Who is this?'”

Russell’s movie credits feature movies big and small, including The Thirteenth Warrior (1999), Sherlock Holmes (2009), The Wolfman (2010), Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011), Thor: The Dark World (2013) and The Young Messiah (2013, above, with Thrones veteran Sean Bean)

Other than Thrones, Russell’s best known TV show roles include Chief Inspector Abberline in Ripper Street (2012-2016, below with Thrones costar Jerome Flynn) and Angus O’Connor in Happiness (2001-2003). But he’s been on tons of other programs, including Zorro (1990), Middlemarch (1994), The Mists of Avalon (2001), Coronation Street (1983-2006), The Bill (1993-2009), Outlander (2016), Casualty (1990-2018) and the miniseries Rellik (2017, with Thrones costar Richard Dormer).

What’s up next for the busy Russell? You can catch him alongside Tom Berenger, Beau Bridges and Louis Gossett Jr. in the Irish comedy Supervised in 2018, plus he’s appearing alongside his Thrones co-workers Ciaran Hinds and Tobias Menzies in The Terror TV series.

10) JIM BROADBENT

It was a great deal for Game of Thrones when they hooked A-List British actor Jim Broadbent to play the role of Archmaester Ebrose, and he didn’t disappoint. Bringing his famous curmudgeonly warmth to his character, Broadbent developed a nice rapport with John Bradley-West’s Samwell Tarly, despite the Citadel’s stiff attitudes about everything under the sun.

Broadbent’s fame came slowly (his first film extra role was in 1971) but he was patient, as he told the Radio Times in a 2017 interview:

"As a young actor, I was advised to bide my time. Back then, there weren’t good roles for someone like me. There were handsome leading men and character actors for smaller, supporting roles. But I was told to hang in there, and it was good advice. We’re all character actors now."

Broadbent’s acting resume is longer than Al Capone’s rap sheet, but let’s highlight a few of his films: Brazil (1985), The Crying Game (1992), Moulin Rouge! (2001), Gangs of New York (2002, below), Hot Fuzz (2007), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009, above), Another Year (2010), Cloud Atlas (2012) and The Legend of Tarzan (2016).

Though he might be a late bloomer, Broadbent has been nominated for more than three dozen major thespian awards and won quite a few of them, including two Golden Globes, an Oscar and a BAFTA award.

You might expect that Broadbent’s prolific onscreen work leaves him little time for TV, but you’d be mistaken. His TV CV is stuffed with appearances on shows like The Black Adder (1983), Inspector Morse (1992), The Boss (1995-2000), London Spy (2015), War & Peace (2016), and, uh, Teletubbies (2015-2016).

If you want more Broadbent, he’s got lots of new stuff cooking. Look for him in Black 47 and King Lear this year, and The Voyage of Doctor Doolittle in 2019.

11) BEN CROMPTON

English actor Ben Crompton first appeared as Eddison “Dolorous Edd” Tollet in season 2, and while he began his tenure as a minor player, he survived year after year and slowly got more to do. Edd is now the acting Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch and may play a pivotal role in the climactic events of season 8. Crompton plays Edd with equal parts sardonicism and sincerity, and turned him into someone we believe is capable of leading the black brothers in the great war to come.

Crompton tells Metro that Thrones is “going out with a bang,” and that the feeling on set is changed this time around. “There is a slightly different atmosphere on set. In previous seasons, whether you survived that series or not, you knew the show was continuing. Now whether you survive or not, it’s coming to an end.”

Crompton’s first TV role was as a protestor in The Thin Blue Line TV series (1996), a show that also featured future Thrones players Mark Addy (Robert Baratheon), Owen Teale (Alliser Thorne) and Rupert Vansittart (Yohn Royce), plus Alfie Allen’s uncle, Kevin Allen.

If you missed that one episode of The Thin Blue Line, Crompton may look familiar due his parts in films like Les Miserables (1998), All or Nothing (looking young below, 2002), 102 Dalmations (2002), and TV shows like Clocking Off (2001-2003), North & South (2004), Man Stroke Woman (2005-2007), Hit & Miss (2012) and, of course, Doctor Who (above, 2014).

Crompton can be seen in the Vera and C.B. Strike TV series in 2018.

12) DEOBIA OPAREI

He was huge, loyal and magnificent, but London-born actor Deobia Oparei’s character Areo Hotah died in the mire of the Dornish storyline, and we have to say “we hardly knew ya.” Oparei certainly had a handle on the Hotah’s character, as he detailed in an interview with HungerTv.com:

"He’s loyal (Horah). He reminds me, although George R R Martin wrote very distinct characters, I do see shades of Brienne of Tarth in Areo – his absolute loyalty. Just as Brienne is wedded to her sword, he is wedded to his axe. He describes it in the books as his wife. He’s the eyes and ears of Dorne, and he has to be. He’s like the FBI, he’s the FBI of that world."

Now we wish we’d seen more of him.

Oparei has had roles in big films like Alien 3 (1992), Dark City (1998), Moulin Rouge! (2001, with Thrones costar Jim Broadbent), The Four Feathers (2002), Thunderbirds (2004), Doom (2005), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) and Independence Day: Resurgence (above, 2016).

We may not have had enough time to get to know Oparei on Thrones, but his personal story is fascinating:

"I was an angry kid. I grew up in a Nigerian immigrant family – a very fractured family … my father was violent, they [my parents] split up and I went to live with my mum in a women’s refuge: I became an angry child. I was full of anger and very disconnected from the world around me. [I went to] the Greenwich Young People’s Theatre … and it changed my life … I saw people like me on stage talking about things that I was going through: identity, poverty, racism… I was gobsmacked that you could do this and it was called a play."

Besides Thrones, Oparai has a lot of TV credits, including parts on Blood Rights (1990), One Child (2014), Proof (2015), Emerald City (2017), Santa Clarita Diet (2017) and The Orville (2017, above). Look for Oparei in the feature film Dumbo in 2019.

13) MICHAEL McELHATTON

Veteran Irish actor and screenwriter Michael McElhatton played Roose Bolton, a man who only avoids the title of Most Despicable Man Alive because his son Ramsay is even worse. Game of Thrones fans will always remember him as a key player in one of the most shocking scenes in the show’s history, the Red Wedding, where he stabbed Robb Stark and delivered an iconic line: “The Lannisters send their regards.”

In an interview with Accessonline, McElhatton talked about why discarding the A Song of Ice and Fire books was necessary as he prepared for the role:

"It kind of is a bit of a double-edged sword. I did read the first two books and kind of did lots of work before it and then realized that the way they’d (Benioff and Weiss) written Roose Bolton was very, very different to the character in the books actually. … He’s a creepier character. He has a very soft, whispery voice … that’s not the way he was written in the scripts and I couldn’t play him [as written in the book] because it just wouldn’t have worked. So, I felt I wouldn’t read any more of the books. I had to make my character really from the scripts and from the dialogue that was given to me . . ."

McElhatton has been working as an actor since 1990. His movie credits include I Went Down (1997), Intermission (2003), Perrier’s Bounty (above, 2009, with Thrones co-worker Francis Magee), Death of a Superhero (2011), Mammal (2016),The Siege of Jadotville (2016), King Arthur: The Legend of the Sword (2017) and Justice League (2017).

He has plenty of TV work under his belt, too. He’s been on shows like Paths to Freedom (2000), Fergus’s Wedding (2002), Hide & Seek (2006), Your Bad Self (2010), Titanic: Blood and Steel (2012, with fellow Thrones costars Ian McElhinney and Liam Cunningham), Ripper Street (2013) and Genius (2017, below).

Look for McElhatton’s distinctive voice in the oddly-titled animated feature Captain Morten and the Spider Queen in 2018.

14) FAYE MARSAY

The Waif is one of the mysterious people operating in the ancient cult of the Faceless Men in Braavos. Played with an inscrutable malevolence by English actress Faye Marsay, she was both an ally of Jaqen H’ghar and a dangerous antagonist to Arya Stark.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Marsay described her joy at becoming a part of Thrones: “It’s probably the best job I have ever done. Most of my storylines are with Maisie Williams, which is a joy. She is such a talented and special girl.”

Marsay has racked up some impressive TV credits, including roles in The White Queen (2013, above), Fresh Meat (2013), The Bletchley Circle (2014), Love, Nina (2016), Black Mirror (2016) and Bancroft (2017).

Continuing with her Daily Mail interview, Marsay talked about her back-up plan if her theatrical career never took off: “Football is my true love. I played with boys until I was 11 and then for a girls’ club in Middlesbrough until I was 16.  If acting hadn’t panned out, being a footballer was my plan B. We still have a kick-about from time to time, me and some of the other northern girls I know in London.”

Faye never had to fall back on football. In addition to her TV work, she’s had roles in movies like Pride (2014, above), You, Me and Him (2017) and The Darkest Hour (2017).

