The internet loves Robin Arryn 2.0—Actor Lino Facioli weighs in

One of the most surprising aspects of the Game of Thrones series finale had nothing to do with Daenerys Targaryen’s shocking death, or Bran being made king. No, we’re talking about the stuff that matters, like Robin Arryn returning after a season away having grown way out of his early days as a proto-psychotic momma’s boy who wanted to throw Tyrion out the Moon Door. The internet was all over it.

Now, actor Lino Facioli is opening up about what it felt like to go from mocked little boy to the internet’s collective obsession. Speaking to BuzzFeed News, he said the episode had an immediate impact on his online following.

"I gained more followers in a night than I had in my whole time having Instagram. It just kept on going up and up and up, and that still seems to be the case."

The experience has left him pretty baffled. “Honestly, I just kind of laugh and sort of just act as humble as possible. I never know how to react with compliments. I love them but it’s always like, how do you react? I really don’t know what to do but I’m enjoying it, I really am.”

Facioli has been playing Robin Arryn for almost a decade. In the beginning, Facioli says that fans seemed to find him mostly “amusing and so bizarre.” Perhaps that’s why—after he sat out the entirety of season 7 — the wave of fan support has been so surprising.

"I wasn’t expecting to be called to act in the last season, I wasn’t even sure if I was going to make it to the last episode because so much stuff gets cut and changed throughout the process. I’m just really happy that it’s all worked out."

Facioli closes things out by giving us a silver lining of sorts: things may not have gone well for Jon or Daenerys, “but I think it turned out okay for Robin.”

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