Top 10 most perfectly cast actors on Game of Thrones

9. Diana Rigg (Olenna Tyrell)

Most Game of Thrones characters have layers, but some have more than others. The task of playing Olenna Tyrell, the famed Queen of Thorns, would have been daunting for any actor, as the character must display in turns her shrewdness, sense of humor, frailty, power, forthrightness and mystery. This is a nuanced part that couldn’t just go to anyone.

Enter Diana Rigg, the perfect goddess to lead the Tyrell pack.

Millennial fans may not be well-versed in Rigg’s, but trust me, she was far and away the most qualified person to pull off the job. Rigg was born in 1938 and has was slaying it on stage and screen for decades before landing this part. She thrived in a business famous for grinding people down. That gave her the tough skin she needed to play an indomitable women like Olenna.

In one of those beautiful “art imitates life” moments, our precious Olenna has a past playing plenty of beautiful, powerful women in espionage. She was notably a Bond girl, as well as a female lead in the crime series The Avengers. It’s easy to see how she transitioned to master manipulator and overall badass Olenna later in life. May the Queen of Thorns rest in peace!