Marsay also appeared on Doctor Who in 2014 as Shona, a character planning to binge-watch every episode of Game of Thrones during her Christmas break. Check out her latest work as Katya Godman in the BBC TV series McMafia.

15) JOSEF ALTIN

As a member of the same Night’s Watch class as Jon Snow, Pypar “Pip” was one of a group of ne’er do wells who matured into capable and loyal veterans. English actor Josef Atlin‘s sympathetic portrayal of Pip fleshed out his character in ways that belied his slight screen time, and it hurt us when he died defending Castle Black. Altin talked about his time on the show to HittheFloor Magazine:

"I really like playing the light-hearted one out of the Night’s Watch. It breaks the tension up when everything is gloomy and moody at Castle Black. But Pyp only is like that because he’s scared and tries to cover it up by being the joker out of the pack. Yes, I love being involved in the action and swinging a sword. Never got to do that until I got the part in Game of Thrones."

Atlin has been working since 1999. You can see him in a lot of TV shows, including Blackpool (2004), Robin Hood (2006), The Bill (2004-2009, starring many fellow Thrones actors), Casualty (2006-2009), Him & Her (2011-2012) Peaky Blinders (2016) and Harlots (2017).

As for the role of Pyp, Altin never really had to audition…well, not exactly. “

I got the part as Pyp through another audition. The day I had the audition the directors, producers and the casting director were in the room. I had a few lines to say and that was it. I think I went back for a recall and that was all. Heard I got the part a few weeks later.”

The busy Atlin’s movie credits include Stoned (2005), Eastern Promises (2007), The Young Victoria (2009) Les Miserables (2012) Vendetta (2013, top above) and Child 44 (2015, above).

Atlin’s talents have kept him in good stead career-wise. You can see him in both the TV series The Alienist and the feature film Tomb Raider in 2018.

16) DAVID BRADLEY

Yes, we love to hate the nefarious Walder Frey, master of ceremonies at the gut-wrenching Red Wedding. But you’ve got to hand it to veteran English actor David Bradley for fleshing out one of the most vile villains ever to appear on TV.

Known for his dark turn as the nasty caretaker Argus Filch in the Harry Potter movies (photo below), Bradley tells The Yorkshire Post that “Fans of the show (Thrones) tend to be quite wary when they approach me. People will say, ‘Ooh, I hate you, you’re horrible’.” And in an interview with The Telegraph, he said that Potter scribe J. K. Rowling once “told me I was fabulously foul.”

If Bradley looks familiar to you, you’re not alone. The guy has gotten around. In addition to his Harry Potter role, he’s had parts in films such as The Frisco Kid (1979), The Exorcist: The Beginning (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007), Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) and The World’s End (2017).

Television is Bradley’s main gig, and he’s been at it a long time. his first role was as a policeman in the Nearest and Dearest back in 1971. He’s also appeared on shows like Coronation Street (1980), Casualty (1995), Vanity Fair (1998), Midsomer Murders (2003), Blackpool (2004), The Tudors (2009), Another Year (2010), Broadchurch (2013), Medici: Masters of Florence (2016, with Thrones veteran and murder victim Richard Madden) and The Strain (2014-2017).

Bradley has also been a part of the new Doctor Who series; he starred as William Hartnell, the original Doctor Who, in the Mark Gatiss-written biopic An Adventure in Space and Time (2013, above) and has also appeared on the regular series (2017).

Bradley appears in the film Await Further Instructions this year. He also has a small uncredited part in the series Britannia.

17) KRISTIAN NAIRN

Hodor was a simpleton, a loyal and gentle servant whose main role was to be both a protector and a beast of burden to Brandon Stark. Powered by Irish actor and musician Kristian Nairn, the character quickly won our hearts.

In the end, Hodor’s story was more tragic and more important than we ever first could have imagined. We’ll never feel the same way about saying “Hold the door” again.

As he tells The Hollywood Reporter, Nairn thought Hodor’s demise was both sad and fitting:

"I actually cried. I didn’t cry openly, but I had a little bit of a sob to myself. It’s just so sad. To me, it’s very satisfying as well. It ties up a lot about Hodor. It ties him all together and kills him at the same time. It’s very Game of Thrones. It gives you something you want with one hand, then cuts your hand off with the other one."

Nairn’s international celebrity began with Game of Thrones, and he’s played versions of Hodor on several different shows, including Chronicles of Comic Con (2013), The Wil Wheaton Project (2014) and The Insider (2014), plus a stint on a Sodastream commercial (above).

He’s taken non-Hodor acting roles in TV and film, too, including in Four Warriors (2015), Mythika: The Godslayer (2015, below) and Ripper Street (2012, 2013).

Off-camera, the 6’10” Nairn has a busy career as a DJ. In an interview with Culturated, he lists Kate Bush, Gary Newman, Bjork and Danzig as a few of his many influences, and he has no intention of leaving the stage: “I’ve been playing music since I was 3 or 4 years old, and it’s always been a HUGE part of my life. I learned to DJ at music college. One night, I covered for a DJ who was sick. That was 20 years ago, and I haven’t stopped DJing since.”

Look for Nairn in the features The Appearance and Robin Hood The Rebellion in 2018.

18) CHARLOTTE HOPE

If anybody really knew Ramsay Bolton, it was probably his lover and partner in sadism, the kennelmaster’s daughter, Myranda. Actress Charlotte Hope brought Myranda to life for us, with all the cruelty, jealousy, conniving and desperation that entails.

Hope talked about how she got the role in Myranda in an interview with The Independent. “At the time I was up for another series, which I thought was going to be my big break, but I didn’t get that. My agent said to me that there was an opportunity to do Thrones, but it was one scene with a lot of nudity, and I loved the show.”

The producers were so pleased with Hope’s performance that they made Myranda a recurring character.

Hope started acting in 2010 and has been busy ever since. Her film acting credits include Les Miserables (2012), The Theory of Everything (2014),  Testament of Youth (2014, above), A United Kingdom (2016) and Allied (2016, below). On TV, her resume includes roles on series like Casualty (2010), Doctors (2012), Whitechapel (2013), The Musketeers (2014) and Houdini and Doyle (2016).

In an interview with Celebritain, Hope was asked if there were any Thrones actors she hadn’t gotten to work with that she would have liked to:

"Oh all of them. Game of Thrones was a surreal job because there are so many great people in it but you rarely work with many of them. I basically worked with the main characters in my scenes but luckily got to hang out with the rest of the cast at lunch times and press parties. It was fun but there are too many to list that I would have loved to work with."

Hope was able to knock one name off that list: last year she appeared with Peter Dinklage (Tyrion) in Three Christs (2017). Coming up in 2018, she’s in the TV series Endeavour and the feature film The Nun.

19) JOSEPH MAWLE

Speaking of interesting characters who had relatively little screen time, we have to discuss Benjen Stark, the youngest brother of Eddard, who makes an early appearance as the First Ranger of the Night’s Watch and then vanishes for like, forever, only to to return in seasons 6 and 7 as a doomed half-wight. Benjen is first and foremost a heroic figure, and English actor Joseph Mawle does a fine job playing a character whose unseen story probably deserves an HBO series of its own.

Mawle tells Interview Magazine that he lost the majority of his hearing at the age of 16, but he feels it has helped his acting more than hurt it:

"I think it’s probably been a help. Partly because people are saying “No, no, don’t do it!” There is an element where it has been very useful—90 percent of our communication is through body language. The amount of hearing I had, and the fact that my eyes are very sharp, means I can combine the two."

Mawle’s first acting role was as an uncredited Village Man in the Merlin TV miniseries in 1998. Other TV credits include stints on Sir Gadbout, the Worst Knight in the Land (2002), Silent Witness (2006), The Secret Life of Mrs. Beeton (2006, below), The Passion (2008), Foyle’s War (2008), Merlin (again, 2009, above), Birdsong (2012) and Ripper Street (2013, 2016), a favorite for Thrones alumni.

You may have seen Malwe in feature films such as Lecture 21 (2008), Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012), Half of a Yellow Sun (2013),  Kill Your Friends (2015) and The Heart of the Sea (2015).

Where can you see Malwe next? He plays the Greek hero Odysseus in the 2018 TV series Troy: Fall of a City.

20) FINN JONES

Loras Tyrell, the Knight of Flowers, was turned into an unfortunate pawn in the struggle between Cersei Lannister and the High Sparrow, and obliterated in the destruction of the Sept of Baelor. British actor Finn Jones brought dash and gentility to his performance as Loras, a character who falls from great heights into ruin.

As Jones tells Interview Magazine, he was fortunate enough to rub shoulders with just about every other actor in the Game of Thrones main cast: “I pretty much met everyone. I was lucky, because I got to work with a lot of different actors, but also you meet everyone at press events, Comic Cons, table reads. By the end of the six years, there wasn’t a single person I didn’t know. And everyone was fucking amazing.”

