Meet the Olympic gold medalist who was an extra in the Red Wedding on Game of Thrones

Irish Olympian Daniel Wiffen has won Gold at the Paris 2024 Olympics in the 800m freestyle final. Why are we reporting on this, you be be asking? Well, it turns out that Wiffen once appeared in one of the most iconic moments in Game of Thrones history: the infamous Red Wedding.

The 23-year-old freestyle swimmer grew up in Northern Ireland. He and his twin brother Nathan quickly became world-class swimmers; they even have a YouTube channel chronicling their adventures. Sports aside, both Daniel and Nathan have also made modest waves in the world of television, having appeared in Game of Thrones as extras in the episode "The Rains of Castamere."

So how did they get this gig? Game of Thrones was filmed in and around Belfast, so the set was pretty local for them. Plus, their sister, Elizabeth, landed the role of Neyela Frey. "My parents wouldn't let me watch it," Daniel Wiffen said, per IrishStar, "but my sister got a really good role in Game of Thrones she was one of the Frey daughters. So she came in and did her bit, and then we came in for the Red Wedding, in the background which was pretty cool."

If you're going to make an appearance as an extra, doing it in one of the most iconic scenes in television history is certainly the best way to go about it. Granted, Wiffen didn't quite know what he was getting involved in. "I didn't really know about Game of Thrones when I was younger," he admitted.

While Daniel Wiffen's acting career didn't make too much of a splash, he and his twin Nathan did appear in an episode of The Frankenstein Chronicles as Henry Bowyer, alongside Game of Thrones veteran Sean Bean. "It's on Netflix, and I was also on a couple of British Children's TV shows as well because I was a twin," he revealed. "Acting's big for twins when they're younger."

Next time you watch the Red Wedding, be sure to keep an eye out for the Wiffen twins; twins inside the Twins, there's a joke there somewhere.

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newsletter and check out our YouTube channel.