Game of Thrones gave us several memorable villains, among them Joffrey Baratheon, Cersei Lannister and Ramsey Bolton, a sociopathic bastard (literally and figuratively) who tortured characters like Sansa Stark and Theon Greyjoy. When he finally died near the end of season 6, fans everywhere cheered.
Bolton was played by actor Iwan Rheon, who had some interesting fan run-ins during and after his time on the show. "People generally know that I'm an actor, I hope," he told CBR. "Yeah, people go, 'Yeah, I hate you, you bastard,' but it's always a bit tongue in cheek. I don't really get . But other people, maybe they don't speak to me, because I suppose if you really thought I was the character, you wouldn't come up to me and talk to me. Because you really don't want to talk to someone like Ramsay Bolton. It's a risky business."
For the record, Rheon hasn't watched HBO's Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon.
It's good to hear that Rheon wasn't overly bothered by fans saying they hate him; it's all in the delivery. If you want to see more of Rheon, he's currently appearing in a historical fiction series on Peacock: Those About To Die, about gladiatorial combat in ancient Rome. Rheon plays Tenax, a member of Rome's criminal underworld who goes on to become important in the gladiatorial industry.
"There's less dragons in our show," Rheon joked. "Obviously, there's a dynastic struggle at the very heart of our story, and there are rich families vying for power...but it's based on history, so it's a very different thing."
Movies and TV shows about Ancient Rome are uniformly full of backstabbing and treachery, which seems a good fit for anybody who enjoys Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon. There are also some great actors; in addition to Rheon; Those About To Die stars Anthony Hopkins as the emperor.
All 10 episodes Those About To Die are streaming now on Peacock. We actually talked to Rheon and some of his castmates; check our those interviews here:
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