Jones got his start in the soap operas Hollyoaks Later (2009) and Hollyoaks (2010), and also appeared in The Bill (2010), The Sarah Jane Adventures (2010, below), Life in Squares (2015), Iron Fist (2016, above) and The Defenders (2017).  His movie resume includes Sleeping Beauty (2014), The Last Showing (2014) and Leatherface (2017).

Continuing his discussion with Interview Magazine, Jones described how he first heard about Netflix’s Iron Fish when he was at the airport right after filming his last scene as Loras Tyrell, wondering what might happen to his career post-Thrones: “It was pretty scary. After having a job for six years, to not have anything, it’s overwhelming and daunting. I was at the stage in my career where it was now or never. Thrones was great, but it was a recurring guest star. For my career, I wanted to get a series regular … I never imagined I’d get a lead.”

And the rest is history.

21) KERRY INGRAM

If any one death on Game of Thrones deserves the title of “Most Tragic,” it’s probably that of the innocent Shireen Baratheon. Played by the plucky and endearing Kerry Ingram, Shireen is one of those minor characters who didn’t get a ton of screentime but managed to be three-dimensional nonetheless.

Unlike a number of the very young thespians on this list, Ingram had already earned a set of impressive stage credits before she arrived on the Thrones set. After starring in a Drury Lane production of Oliver!, her performance as Matilda Wormwood in the Stratford-Upon-Avon production of Matilda (below) won her an Oliver Award for Best Actress in a Musical.

Ingram’s first big screen role was as an Uncredited Village Child in Russell Crowe’s Robin Hood (2010). She followed that up with appearances in Burke and Hare (2010) and Les Miserables (2012). And of course her career exploded when she appeared on Thrones. To this day, everyone asks her about her final scene, as she told Hypable:

"The most challenging thing with that scene was, everything that Shireen has done I could relate to something in my life, one of her scenes, except for this one, cause I’ve never been burned alive…I kind of played it just the emotions without any backstory."

Since her Thrones debut, Ingram has starred in TV series such as Wolf Hall (2015, with Thrones veterans Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Anton Lesser), Barbarians Rising (2016, with Thrones alumni Ian Beattie and Tom Hopper), and Doctors (2016). You can currently catch Ingram in the TV series Free Rein (photo above).

22) ANTON LESSER

If you like ’em down, dark, and twisted, fallen maester Qyburn might be your favorite character on Game of Thrones. He’s on a roll at the moment, having been promoted to Cersei Lannister’s Hand of the Queen, with a royal laboratory as his playground. British Shakespearian actor Anton Lesser brings Qyburn to life with a sense of pragmatism and loyalty that belies his unseemly instincts.

In an interview with PBS Masterpiece, Lesser says that he is most recognized on the street for his role as Qyburn, but he has not read a review of his acting since 1982, when he saw a review of his portrayal of Hamlet that stated “This is the only production of Hamlet that would have been better off without the prince.”

A veteran of stage and screen, the prolific Lesser first appeared in the TV mini-series The Mill on the Floss in 1979. Since then, he’s appeared in TV programs like King Lear (1982), Twelfth Night (1984, below), The Strauss Dynasty (1991), Vanity Fair (1998), Lorna Doone (2000, above, with fellow Thrones player Aiden Gillen), Foyle’s War (2002), A Touch of Frost (2006), Midsomer Murders (2003-2008), Ripper Street (2013, a Thrones alumni favorite), Wolf Hall (2015) and The Crown (2017).

Lesser has really enjoyed being a part of Game of Thrones and interacting with its passionate fan base. He tells PBS Masterpiece that his minor role keeps him off the hook, as far as spoilers go:

"It’s great, I love it. I mean, you know, I’m not one of the big…the big engines of the piece; I’m not a big character in it. So I don’t… I don’t have that problem of people saying, “Oh, is Jon Snow going to live or … What happens, tell us about plots?” If they did, I wouldn’t be able to say anything, because we only get our little bits. We don’t get the whole script so I don’t have to pretend that I don’t know, I actually don’t know."

Lesser’s film roles include Charlotte Grey (2001), Miss Potter (2006), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) and Allied (2016). He’s currently involved in the Endeavour TV series (2013-2018) and you can see him in the psychological thriller Gatecrash this year.

23) EUGENE SIMON

The wellborn Lancel Lannister, the eldest son of Kevan Lannister, grew from a boy to a young man before our eyes on Game of Thrones. Brought to life by British actor Eugene Simon, Lancel’s character transformed several times, from Robert Baratheon’s inconsequential squire to a wounded knight and eventually a fanatic in thrall to the High Sparrow.

When Simon first appeared on Game of Thrones at the age of 19, he was appearing in two shows at once. He’d perform scenes for Nickelodeon’s show House of Anubis in Liverpool (below), then jet to Belfast for his scenes in Thrones. As Simon told the Chicago Tribune, the productions arranged their schedules so he could appear in both shows, but having to juggle two characters at once was his responsibility:

"You have to learn to kind of switch off one part of your brain and turn on the other. So that was a good learning experience, really. They definitely couldn’t be more different than they are."

Simon first hit the airwaves in 2003 in My Dad’s the Prime Minister, and continued with appearances on shows like Noah and Saskia (2004), My Family and Other Animals (2005, below), Ben Hur (2010) and Genius (2017).

His film credits include Casanova (2005), Alpha Male (2006), Before I Sleep (2013) and The Lodgers (2017).

Despite his character having been killed off, Simon still follows Game of Thrones, and told Harper’s Bazaar who he thinks will win the Iron Throne:

"Well I have a feeling that it will be Jon Snow. I think in all likelihood Jon Snow will end up on the Throne in the end. I don’t know why, I just have a feeling. There is also two other possibilities. The first is that the Iron Throne will be destroyed—I’m not giving anything away, by the way. I know nothing, this is just my theory … And I don’t think Daenerys will be on the throne. She’s a fantastic conqueror, but I’m not sure how good a leader she is. We’ll have to wait and see."

You don’t have to wait long to see Simon again; he’ll appear in comedy-thriller Kill Ben Lyk this year.

24) MARK STANLEY

We all grew to love Grenn, one of Jon’s Snow’s group of misfits, during his time with the Night’s Watch. Yorkshire-born actor Mark Stanley played the friendly, simple Grenn, a minor character who broke our hearts when he died bravely defending the inner gate during the Battle of Castle Black (“The Watchers on the Wall,” S4/Ep9).

In an interview with Fabric magazine, Stanley talks about how his first day on the Thrones set completely awed him:

"I will never forget that first morning… Walking on to a set like that you are totally enamoured by how grand it is, and the amount of money that has been spent. It gives you a great perspective. You suddenly realise that it is not all for you, and that you are there for it. You are just a small part of this huge machine of a show."

Stanley’s TV work took off after his appearance on Game of Thrones (2011-2014). He scored roles on Air Aces (2012), Dickensian (2015-2016), The Collection (2016), Broken (2017, with Thrones veteran Sean Bean), Loves, Lies and Records (2017) and Little Women (2017).

The same superpowering can be said for his film roles. They start in 2013 with How I Live Now and continue with Coriolanus Live (2014, below, with Tom Hiddleston), Kilo Two Bravo (2014), Mr. Turner (2014), Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) and Dark River (2017, above, also starring with Sean Bean, again!).

“This is a vocation at the end of the day,” Stanley says about acting in an interview with The Jackal.  “Sometimes it’s like decoding a cryptic crossword, like you’re actually blueprinting someone’s psychology. I love all that.”

25) IAN McSHANE

We knew Brother Ray only briefly, but his effect on the Hound may be everlasting. Of course, we know English actor Ian McShane very well—he’s done stuff all over the place for a long, long time, since 1962.

McShane is also famous for not giving a s**t. He gained some negative attention for spilling the beans about his Game of Thrones character ahead of his debut in season 6, and for revealing that the Hound was going to return. “You say the slightest thing and the internet goes ape,” McShane told The Telegraph on May 1, 2016. “I was accused of giving the plot away, but I just think get a f—ing life. It’s only tits and dragons.”

McShane’s immense list of movie acting credits include Young and Willing (1962), Battle of Britain (1969), Journey into Fear (1975), Torchlight (1985), Sexy Beast (2000), Kung Fu Panda (2008), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011, above) and John Wick: Chapter Two (2016).

His TV appearances are legion: Wuthering Heights (1967, below), Space: 1999 (1975), Police Woman (1975), Roots (1977), Magnum P.I., (1981-82), War and Remembrance (1988-89), Dallas (1989), Miami Vice (1987-89), The West Wing (2002), Deadwood (2004-2006), Spongebob Squarepants (2008), American Horror Story (2012), Ray Donovan (2015) and American Gods (2017-18).

Continuing with the infamous Telegraph interview, McShane talked about why he accepted the part on Thrones:

"They asked me if I wanted to do Game of Thrones and I said, ‘Sure, I’ll be able to see my old pals Charlie Dance and Stephen Dillane’ and they said, ‘No, we’ve killed them off.’ I wasn’t sure whether I could commit, but then they said it would only be for one episode, so I said, ‘So that means I must die at the end of it. Great, I’m in.’"

