As every Game of Thrones fan knows, winter was coming for a long, long time. The Night King and his white walkers came and went, and everyone lived happily ever after. Well, not everyone… most characters met their maker! But what happened to the cast of the most successful show ever made? Let’s find out which of the cast members lived happily ever after and which were doomed…
Sean Bean – Then
Yorkshire’s finest son, Sean Bean, was born in Sheffield in 1959. He shot to fame in the 1990s on TV as Napoleonic wartime hero Richard Sharpe and became a famous face in Hollywood. His character Alec Trevelyan battled 007 James Bond in Goldeneye.
Sean’s most famous role was playing Boromir in The Fellowship of the Ring. However, Boromir didn’t last long as, after trying to take the ring from Fordo, he was taken down by orcs while protecting the Hobbits.
Sean Bean – Now
Sean Bean lasted about the same time as Ned Stark as he did Boromir. Joffrey Baratheon had the Head of House Stark beheaded after just nine episodes! Since losing his head in season one, Bean has appeared in Silent Hill: Revelation, Possessor, and aided Matt Damon’s stranded astronaut in The Martian.
The screen legend’s recent television credits include Legends, The Frankenstein Chronicles, Snowpiercer, and the BBC’s prison series Time — for which he won the British Academy Television Award as Leading Actor.
Isaac Hempstead Wright – Then
Isaac Hempstead Wright was born in 1999 in Surrey, England. As a boy, he took acting classes to avoid playing soccer on cold British mornings! At a young age, Wright became interested in acting and joined a drama club to overcome his shyness. His passion for acting raised its head, and he started auditioning for roles.
Isaac’s big break came aged 10 when producers cast him as Bran Stark. His character was a blind warg and Three-Eyed Raven who possessed supernatural gifts.
Isaac Hempstead Wright – Now
Surprising every Game of Thrones fan, Bran Stark eventually won the Iron Throne (well, it was actually destroyed by Drogon’s dragon fire breath) to be crowned as the King of the Seven Kingdoms (well, it’s actually Six Kingdoms now!) Isaac dropped out of the University of Birmingham to focus on acting, but that didn’t go too well…
In 2019, the secular humanist and Harry Potter look-a-like returned to study neuroscience, saying he intended to continue acting while doing so. He last appeared in 2021’s Voyagers.
Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson – Then
Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson was born in 1988 in Reykjavík, Iceland. A lanky teenager, the real-life Viking initially played basketball before becoming a professional strongman athlete. Standing a towering 6’8″, he was the perfect choice to replace Conan Stevens and Ian Whyte as Ser Gregor “The Mountain that Rides” Clegane from the fourth season onward.
Gregor Cleghane is Sandor “The Hound” Clegane’s older brother. The siblings have hated each other since Gregor scarred Sandor by thrusting his face into a brazier.
Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson – Now
The Mountain became Cersei Lannister’s personal bodyguard and took delight in ripping enemies to pieces or chopping their heads off! He was eventually poisoned by Oberyn “The Red Viper” Martell’s poisoned spear during trial by combat.
After GoT, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson won the Arnold Strongman Classic three times, became a Guinness World Record-holding deadlifter, and an undefeated heavyweight boxer. However, he only secured a few acting jobs, with his sole acting credit being a short but memorable part in Robbert Egger’s epic Viking saga, The Northman.
Gwendoline Christie – Then
Gwendoline Christie was born in Worthing, West Sussex, England in 1978. As a child, she trained to become a gymnast but took up acting after she suffered a spinal injury.
Gymnastics loss was acting’s gain, as the 6’2″ giant actress graduated from Drama Centre London in 2005. Due to her tall physique, industry insiders told her she “would probably never work because she didn’t look the same as most actors.”
Inspired by Tilda Swinton’s performance in Orlando, when Gwendoline told her agent she’d like to work on screen, they told her, “Well, good luck with that!” Actor Simon Callow took her under his wing, and her feature film debut was a minor role in Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Heath Leger’s last film.
Gwendoline Christie – Now
Proving everyone wrong, she joined Thrones, brilliantly playing fierce warrior Brienne of Tarth. Her character’s struggle for justice, honor, recognition, and complex relationship with Jaime Lannister made Brienne one of the show’s most popular characters. Gwendoline up an Emmy nomination along the way. Stick that where the sun don’t shine, agent!
Her acting success led to roles like Commander Lyme in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay—Part 2, Captain Phasma in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, plus Jane Murdstone in The Personal History of David Copperfield.
On television, she played the lead in Jane Campion’s mystery drama Top of the Lake: China Girl and Lucifer in Netflix’s The Sandman. Gwendoline has been in a long-time relationship with British fashion designer Giles Deacon since 2013.
