Alfie Allen comes from a family of success. His father, Kieth Allen, is an esteemed actor. And his sister, Lily Allen, is BRIT Award-winning singer-songwriter Lily Allen. Before landing his role in Game of Thrones, Allen was relatively unknown. After playing Theon Greyjoy, however, his career skyrocketed, and he's gone on to land numerous notable parts—most recently in Sky's all-action series Atomic.
Allen's portrayal of Theon was one of the most prominent in the entire Game of Thrones saga. He featured in every season, from season 1 to his ultimate demise in season 8. In terms of filming, his journey was among the hardest to endure. Look no further than seasons 3 and 4, where Theon is captured by Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon) and brutally tortured. He gets broken down, taking on the persona of Reek.
The scenes of torture inside the dark and dreary dungeon of the Dreadfort were some of the most disturbing in the show's history. It was hard enough for fans to watch. As for filming, Allen doesn't hold the brightest of memories.
Alfie Allen reflects on Game of Thrones
"By season three, I was in this dungeon with Iwan," he recently told Radio Times. "It was isolating, and the content was pretty dark – especially when I was being tortured. Iwan and I would regularly go out and play pool the whole night, and not talk about what we’d done during the day."
It wasn't just his career either. At the time of filming, he was dealing with personal issues. "And I also had stuff going on in my life – my grandfather was passing away during season three. So there were definitely tough times," he recalled.
His latest project, Atomic, proved pretty physically demanding in its own way. He plays a smuggler named Max, who's tasked with trafficking highly enriched uranium across North Africa and the Middle East. It's action-packed and intense from the get-go.
"The workouts were a lot for me to get used to at the start. They really drilled us," Allen said, adding that he found a way to deal with the intensity. "But three weeks into the shoot, I made the excuse that I needed desserts on set because we were running around so much. So as I'm eating tiramisu, I don't care."
Atomic is now streaming on Sky in the UK. There's no US release date yet, but we'll keep you posted on any updates.