Did you see McShane drop another story spoiler at the end of his quote there? He may not keep secrets well, but McShane sure stays busy: he’ll be appearing in Bolden, Hellboy and John Wick: Chapter III in 2019.

26) PEDRO PASCAL

The Chilean-born Pedro Pascal stole many hearts as the dashing, oversexed Oberyn Martell, and his character’s violent death proved one of the most stunning moments in Game of Thrones history. Don’t feel too bad for Pascal, however. As he tells Interview magazine, shooting his final scene was a blast:

"There wasn’t any part of it that was somber. Everyone thought it was hilarious that my head was being smushed like a watermelon. Everyone was so fascinated by the special effects of it. We had a lot of fun. It was me clowning around with a guy who was seven feet tall and 200 pounds in this beautiful location in Dubrovnik."

Pascal’s career has taken off since his turn as Oberyn. He’s appeared in major films like The Great Wall (2016, above, also starring Thrones costar Pilau Asbaeck), Kingman: the Golden Circle (2017) and in TV shows like The Mentalist (2014) and Narcos (2015-17).

Before Thrones, Pascal had a long credit of blink-or-you-might-miss-him roles on TV, including stints as a fresh-faced kid on Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1999, above), Touched by an Angel (2000), NYPD Blue (2001), Law and Order (2008) and Nurse Jackie (2010).

What’s coming up for the now in-demand Pascal? He’s slated to appear in The Equalizer 2 (2018), If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) and Triple Frontier (2019).

27) SIBEL KEKILLI

Shae loved Tyrion dearly, and when you love a Lannister, your life is always at risk. Shae was a survivor, a woman who was both loyal and dangerous to spurn, as Tyrion found out. Sibel Kekilli, a German actress of Turkish origin, played her with a romantic pathos and canny shrewdness we won’t soon forget.

Kekilli got her start in adult films, but made the leap into mainstream movies with her role in Head On, a Fatih Akin feature that won the Golden Bear for Best Picture at the Berlin Film Festival in 2004. Kekilli was awarded the prestigious German Lola Award for Best Actress, and went on win a Best Actress statue at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival for When We Leave (photo below).

Kekilli’s movie credits include Winter Journey (2006), When We Leave (2010) and What a Man (2011). She also boasts a strong TV resume, with appearances on shows like Gier (2010), The Inspector and the Sea (2010), Tatort (2010-2017, below) and Bruder: Schwarze Macht (2017).

In an interview with Vulture, Kekilli reveals how thrilled she was when author George R.R. Martin praised her performance on Game of Thrones: “When I met George R.R. Martin for the first time, he said, ‘Oh Sibel, your Shae is better than my Shae.’ It was a really big honor when he told me that.”

We all know that Peter Dinklage (Tyrion) is a good guy, and as Kekilli tells Vulture, she loved doing so many scenes with him: “He (Dinklage) is always really sensitive, and he’s a really good colleague. I really like him. I really like his acting. By sensitive, I mean he was always taking care of others … Let me say it like this — he always acts with his eyes. He reacts when you act. That helps me a lot. He helped me a lot.”

If you’re a fan of Kekilli’s work, you can catch her in the TV series Bullets and the film Berlin, I Love You this year.

28) RICHARD DORMER

As the mysterious, oft-resurrected Lord of Blackhaven/Red Priest, Beric Dondarrion could come off as a scary guy, but his dark wit and resilience, interpreted with gusto by Irish-born Richard Dormer, has won him many supporters among the Game of Thrones fandom. Like many British actors, Dormer has has a successful career in the theater. We could watch an entire play with him treading the boards as the complex Dondarrion, who he plays as a Robin Hood.

We don’t know what happened to Dondarrion and Tormund Giantsbane when the Wall collapsed at the end of season 7, but we sure hope they’ll be back for the final round—they’ll certainly be needed.

Dormer plays the sheriff of an arctic Norwegian mining town in Pivot TV’s dark crime thriller Fortitude. He compared working on that show to working on Thrones in an an interview with Esquire:

"One was fire and the other was ice. Beric was one of the hottest experiences in my life. Filming in a cave, with a flaming sword, in that leather armor. It was boiling hot. It topped 40 degrees (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in the studio. Fortitude was very cold. Both productions were designed by Jemma Jackson and I think they both have that epic look. She’s a genius."

Dormer is a veteran actor with a long list of minor credits, including stints on Soldier, Soldier (1992, starring fellow Thrones actor Jerome Flynn, among many others), The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1993), Hidden (2011) and Good Vibrations (2012, with Thrones alumnus Liam Cunningham).

By the time Dormer appeared on Game of Thrones in “Now His Watch has Ended” in 2014, his career was already taking off, and he’s since won leading roles in TV and film projects like ’71 (2014), Fortitude (2015-2017) and Rellik (2017).

Dormer has no future projects currently listed on his IMDb page.

29) PAUL KAYE

Alas, we lost the wry, wine-loving Thoros of Myr to polar bear bite and hypothermia last season, but English actor Paul Kaye‘s fine performance will keep him in our memories for a long time to come. It’ll be interesting to see how long Beric Dondarrion will last without his angel of resurrection waiting in the wings.

If you look at Kaye’s long list of credits, you’ll see that his roots are in comedy, starting with a role as shock interviewer Dennis Pennis on The Sunday Show. Kaye tells WhatsOnStage how he moved on to more serious drama:

"Pennis was in part driven by an intense feeling of failure and disappointment and a sense of having nothing to lose; I see him less as the beginning of my career and more as the beginning of the end of my adolescence."

His TV appearances include Anyone for Pennis? (1995), the Very Important Pennis series (1996-1997), The Sunday Show (1995-1997), Spaced (1999), Chop Socky Chooks (2008), Midsomer Murders (2009), Shameless (2011), Ripper Street (2013), Doctor Who (2015), Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (2015, above) and Zapped (2016-2017).

Kaye has also been busy making movies, including with a bit part as an uncredited ‘Zombie behind the Winchester’ in Shaun of the Dead (2004). He won more roles in Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London (2004), It’s All Gone Pete Tong (2004, below), Match Point (2005) and Dracula Untold (2014).

In an interview with Den of Geek, Kaye talks about how much he’ll miss his Thrones costars:  “I’ll miss the boys. We all got on so well. Rory McGann and Richard Dormer and Kit [Harington] and Kristof [Hivju], Joe Dempsie… we all got on brilliantly. A great little gang.” He also comments on how weird it was to shoot his character’s season 7 death scene, saying “[My] death, or my ruckus with the zombie polar bear was filmed in Belfast. I was fighting with some guy in a green suit holding a flaming wheelbarrow. It couldn’t get further from what ends up on telly!”

Kaye is keeping busy, as usual. Catch him in Wanderlust, Urban Myths and Tomorrow this year, and Good Omens in 2019.

30) KAE ALEXANDER

As the leader of the mysterious Children of the Forest, Leaf ultimately gives her life in defense of Brandon Stark. Leaf didn’t get a lot of screen time, but actress Kae Alexander made her real for us with her expressive portrayal of an ancient creature both regretful and determined.

In an interview with At The Theater, Alexander talked about the great collaborative effort required on a show like Game of Thrones:

"[F]rom working on Game Of Thrones I’ve worked closely with stunt performers and prosthetic effects and have collaborated with different departments. I really appreciate its storytelling, with the amount of work and passion that goes into it. I get obsessed and in every job I learn a bit more of how everything comes together."

Alexander’s TV roles include parts on Doctors (2013), House of Anubis (2013, with Thrones alumnus Eugene Simon), Bad Education (2012-2014), Fleabag (2016) and Retribution (2016). She’s appeared in a number of movies, such as The Healer (2015) and The White Room (2016). Alexander also tread the stage boards in a Hampstead Theater production of Gloria in 2017 (above).

Alexander has a lot of  new projects coming out this year, so watch for her in TV series like Hard Sun, Collateral (above) and White Dragon. She’s also appearing in Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One right now.

31) LINO FACIOLI

As the royal son of a deranged mother, the gentle and weak Robin Arryn was little more than a political pawn under the control of his late Lord Protector Petyr Baelish. With Baelish gone, the future of the young Arryn, and of the Vale, is uncertain. Brazilian-born and London raised actor Lino Facioli has portrayed Arryn with balanced servings of petulance and innocence, and we hope to see him again.

Facioli’s first role was in Get Him to the Greek (2010, above). He’s followed that up with appearances in Broken (2012) and The Boy in the Mirror (2014, below), the story of a boy who sees his reflection come to life.

Facioli also had a TV role on The Armstrong and Miller Show (2010) and participated in short films like Awfully Deep (2010), The Last Ten (2011) and Isha (2017).

Facioli has no new projects lined up on IMDb.

