Sean Bean: “It would be nice” to return as Ned Stark if asked

Ned Stark died in the very first season of Game of Thrones, which aired over a decade ago on HBO. But his presence lingered over the rest of the series, particularly in the actors of his kids. So even though he died early, he never really went away.

Even now, years after Game of Thrones ended, people still remember Ned Stark, played by veteran actor Sean Bean. HBO is currently shooting the second season of House of the Dragon, a Game of Thrones prequel series set well over a hundred years before the events of the original show. The odds of Bean returning as Ned on that show are slim to none, but if HBO somehow finagled it, the actor wouldn’t turn a chance to reprise the role, as he told ScreenRant:

"I don’t know if he’d ever be incorporated again. I’m not that clued up about the following [for House of the Dragon], I’ve heard it’s really good, I’m going to try to see that [at some point]. But yeah, it’s always nice to think that you could be involved in some way in such a great series, something that became worldwide. I don’t think at the time, we knew with Lord of the Rings how big that was going to turn out, and it was the same with Game of Thrones. If I’m ever asked again, it would be nice to be involved in some way."

Sean Bean hasn’t seen House of the Dragon yet

Again, I wouldn’t hold out hope for seeing Bean on House of the Dragon. It’s also unlikely we’ll see him on A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, another Game of Thrones prequel series that HBO announced just recently. That one is set just 90 or so years before the events of Game of Thrones, still long before Bean’s Ned Stark would be in the picture.

All that said, if these Game of Thrones spinoffs continue to be hits for HBO, there’s always a possibility that they’ll make something with a part for Bean in the future.

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