Top 10 most perfectly cast actors on Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones is lowering the curtain on eight years of incredible TV, and it couldn’t have done it without the help of these terrific actors.

Over the years, Game of Thrones has introduced us to a ton of characters. The show has one of the biggest casts on television — maybe the biggest — with characters routinely dying off only for new ones to come along.

Fans have strong opinions on what makes a good character good (RIP Ned Stark) and a bad one bad (I’m sorry for what the show did to you, Sand Snakes). A lot of it comes down to casting, an area where the show routinely excels. A good actor can make even a shoddily written character interesting, and when given the right material, they can soar to heights lesser performers can only envy.

Which Game of Thrones characters can we not see being played by anyone else? Which actors did we hear about getting the roles and immediately shouted, “I knew they’d cast them!” And on the other hand, which actors are solid but not essential? Kit Harrington may be an excellent Jon Snow, but it’s not impossible to picture someone else taking the black.

At this point, the show is truly iconic, so it wasn’t hard to come up with a pool of the best-cast actors in Westeros. And there were plenty of worthy honorable mentions, like John Bradley as the sweetly curious Samwell Tarly or Jack Gleeson as the maniacal Joffrey Baratheon. The final cut, however, is the best of the best.

Enjoy our list of the top 10 best cast actors on Game of Thrones!