32) JACK GLEESON

Wow, did we love to hate the frail, nasty and depraved Joffrey Baratheon! Irish (former) actor Jack Gleeson served this character up to us with all kinds of surly glee, but at the end, he proved he had the talent to let us glimpse the frightened boy inside the monster as he lay dying in his mother’s arms.

Gleeson famously left the acting life behind in 2014, and he hasn’t appeared in TV or film since. In an interview with Hollywood Life, Gleeson explained why he bailed on stardom just as Game of Thrones opened big doors for him in Hollywood:

"The answer isn’t interesting or long-winded. I’ve been acting since age 8. I just stopped enjoying it as much as I used to. And now there’s the prospect of doing it for a living, whereas up until now it was always something I did for recreation with my friends, or in the summer for some fun. I enjoyed it. When you make a living from something, it changes your relationship with it. It’s not like I hate it, it’s just not what I want to do."

What was Gleeson’s first acting gig at age 8? He had an uncredited part as a Kid in Reign of Fire in 2002. His other movie roles include Batman Begins (2005, above), Shrooms (2007), A Shine of Rainbows (2009, below) and All Good Children (2010). On TV, he did a stint on the series Killinaskully (2006-2008).

We’ll all remember Gleeson for his famous death scene on Thrones. He discussed it in detail with Hollywood Life:

"It’s relieving, in a way. You want to do the scene and character justice. It’s a complicated scene; I’ve never had a death on screen before. You want it to look believable — the choking and the coughing. It’s calming to know I’m in the great hands of [director] Alex Graves."

We wish Gleeson the best of luck in his future endeavors.

33) DEAN-CHARLES CHAPMAN

Alas, poor Tommen Baratheon/Lannister, the innocent boy king of Westeros who, despite his pit viper of a mother, stood no chance. English actor Dean-Charles Chapman effectively played the character as kind but weak-minded and naive, an inbred lad doing his best while the manipulative Cersei, Margaery Tyrell and High Sparrow tore him to pieces.

Chapman took on the role of Prince Tommen in Season 4, taking the place of actor Callum Wharry (Chapman had also briefly played the tiny part of the murdered Martyn Lannister in season 3). Tommen lasted until the end of Season 6; that’s a long life on Thrones. Chapman sat down with Vulture to discuss the filming of his jumping-out-the-window death scene:

"The stunt wasn’t too hard. I walk to the top of the window, fall off on a crash mat, and I basically face-planted. It’s really draining. The whole sequence, where he’s getting dressed, sitting on his seat, and the Mountain comes in, that was all one day. And the whole death scene, that was a long, long time. I’d say, Jesus, falling onto the mat? It’s got to be 30 times, or more, for all the different angles. I took a lot of face-plants. It’s all good!"

Chapman got his start in TV, snapping up parts in Casualty (2007), Cuckoo (2007), The Revolting World of Stanley Brown (2012), The White Queen (2013), Ripper Street (2014, above) and Will (2017). His film credits include Before I Go to Sleep (2014), Man Up (2015) and Breathe (2017).

Of course, Vulture had to ask Chapman about the fate of Tommen’s fan-favorite cat, Ser Pounce:

"Poor little fellow. It’d be a shame if he had watched Tommen jump out the window. It might give poor Pounce some mental problems. He’s probably still in Tommen’s chambers, hidden under the bed, shaking with fear or something. I hope he has no worries. I hope he runs around the castle, sees another cat, has some kittens."

Chapman is staying busy in 2018, appearing in the TV series The Badlands (above) and the film The Commuter.

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.

35) KRISTOFER HIVJU

Tormund is the big, bold and love-struck leader of the surviving wildlings. As portrayed by the charismatic Norwegian actor Kristofer Hivju, the impressively bearded Tormund has proven a loyal lieutenant to both Mance Rayder and Jon Snow, and a hilariously earnest suitor of Brienne of Tarth.

Referring to the infamous Game of Thrones character slaughterhouse, Hivju assured The Daily Mail that Tormund is never safe: “Who knows?! It’s one more episode, bro. Nobody knows. A lot of things could happen. I really don’t know. I don’t think anybody is safe, especially with the threat that’s upon them. No, I don’t feel safe at all.”

Hivju has bene active in Norwegian TV since appearing in Fox Gronland in 2001. Since then he’s had roles in shows like Storst av Alt (2007), Lilyhammer (2014) and Beck (2016-2018, above). His film work includes Manhunt (2008), The Thing (2011), After Earth (2013, below), Operation Earth (2014), The Last King (2016) and The Fate of the Furious (2016).

And as for Tormund making sexy eyes at Brienne of Tarth, Hivju tells The Observer that those moments were scripted, not improvised. But will this odd couple ever get together? “[Y]ou have to wait and see, but if I can speak on behalf of Tormund, I will say that he’s very into this girl. When you have a relationship where you don’t know who will win in a fight, that’s a great start to a relationship.”

Look for Hivju on TWIN, a new TV thriller. Release date forthcoming.

36) ISAAC HEMPSTEAD-WRIGHT

If any actor can be said to have truly grown up on Game of Thrones, it’s Isaac Hempstead-Wright. We’ve watched him portray Brandon Stark throughout the whole of his adolescence, guiding the character through difficult trials. Bran’s character arc is odd and twisting, and Hempstead-Wright has always kept it grounded.

In an interview with The Straits Times, Hempstead-Wright talks about childhood on the Thrones set, saying he lives in a “tiny village in the middle of a rural part of England” and that “[i]t was my sense of normality to just go off to Belfast and dress up in a funny costume and hang out in a woodland and play this strange character. It became this strange summer camp.”

Hempstead-Wright’s professional acting career really began with Thrones. He’s appeared in films and TV shows along the way, such as The Awakening (2011, above), Closed Circuit (2013, with Thrones veterans Jim Broadbent and Ciaran Hinds), Family Guy (2014, voice) and The Boxtrolls (2014, voice, below).

And how will this show he grew up on end? Hempstead-Wright tells The Hollywood Reporter he thinks it will be sad, but that Thrones is going to go out with a bang:

"As long as we feel we’ve done the story justice, and have done justice to George’s universe and David and Dan’s vision, then that’s really all we can hope for. It won’t go the way some people want. It will be too happy for some people, or too sad, or too whatever. That’s the nature of an ending … But overall, I think we’re going to smash it."

Hempstead-Wright must be busy with Thrones, school and hanging out with his best friend Dean-Charles Chapman (Prince Tommen, R.I.P.) these days, since he has no new projects listed on IMDb.

37) IAN McELHINNEY

As one of the greatest swordsmen in the history of Westeros, Ser Barristan (The Bold) Selmy served in the Kingsguard for 40 years, until King Joffrey removed him. This was a humiliation, since service in the Kingsguard is supposed to be for life, so Selmy found a more worthy monarch in Daenerys Targaryen. Thrones needed an actor with sufficient gravitas to play the part of the larger-than-life Selmy, and they found it in the elegant and stately Irishman Ian McElhinney.

McElhinney has been acting since 1981. His list of TV credits is long and impressive, including stints on Cowboys (1981), First Sight (1987), Wipe Out (1988), The Bill (1992),  Wokenwell (1997), Queer as Folk (1999-2000), The Tudors (2007), Casualty (2007), The Fall (2013-2014) and Ripper Street (2013-2016, above).

Among his film credits are movies like A Prayer for the Dying (1987), The Playboys (1992), Michael Collins (1996), Hamlet (1996), The Boxer (1997), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) and three of the popular Horatio Hornblower TV movie series: The Fire Ship (1997), Retribution (2001) and Loyalty (2003).

McElhinney made news when he publicly voiced disappointment about his character’s shock death in Thrones‘ fifth season. Having read the books (where Selmy is still alive), he’d expected a much meatier role (and greater longevity) for Selmy and got blindsided by his swift exit, as he relates in a Telegraph interview:

"Truthfully, miffed. But I knew before I even saw the script because I got the schedule. Unfortunately I’d read the books, so I had expectations for season five. If I’m honest, I was a bit disappointed by that (not being warned by the producers). I felt I should have known, it wouldn’t have made any difference but I felt that as a matter of just courtesy, I should have known."

If you’re looking for more McElhinney in 2018, you’re in luck. You can find him in the TV series Derry Girls and Krypton (above), the TV movie Dave Allen at Peace and the feature film Cellar Door.

38) ROXANNE MCKEE

As a handmaiden to Daenerys Targaryen, Doreah instructed the budding Khaleesi in the ways of love. Played by Canadian actress Roxanne McKee, Doreah seemed loyal to Daenerys, but when the promise of wealth proved too great, she betrayed her to Xaros Xhoan Daxos in Qarth and got locked in an empty vault for all eternity as punishment. It’s never a good idea to try and screw over the Mother of Dragons.

In an interview with Vulture, McKee talked about why Doreah was the kind of damaged person who would ultimately always look out for her own self interest.

