Few television characters have ever matched the imposing stature of Ser Gregor Clegane on Game of Thrones, and that's all thanks to the man who played him for five of the show's eight seasons: Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson. Played by Conan Stevens in season 1 and Ian Whyte in season 2, the Mountain That Rides was recast for the show's fourth season, as his on-screen material ramped up and demanded far greater physicality than anything that had come before.
If you've seen Game of Thrones, you know Björnsson was a perfect fit, bringing to life iconic scenes like the Mountain's duel with Oberyn Martell (Pedro Pascal), his transformation into a Frankenstein-style Kingsguard knight, and more. All the while, the Icelandic strongman kept up his own work as an athlete. He's set numerous weight lifting records, including the current world record for a raw deadlift at 510 kg (1,124.36 lbs).
But resting on his laurels doesn't come naturally to Björnsson. This May he will attempt to once again break his own deadlift world record at the Enhanced Games in Las Vegas. Winter Is Coming's parent site FanSided caught up with Björnsson for an exclusive interview earlier this month at Radio Row during the Super Bowl, where the strongman and actor talked all about his preparations for his next legendary feat, as well as looked back on his time on Game of Thrones.
You can watch the full interview above, or read on for the Game of Thrones highlights.
How Hafþór Björnsson was cast in Game of Thrones
Björnsson's road to appearing in Game of Thrones was different than many other actors on the show. By the time season 4 rolled around and the series needed to once again recast Gregor Clegane — with a substantial action set piece in mind — the show needed someone who could really bring out the physicality of the Mountain That Rides. The team behind the series sought out Björnsson for the part, as opposed to holding the standard, wider auditions used to fill most parts in the series.
"I was in Iceland, as you know, training for Strongman, and they were filming currently in Iceland. They had heard about me, and they reached out to me, and therefore I did my audition in Iceland. And I got the part," Björnsson recalled.
"I remember when I was doing the audition [thinking], 'Oh, this is cool, because I might be able to film in Iceland.' But the reality is, none of my scenes were filmed in Iceland. My scenes were in Croatia, Belfast city, and Spain." He added that filming in Spain and Croatia was "a lot of fun," which makes sense, given that those locations stood in for the bulk of King's Landing, which is where all of The Mountain's scenes in the back half of the show took place, outside of those filmed on a soundstage.
Hafþór Björnsson's most memorable scenes from Game of Thrones
Björnsson played the Mountain in five seasons of Game of Thrones, across two very different iterations of the character: Gregor Clegane as a normal, albeit massive, human being, and "Ser Robert Strong," a mute murder machine sworn to serve Cersei Lannister. Audiences certainly have some scenes they most associate with Björnsson's character. But which moments stand out most in the actor and athlete's mind as well?
"Two scenes that definitely like pop out right away, is definitely the scene with Pedro Pascal...that scene obviously pops out right away," Björnsson said when asked about his favorite scenes to film. "And then the fight scene with my brother, the Hound, the end scene, with me at least you know. That was a lot of fun as well...I had a lot of fun playing, acting with [Rory McCann], and filming that fight scene with him for sure."
"It was hard though...that was actually challenging, looking back," he added. "It was challenging because I had to do so many hours in makeup, six, seven hours in makeup, then film the whole day. So long hours, and I don't recommend that. It's one of those things where, I hate heavy makeups, and obviously in the end my armor comes off and I'm revealed, you can see my body. So that was challenging, mostly just the hours. You know, you get mentally tired when you have to wake up at 2:00 a.m. and do makeup all day, then you film all day...for days you do that, you get fucked up, you get really tired."
It's easy to imagine how grueling that sort of schedule could be, but it warrants the question: which was more challenging for the world-class athlete, filming those scenes for Game of Thrones or preparing to break his own world weight lifting records?
"Some scenes in Game of Thrones were harder for sure," Björnsson said. "For example, the scene with the Hound. We were fighting up stairs and I had this massive makeup on me and this huge armor, and we're inside a studio. They built this massive staircase in the studio...so it was warm, cameras and lights shining on you, and you're fighting and you go up the stairs...and you're shooting again and again and again. Your legs are burning. You feel like you're in a sauna, you're sweating your fucking eyes out..it's just a nightmare."
Björnsson isn't the first person to call filming that final duel between the Mountain and the Hound a nightmare. In the 2020 behind-the-scenes book Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon by James Hibberd, director Miguel Sapochnik singled out that stairwell fight as his "least favorite experience on Thrones."
“Hard set, tired crew. Exhausted actors — though Rory [McCann, who plays the Hound] saved the day. There were so many details that you would never know about looking at it, but they were the stuff nightmares are made of," Sapochnik said.
Nonetheless Björnsson, McCann, Sapochnik, and the rest of the team behind the series persevered, and created the sort of fight scene that will remain iconic for decades to come.
Hafþór Björnsson is currently preparing to attempt to shatter his own world deadlift record at the Enhanced Games in Las Vegas this May. Hopefully it's a smoother affair than fighting the Hound to the death.
All eight season of Game of Thrones are streaming on HBO Max. With the spinoff A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms nearing the end of its first season, it's a perfect time to rewatch the original show, and revisit some of Björnsson's epic work on the series.