7 actors who should play Aegon the Conqueror in new Game of Thrones prequel

2. Jamie Campbell Bower should play Aegon the Conqueror

While Henry Cavill might fit the strapping warrior king idea of Aegon, I think that any show looking to cast this part should be willing to think outside the box. After all, these physical descriptions are centuries old, so there’s plenty of room for interpretation. And given how many Targaryens we’ve seen who have a sort of lean dangerousness to them, like Viserys from Game of Thrones or Daemon from House of the Dragon, I think it would behoove HBO to at least consider casting someone with a similar physicality for Aegon.

Enter Jamie Campbell Bower, best known for playing Vecna in Stranger Things season 4. Campbell Bower gave a breakout performance as the arch-nemesis to the kids from Hawkins, Indiana, showcasing how he could be both gentle and unassuming as well as outright terrifying. Those talents would go a long way toward bringing someone as complex as Aegon to life.

For as much as Aegon does have that legendary warrior king reputation, it’s important to remember that at first he was seriously underestimated by the lords of Westeros. This was crucial to his campaign to unite the kingdoms, since he then flipped that conception of him on its head by winning a streak of bloody victories with the help of his sisters and dragon. Campbell Bower pulled off this exact sort of reversal in Stranger Things, seeming helpless at first before revealing that he was easily the most dangerous person in the room. He could bring a lot of nuance to a role like Aegon.

Appearing as Aegon wouldn’t even be Campbell Bower’s first time in Westeros; he was also a lead in HBO’s canceled Game of Thrones spinoff Blood Moon. Give him another chance to visit the Seven Kingdoms, HBO!