"She’s bright, quick-witted, and she’s got an instinct to survive … She uses her femininity and her sexuality because she doesn’t have anything else. She did what she did because at the end of the day, she only has herself and Daenerys, but how long is Daenerys going to look after her? She doesn’t trust easily. Why would you, if you had been sold to a pleasure house by your mother when you were 12? I wouldn’t!"

McKee first appeared on the TV series Hollyoaks (2005-2008, with Thrones veteran Nathalie Emmanuel) and followed that up with stints on series like The Persuasionists (2010), Lip Service (2010) and Dominion (2014-15, above). Her feature films include Vendetta (2013), The Legend of Hercules (2014) and Ironclad: Battle for Blood (2014).

You can currently catch McKee as Captain Natalie Reynolds in the TV series Strike Back (2017-2018, above).

39) GETHIN ANTHONY

As a member of the ill-fated Baratheon clan, the ambitious Renly made a power grab for the Iron Throne after the death of his brother Robert. English Shakespearean actor Gethin Anthony gave Renly a nice dose of nobility in his limited screen time, but the nefarious Melisandre, working for his brother Stannis, made sure the character didn’t stick around for long.

Since Gethin exited Thrones early (halfway through season 2), he still thinks of Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams as little girls, as he tells Vanity Fair:

"(At one point) I did kind of a mini-binge to catch up. When you watch it intensely it really takes you to a dark place. I don’t know if this is just me, because I worked with some of those actors when they were younger, especially Sophie and Maisie. I very much remember them as children, and they are young women now—but seeing them go through tough scenes is really quite difficult, actually."

Gethin’s television credits include Holby City (2006), Doctors (2007), 10 Days to War (2008) and Aquarius (2015-2016, above). He’s also done films, such as Copenhagen (2014, below), We are Monster (2014), Kodachrome (2017) and Hi-Lo Jo (2017).

Gethin is busy these days, appearing in the features Around the Sun and Dead in a Week: Or your Money Back (2018).

40) TOBIAS MENZIES

Edmure Tully may be little more than a dull-eyed, ineffective pawn in the game of thrones, but London-born actor Tobias Menzies makes the character memorable. Menzies has made quite a few big splashes lately, but as he told Vulture before Edmure’s return in season 6, he very much enjoys his time in Westeros:

"I know David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss] are very fond of the character, and they may drag him back at some point, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he came back in some capacity. And it would be fun to go back and reprise Edmure. He was a little bit different from the other characters. A little buffoonish. He was fun. I enjoyed my time with them."

Of course, Menzies is very familiar to fans of Rome (2005-2007) and Outlander (2014-2017, above). He’s done plenty of other TV work besides, including roles in Midsomer Murders (2000), Casualty (1998-2000), Foyle’s War (2002), Kingdom (2009), MI-5 (2009), The Deep (2010), Black Mirror (2013) and Doctor Who (2013).

Menzies’ movie CV sports titles like The Low Down (2000), Casino Royale (2006), Atonement (2007), Forget Me Not (2010), Hysteria (2011), Black Sea (2014) and Underworld: Blood Wars (2016).

What’s next for Menzies? He tells Andy Warhol’s Interview that he doesn’t mind going playing nasty characters.

"I really enjoy the darker side of things. It’s the type of work that I like to watch. I know some actors do—[they feel] fearful of how they’ll be viewed. But invariably, I find dark material can be very, very rewarding to inhabit and investigate. That’s never really been a concern of mine."

Menzies is everywhere in 2018, including TV roles in The Crown, The Terror (above, with Thrones alums Ciaran Hinds and Clive Russell), King Lear and the feature film Carmilla.

41) RON DONACHIE

Veteran Scottish actor Ron Donachie radiated loyalty and strength as the Master-at-Arms of Winterfell, Ser Rodrik Cassel, a character who, predictably, did not survive the fall of House Stark. And if you didn’t already know, his son is actor Daniel Portman, who plays Poderick Payne on Thrones.

In an interview with ScienceFiction.com, Donachie talks about his Scottish connection to the world of Westeros, and how tradition isn’t always the best thing:

"Scotland was a warrior culture for many centuries, and a great deal of that remains in us still. The House of Stark with its ferocity, bravery and integrity is very attractive to a certain part of the Scot’s soul. That being said, however, modern Scots might also recognize that inflexibility and an unwillingness to change can lead to disaster – as is all too sadly the case with House Stark. The old ways are not always the best by any manner of means."

Donachie has been acting since 1983, when he appeared as a bouncer in the TV series Goodnight and God Bless. His impressive list of TV credits include roles on Coronation Street (1984), Tutti Frutti (1987), The Justice Game (1989), High Road (1992-1993), Ivanhoe (1997), The Scarlet Pimpernel (1999-2000), The Bill (1990-2004), Doctor Who (2006), Waterloo Road (2012), Downton Abbey (2012, above, center), Casualty (1992-2015) and The Loch (2017).

Donachie’s movie credits include parts in titles like Fierce Creatures (1997), Titanic (1997, below, as Master-at-Arms), Beautiful Creatures (2000), Max Manus: Man of War (2008), Blitz (2007) and Filth (2013).

Donachie has moved on to many other projects, but he tells ScienceFiction.com that Thrones was a special time for him. “I’ve read all of A Song of Ice and Fire thus published. The scripts are the best I’ve ever worked on and I think they do a remarkable job of translating a complex and lengthy work of imagination into television films.”

2018 finds Donachie in the TV series Vera and the movie Outlaw King.

42) JACOB ANDERSON

English actor Jacob Anderson was cast to play the traumatized and emotionless warrior-eunuch Grey Worm; over the last five seasons, we’ve watched him evolve into the commander of the Unsullied and a man capable of winning Missandei’s heart.

In an interview with Square Mile, Anderson says he doesn’t feel a lot of professional pressure to excel after Game of Thrones ends:

"I don’t feel responsible for its success. I feel like it’s more on the shoulders of Dan [D.B. Weiss] and David [Benioff] or Kit [Harrington] and Emilia [Clarke]. It wouldn’t be a bigger or smaller show if I wasn’t in it, so I don’t feel the pressure. I’m just glad that I get to be in something that I really, really like. I enjoy going to work, I like the people I go to work with, and that’s the most important thing."

Anderson started acting in 2003. His TV roles include appearances on Doctors (2007), The Bill (2007), Whistleblowers (2007), Primeval (2008), Casualty (2008), 4.3.2.1. (2010), Injustice (2011), Episodes (2012), Broadchurch (2013, above) and The Mimic (2013-2014). Anderson has also been in movies like Adulthood (2008), Chatroom (2010), Demons Never Die (2011), Offender (2012) and Comedown (2012, below).

Along with acting, Anderson makes music under the stage name Raleigh Ritchie, a moniker inspired by his two favorite characters in the film The Royal Tenenbaums (2001). He’s working on his second album, and he tells Square Mile that he’s not sure what he’s going to do next:

"I like making things. So I may as well just go and make my own film or TV series. I don’t know why I’d sign myself up for somebody else’s project, unless it is the person or story that I think is really great. I don’t care if it’s not a big thing, either; it just has to be good."

Anderson is appearing in the World War II action flick Overlord in 2018.

43) DANIEL PORTMAN

Actor Daniel Portman is the son of Thrones favorite Ron Donachie (Ser Rodrik Cassel), so the young Scotsman may have had an inside track on the part of squire Podrick Payne. That said, Portman has made the role his own, showing great charisma and empathy in a violent world where both qualities are sorely lacking.

Portman talked about his father/son dynamic in an interview with Nerd Bastards:

"It’s a lovely coincidence, that both me and my dad ended up on the show. He was on it from the very beginning and the pilot and everything and then just as he was leaving, I was just coming into it. It was almost like a passing of the torch, changing of the guard kind of thing."

Portman has a small but growing list of credits, appearing in  movies like Outcast (2010), The Angels’ Share (2012), Wasteland 26: Six Tales of Generation Y (2015) and The Journey (2016). He’s also been treading the stage boards in the play The Collector (above).

In an interview with InVerse, Portman talked about getting to play in a variety of environments on Thrones:

"When I was working with Peter [Dinklage] and Jerome [Flynn], we were mostly inside and it was mostly scenes that were a little more wordy; talking politics. With Brienne, it’s more action-packed. We’re always out and about on our horses and fighting, so I’ve really had the best of both worlds. I’ve been on just about every filming location at some point, and I have had a chance to do all the inside talky stuff and the outside sword-fight stuff."

InVerse also asks Portman the burning question: just what exactly did the virginal, innocent-looking Podrick do in that brothel in season 3 that was amazing enough to make the grateful prostitutes return his money?

"A magician never reveals his secrets. I quite like it like that — it means I can tell people exactly what I want to about it, which is fun. I’ve thought of some weird and wild explanations in my time. There’s been one that he actually has two sets of genitalia and that he can operate them both independently or simultaneously. Somebody believed me when I told them that. That’s the one I usually try and get away with."

