Every Game of Thrones fan knows that the hit HBO show is based on A Song of Ice and Fire, a series of epic fantasy novels by George R.R. Martin. It is appropriate, then, that an actor from Game of Thrones is playing a different famous George Martin.
Harry Lloyd, who Game of Thrones fans may recognize as Viserys Targaryen, Daenerys' abusive brother from the first season of the show, is joining Sam Mendes' upcoming series of Beatles biopics as George Martin, the band's legendary producer with a strikingly similar name to the writer of A Song of Ice and Fire.
Lloyd joins an already impressive cast, including Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr, and Joseph Quinn, who also appeared in Game of Thrones, albeit briefly, as Konar, the Winterfell guard who refuses to allow Arya into the castle in Season 7, as George Harrison. Additionally, the supporting cast includes Saoirse Ronan as Linda McCartney, Anna Sawai as Yoko Ono, Linda McCartney, Mia McKenna-Bruce as Maureen Starkey, Aimee Lou Wood as Pattie Boyd, and James Norton as band manager Brian Epstein. Mendes plans to make four separate films, one from the perspective of each Beatle, with the same creative team and supporting cast for each movie.
Harry Lloyd's role in the World of Ice and Fire
Harry Lloyd is famously the first main cast member to be killed off on Game of Thrones. After proving to be nothing more than a thorn in Daenerys' side, Khal Drogo finally gets rid of the nuisance by melting a pot of gold and upending it over Viserys' head. This grizzly death helped set the tone for the rest of the series, showing that anyone can be killed, even someone who seemed like an important figure, and that their deaths won't always be pretty.
Even though Lloyd lacked the screentime of his fellow Game of Thrones co-stars who remained on the series for a little longer than he did, he still managed to make an huge impact on viewers. Lloyd's Viserys proved to be an utterly despicable character, the first of many figures on the show fans would learn to love to hate. He predates even Joffrey as the show's most detestable villain.
Despite his early exit from the series, Lloyd has kept the franchise close to his heart. In 2015, four years after Viserys' death on Game of Thrones, Lloyd wrote and starred in Supreme Tweeter, a three episode miniseries reflecting on his time on the show, and the identity of some of Viserys' most dedicated superfans. Both George R.R. Martin and Lloyd's Game of Thrones co-star Maisie Williams, who played Arya Stark, appear in the miniseries as themselves.
Additionally, Lloyd provided the audiobook narration for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, a collection of Martin's Dunk and Egg novellas. These stories are set to serve as the basis for the upcoming Game of Thrones spinoff, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Lloyd's work on A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, as well as his close connection to the series, has caused many fans to push for him to eventually narrate the sixth and seventh A Song of Ice and Fire audiobooks for the yet to be released The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring, after the tragic passing of Roy Dotrice, the incredible narrator of Martin's first five audiobooks in the series.
Game of Thrones actors in music biopics
Lloyd will not be the first Game of Thrones alum to make a splash in a biopic of a popular musician. Plenty of actors from the series have since appeared in music biopics, with two iconic Game of Thrones performers even sharing a role.
Aidan Gillan, aka Petyr Baelish, better known as Littlefinger, portrayed band manager John Reid in the four-time Oscar winning Queen flick Bohemian Rhapsody. Meanwhile, the King in the North himself, Richard Madden, who played Robb Stark, takes on the role of a younger Reid during his time managing Elton John in his biopic, Rocketman. Though these two films are unrelated, it makes for a funny coincidence that both Reid actors are best known for the same hit fantasy series, and Lloyd's casting as a similar, behind-the-scenes figure for a series of films about another celebrated British music group makes the coincidence all the funnier.
Mendes aims to release all four Beatles films in April 2028, so Game of Thrones fans can look to catch Viserys on the big screen then. Meanwhile, for more from George R.R. Martin much sooner, make sure to watch A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms when it airs on HBO Max on January 18, 2026.