Portman also tells The Daily Telegraph his unique theory about how Game of Thrones will end …:”I don’t think there is going to be Iron Throne; I think something is going to happen. The focus has been on the throne for the whole thing, and I think it’s going to end up like a democracy rather than a monarchy.”

So there you have it. Portman is both LARPing in a film about Robert the Bruce (above) and appearing in the movie In the Cloud  in 2018.

44) IAN GELDER

Kevan Lannister didn’t have a huge part in Game of Thrones, although he seemed to be a chip off the same block as his brother Tywinn. Played with gravitas by veteran English actor Ian Gelder, Kevan was obliterated along with many others in the destruction of the Great Sept of Baelor at the end of season 6.

Gelder has been popping up on TV screens since he appeared in the series New Scotland Yard in 1972. His stack of TV credits includes Edward the King (1975), I Thought You’d Gone (1975), Absolutely Fabulous (1995), The Bill (1991-1998), Casualty (1993-2004), Robin Hood (2009), Torchwood (2009, above), Ripper Street (2016) and Snatch (2016). Gelder’s film roles include Little Dorritt (1987), The Fool (1990), King Ralph (1991), The Informant (1997), Pope Joan (2009) and Shakespeare’s Globe: Titus Andronicus (2015).

Gelder spends a lot of time on stage (he did King Lear with Thrones veteran Jonathan Pryce at the Almeida Theater in 2014, above), but in an interview with Essential Surrey, he also talks about the joys of working in the golden age of television:

"I was so delighted to get Game of Thrones – it’s an absolute phenomenon and I am very proud to be part of it. The new age of television is really great for us actors. I used to call my agent and be told, ‘Sorry, it’s really quiet’. But now, it’s so busy. Great actors are now happy to do TV, so when they do a play, more people go to the theatre, so each is feeding the other. It feels like we’re part of a growth industry."

Gelder has no IMDb projects scheduled for 2018 or beyond.

45) THOMAS BRODIE-SANGSTER

There was never much doubt that the sweet and frail Jojen Reed wasn’t going to survive very long, but London-born actor Thomas Brodie-Sangster plugged us all into Jojen, portraying him as a young man bravely determined to carry out his destiny even though he’d already seen his own fate.

During an interview with Access Hollywood, Brodie-Sangster was asked if it was interesting to be a non-warrior character in the violent world of Westeros:

"Yeah, it is. When I first found out I was a little bit disappointed that I don’t get to do any sword fighting or bows and arrows or anything like that (laughs), but in some ways it’s kind of cool, that I’m [the] male character, [but] my sister carries all the weapons and does all that side of things. In a show that’s full of a lot of blood, a lot of violence, a lot of sword wielding and a lot of death, my character is actually equally as strong, but much more spiritual and in control through his mind. It’s a much more interesting path."

Despite looking very young when he first appeared on Thrones, Brodie-Sangster had already developed a very respectable acting resume. His TV roles include parts on Station Jim (2001), Feather Boy (2004), Doctor Who (2007), Phineas and Ferb (voice, 2007-2015), Accused (2012), Wolf Hall (2015) and Godless (2017, above).

Brodie-Sangster’s first big movie moment came as the little boy Sam in Love, Actually (2003, below). He’s gone on to appear in some major motion pictures such as Nanny McPhee (2005), Tristan and Isolde (2006), The Last Legion (2007), The Maze Runner (2014), The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015).

While interviewing Brodie-Sangster, the Huffington Post asked if there was a possibility that we might see Jojen again in season 8, perhaps through Bran’s time-traveling greensight. “I quite like the idea of that as well,” Brodie-Sangster responds. “Like kind of come back like an Obi-Wan spirit, kind of cool. No, I haven’t heard anything from HBO.”

Bummer. Ah, well, you can keep up with Brodie-Sangster in 2018 by catching him in the current TV series Thunderbirds are a Go (2015-2018, voice) and the film Maze Runner: The Death Cure.

46) ROBERT PUGH

We all hated the depraved character of Craster, and Welsh actor Robert Pugh must have had a lot of fun playing such an irredeemable fellow. Thrones likes to bring in actors with a lot of experience for small but colorful parts, and Pugh fits the bill.

Pugh’s TV career began in 1976 with an appearance in the series Angels. He’s stacked up a lot of work since then, including parts on The Man from Moscow (1985), Casualty (1986-1987), Inspector Morse (1992), The Bill (1992), Silent Witness (1999-2008), Doctor Who (2010), The White Queen (2013, above) and Mr. Selfridge (2016).

Pugh’s list of film jobs is even more impressive, with projects like Horror Planet (1981), The Englishman Who Went up a Hill but Came Down a Mountain (1995), Enigma (2001), Master and Commander: the Far Side of the World (2003), Kingdom of Heaven (2005), Goodnight Irene (2008, below), The Ghost Writer (2010) and Robin Hood (2010).

In a conversation with The Telegraph, Pugh mentioned that “The White Queen is more interesting (to him) than Game of Thrones because it’s real:”

"Kids come up to me and point at me and say . . .  “Craster! Game of Thrones!” Apparently it’s quite big . . . The settings are both medieval, although of course, one is fantasy. They had bigger cameras for Game of Thrones, though. This is a bit more interesting for me in a sense because it’s real. I’m not a fantasy kind of guy. In this, once you get into the costumes, and step into those medieval halls, you’re back in that century."

Pugh is currently appearing in the TV series Knightfall and the film features Colette and Chariot.

47) MARC RISSMANN

What? Who? We thought we’d throw y’all a little curveball here with German actor Marc Rissmann (seen above in The Last Kingdom), who will appear in Game of Thrones season 8 as Harry Strickland, the commander of the Golden Company. He looks good in medieval-ish duds, doesn’t he?

Many of Rissmann’s TV credits are in German, but we’ll list mainly English titles here. His TV roles include Double Trouble (2012), SOKO: Der Prozess (2013, above), The Last Cop (2013), Binny and the Ghost (2014), The Last Kingdom (2017), Into the Badlands (2017, below), Riviera (2017) and Tatort ( 2017-2018).

Rissmann’s 2018 projects include Overlord and an Untitled Spy Thriller.

48) ART PARKINSON

As a very minor character whose biggest moment was dying mid-sprint at the hands of Ramsay Bolton (Serpentine, Rickon! Serpentine!), Irish actor Art Parkinson didn’t have time to show off his chops as Rickon Stark. Rickon appeared in seasons 1, 2 and 3, but had to wait offscreen until season 6. It was then that producers told Parkinson his now adolescent character was going to be offed. As Parkinson tells IGN, he was eventually okay with it:

"Whenever I was told that I was coming back for Season 6, before they sent me through the scripts and stuff, they sent me through a ring just to say, ‘Listen, so that you don’t get a shock whenever you read the scripts, just know that you die this season.’ It was sad at first, but once I realized how I was going to die in it, then it was cool. It was a cool death, and it was always going to be a good death, so at the same time, I was pretty happy."

Before Game of Thrones, Parkinson had only appeared onscreen in the film Freakdog in 2008, but since then he’s accumulating credits on some pretty big films like The Anomaly (2014), Dracula Untold (2014, above), Love, Rosie (2014), San Andreas (2015, below), Kubo and the Two Strings (2016, voice), I Kill Giants (2017) and Zoo (2017).

As for the whole running-in-a-straight line issue, Parkinson discussed it with IGN:

"Judging from Rickon’s last scene, I would say the way Ramsay did it was unexpected. He is quite an optimistic character, and he was always going to put up a good fight. Whenever he was told, “Run to your brother,” and he threw that little look back, I think it was disbelief. Then he [Ramsay] said, “Go on,” and he was like, “OK, I’m going to do it.” Then it was fear and dedication to the sprint and getting to his brother as soon as he saw the bow. (And about that lack of zig-zag?) I think that’s a question for the writers. As for my role, I need to stick to the script."

Parkinson is currently filming the crime/drama feature The Belly of the Whale.

49) TARA FITZGERALD

Selyse Baratheon is a tragic, unhappy figure whose life consists of a string of misfortunes and disastrous decisions. Being married to the emotionless Stannis Baratheon couldn’t have helped much, either. To play Selyse, English actress Tara Fitzgerald had to convey the ever-present pain at her center.

Despite Selyse’s melancholy, Fitzgerald tells theExpress UK that she really enjoyed her experience on Thrones:

"I loved being part of it. I couldn’t believe it when I got a role. I was so happy. (Thrones has) pushed possibilities for universal reach to a whole new place. I had an incredible response. There are multiple sets, multiple units in multiple countries (but) when it comes down to it, you are just two actors in a room, with the crew. However gargantuan the thing, the basic premise remains the same: you’re on a set with a handful of people focusing very hard."

Fitzgerald is a veteran actor you’ve probably seen somewhere. Her TV credits include Anglo-Saxon Attitudes (1992), Mystery!: Cadfael (1994), The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1996), The Virgin Queen (2006), Jane Eyre (2006), Waking the Dead (2007-2011) and In the Club (2014-2016).

As for movies, Fitzgerald has appeared in features like Sirens (1994, above), Brassed Off (1996, below), Conquest (1998), Dark Blue World (2001), Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014), Child 44 (2015) and Legend (2015).

Fitzgerald has a ton of stuff coming out in 2018, including Deirdre of the Sorrows, The Runaways and the TV series Requiem.

50) HANNAH WADDINGHAM

Religious fanatics makes for some pretty nasty gatekeepers, and English actress Hannah Waddingham gave us a prime example in the grim character of Septa Unella, an acolyte of the High Sparrow.

In an interview with Vulture, Waddingham talks about how the devout Septa Unella does not consider her treatment of the imprisoned Cersei as torture:

"She is (torturing Cersei), but in her eyes, she’s devout and she’s been chosen to take up the mantle here of being the main torturer. And she doesn’t see it as torture. She thinks she’s cleansing her, cleansing her soul. I think she’s trying to teach Cersei that you have to strip everything back … It’s a mind game. It’s breaking her down …"

Waddingham got her first break in TV in the series Coupling (2002), and followed it up parts on shows like Footballer’s Wives (2005), Hollyoaks: Let Loose (2005), Agatha Christie’s Marple (2010), Benidorm (2014), Doctors (2008-2015), In the Club (2016) and 12 Monkeys (2017, above). Her movie credits include How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008), Into the Woods (2011), Les Miserables (2012, below) and The Gatehouse (2016). Waddington has also starred in a number of London stage productions, including Spamalot and Kiss Me, Kate.

Morality aside, Waddington tells Vulture that shooting the torture scenes with Lena Headey was a total blast: “Lena and I had a great laugh doing that, I have to say. We absolutely got on like a house on fire, and at times, we were told off by the director because we were just having way too much fun.”

Waddington is starring in the feature film Winter Ridge in 2018.

51) FRANCIS MAGEE

As a sworn brother and the “Wandering Crow” recruiter for the Night’s Watch, Yoren doesn’t suffer fools gladly. But when he’s among friends he’s ready to draw a pint and swap tales. Veteran Irish actor Francis Magee was the right man for the part of this rough and tumble soldier with a soft side.

Magee has a burly face and. As he tells the Walford Gazette, “I suppose with a face like mine, I’m never going to present children’s TV, am I?”

Magee’s first onscreen credit was in Eastenders in 1993. He’s kept the pedal to the metal ever since, appearing on programs like 99-1 (1994), A Touch of Frost (1996), Footballer’s Wives (2003), Murphy’s Law (2006), The Bill (1997-2008), 1066: The Battle for Middle Earth (2009), Perrier’s Bounty (2009, with Thrones alumnus Michael McElhatton) Doctors (2000-2011), House of Anubis (201-2013), Casualty (1998-2014), Ripper Street (2014), Outlander (2015), The Bastard Executioner (2015) and The Frankenstein Chronicles (2017).

Magee has also done a lot of movies, including Driven (1998, above), Layer Cake (2004), Sahara (2005), Brighton Rock (2010), Hammer of the Gods (2013), Glory Days (2014), Jimmy’s Hall (2014, below), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), and Justice League (2017).

In 2018, Magee will appear on shows like Witless and in the features I Made This for You, The Dig, As a Prelude to Fear and Winterlong.

52) BRENOCK O’CONNOR

Olly was an innocent farm boy from the Noth who escaped to Castle Black after the murder of his parents by a wildling raiding party. Played by the young English actor Brenock O’Connor, Olly is named as Jon Snow’s steward, but becomes disillusioned when Snow negotiates an alliance with the wildlings to battle the White Walkers.

Olly was originally intended to appear in only one episode, but his role was expanded to provide some extra weight to the deaths of Ygritte and Jon Snow. Olly’s participation in the mutiny against Lord Commander Snow made him one of the most hated characters in the show’s history.

O’Connor’s TV career began with Holby City (2012) and continued with programs like Chickens (2013), Dickensian (2015-2016, above), Casualty (2016) and Living the Dream (2017, below). His film credits include The Young Hunters: The Beast of Bevandean (2015) and Another Mother’s Son (2017).

O’Connor told the Express UK about the intense blowback he got following Jon Snow’s death scene:

"At the beginning I was getting quite a bit of hate. It was quite strange from no one really noticing my character to people sending hateful messages over Twitter and stuff but it’s sort of died down now."

But according to O’Connor, there was a bright side to the backlash:

"I just enjoy the fact that I had that much of an impact. It’s very rare for my character to get noticed really, so I was quite happy with the reaction that I got. When you do something bad, you want a bad reaction for it."

O’Connor is appearing in the TV series The Split and the film The Bromley Boys in 2018.

53) BEN HAWKEY

As Hot Pie, British actor Ben Hawkey was given a wonderful arc; he got to play a character who  develop from an aggressive bully into a friendly, warm-hearted fan favorite. When asked about Hot Pie’s evolution, Hawkey told HBO he was very pleased with it:

"I think he’s obviously done quite well for himself, considering. He was a bit of a bully and evidently not sure of himself in Season 1, but in Season 4 he’s working and doing what he loves. I think he’s really come a long way."

Hawkey’s movie credits include The Kid (2010) and Ra.One (2011). He’s also appeared in the TV show Beaver Falls (2011, all photos).

Playing off Hot Pie’s culinary aptitude, Hawkey famously opened his own bakery called ‘You Know Nothing, Jon Dough,’ baking direwolf bread for the premiere of the show’s seventh season. His direwolf loaves are made from whole wheat cornbread and orange zest, but he tells Digital Spy that his recipe is a secret:

"Hot Pie’s Direwolf loaves are a favourite for Game of Thrones fans, and people are always asking me for the secret of my recipe. I can’t share that, but Deliveroo (an online food delivery service/app) customers will have the chance to try them themselves. You don’t even need to take a dangerous walk down the King’s Road to visit, it comes to you."

Hawkey can be seen in the film The Drowning of Arthur Braxton in 2018.

54) SIMON ARMSTRONG

Qhorin Halfhand is a legendary ranger of the Night’s Watch, a man who lost most of the fingers on his right hand in a fight with a wildling and was once a good friend of Mance Rayder. On Game of Thrones, Qhorin is portrayed with appropriate gruffness and grit by the Welsh actor Simon Armstrong.

Armstrong does a lot of theater (such as Uncle Vanya at the Old Vic), but his TV work includes roles on The Sherman Plays (1996), Casualty (1998-2000), Midsomer Murders (2005), Holby City (2009), Crash (2009), Da Vinci’s Demons (2013), Coronation Street (2013) and Doctors (2005-2016).

Armstrong has also appeared in plenty of movies, such as Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman (2005), Made in Dagenham (2010), Killer Elite (2011), Resistance (2011), Black Out (2012, below), King Arthur: Excalibur Rising (2017, above) and Crowhurst (2017).

Armstrong can be seen in the feature film Remi sans Famille in 2018.

55) TOM HOPPER

Dickon Tarly was a born warrior, a son loyal to his father Randyll even to the bitter, fiery end. English actor Tom Hopper took on the role of Dickon after actor Freddie Stroma, who played him in season 6, dropped out. Hopper’s blend of earnestness and well-muscled battlefield prowess earned his character the respect of fans.

In an interview with Elle, Hopper talks about the endless jokes associated with his character’s name:

"Ever since I first got introduced on the show, it’s been this onslaught of people ripping me for this name, Dickon. I think that’s the thing with Game of Thrones, it comes with such a ridiculously big following, it’s hard not to have some kind of fan reaction, I suppose, when you’re on it."

Hopper’s TV roles include parts in Casualty (2007), Kingdom (2008), Doctors (2009), Doctor Who (2010), Good Cop (2012), Merlin (2010-2012) and Black Sails (2014-2017, above). His movie work includes appearances in Saxon (2007), Tormented (2009, below), Knights of Badassdom (2013, with Thrones costar Peter Dinklage), Northmen – A Viking Saga (2014) and Kill Ratio (2016).

Sticking with the Elle interview, Hopper goes on to talk about shooting his final scene, where Daenerys has Drogon barbecue him, his dad and a slew of unfortunate soldiers:

"What’s brilliant about Game of Thrones is they have amazing extras. They’re so committed, and these guys in particular were great. Their fear of the dragons and their fear of kneeling down and me not kneeling down created a really good scene. When we actually shot the thing with a dragon, we had a big green ball where the dragon was supposed to be and everything. We were told to imagine that we were facing a firing squad, and I thought the way it turned out was brilliant … It’s a pretty cool way to go (being roasted by Drogon). When I read that, I thought, I’ll take that. I’ll take that all day long."

Hopper is appearing in the feature I Feel Pretty in 2018 and the TV series The Umbrella Academy in 2019.

Next: ‘Hey, they were in Game of Thrones’—Where else have you seen these 50 GoT cast members? (Part 1)

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