Charles Dance – Then
Charles Dance OBE was one of the most famous and established actors to appear in HBO’s most successful series. Born in 1946 in Redditch, Worcestershire, England, he initially pursued graphic design before discovering his passion for acting.
After acting on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Dance made his feature film debut in the 1981 James Bond film For Your Eyes Only. Known for his booming voice, commanding presence, and versatile performances, Dance went on to appear in movies like Michael Collins, Gosford Park, and Alien 3.
While filming Your Highness in Belfast, Northern Ireland, producers wooed him to appear in Game of Thrones. He played Tywin Lannister, the ruthless patriarch of House Lannister of Casterly Rock, Warden of the West, Lord Paramount of the Westerlands, Hand of the King, and father to Cersei, Jaime, and Tyrion.
Charles Dance – Now
Tywin Lannister was one of the most influential and cruel political figures in Westerosi history. He despised his son Tyrion for being a dwarf and taking his wife’s life in childbirth. But did you know that George R.R. Martin based Tywin Lannister on King Edward I? Edward Longshanks, or the Hammer of the Scots, ruled England from 1272 to 1307.
His son Tyrion eventually got his revenge, taking his father down with a crossbow bolt to the nether regions!
In real life, Charles Dance isn’t half as bad as Tywin Lannister or Edward I, as he’s a devoted father to his three children. Since taking that crossbow bolt, he’s appeared in the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Mank, The King’s Man, The Crown, and Netflix’s The Sandman.
Nathalie Emmanuel – Then
Nathalie Emmanuel was born in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England in 1989. She inherited her good looks from her Dominican mother and half-Saint Lucian, half-English father.
Nathalie began her acting career in theater in the late 1990s, appearing in the West End production of The Lion King. In 2006, she began her TV career by starring as Sasha Valentine in the soap opera Hollyoaks. While working as an assistant in a clothes shop, she was cast as Daenerys Targaryen’s interpreter.
Missandei became a close confidante and trusted advisor to Dani, culminating in Nathalie’s promotion to a regular GoT cast member in 2015. The British actress became the show’s only prominent woman of color. However, while Game of Thrones finally included a woman of color, she was a former slave.
Nathalie Emmanuel – Now
Missandei controversially lost her life in “The Last of the Starks” when Cersei ordered Gregor Clegane, aka The Mountain, to chop off her head while she was standing on the castle keep in chains. This caused much backlash among fans. The HBO show and George R.R. Martin’s original books were never known for their diversity.
Nathalie went on to play computer hacker Ramsey in Furious 7, the seventh installment of the Fast & Furious films. She also played Harriet in the science fiction Maze Runner franchise. In 2020, she played Jordan King alongside Kevin Hart in his series Die Hart.
After starring alongside Thomas Doherty in the supernatural horror film The Invitation, Nathalie Emmanuel will next appear in Francis Ford Coppola’s magnum opus, Megalopolis. She’s currently dating British actor Alex Lanipekun.
Jack Gleeson – Then
Superhero fans had seen Jack Gleeson years before he played the tyrant child King Joffrey Baratheon. Remember the scene when the Caped Crusader gave that little kid his telescope in Batman Begins? Well, that kid was a little Jack Gleeson.
And that wasn’t the first time he teamed up with Christian Bale… or dragons! He had an uncredited role-playing an even younger kid in the hugely underrated Reign of Fire.
The young Irish actor was born in Cork, Ireland, and raised in Dublin, where he also acted in theater roles. He won the role of Joffrey in his first year at Trinity College Dublin, where he studied philosophy and theology and continued studying in between filming. Luckily, he didn’t have far to commute, as much of Game of Thrones was filmed in his native Ireland.
Jack Gleeson – Now
The unique-looking actor was chosen to play Joffrey because while the prince was supposed to be King Robert Baratheon and Cersei Lannister’s eldest son and heir, he was Cersei and her twin brother Jaime’s son.
He inherited his father’s throne and became a cruel, spoiled, sadistic tyrant king. Joffrey married Margaery Tyrell but met his demise when Olenna Tyrell poisoned his drink during his wedding reception when everyone was distracted by pigeons flying out of a pie.
In medieval times, people used to bake bird pies; hence the song “Sing a Song of Sixpence”, where four and twenty baked blackbirds were baked in a pie. Anyhoo, in 2022, Jack made the Irish thriller In the Land of Saints and Sinners and married his long-time girlfriend, Róisín O’Mahony, in County Kerry.
Jonathan Pryce – Then
While GoT kickstarted many young actors’ careers, veteran actor Jonathan Pryce was world-famous well before arriving on Westeros’ shores. Born in North Wales in 1947, he studied at London’s renowned Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where his tutor told him he would “never aspire to do more than playing villains on Z-Cars.”
His RADA tutor’s diss must have spurred the young actor on because he quickly proved his tutor wrong by going on to play Prince Hamlet in 1980. Pryce’s career took off with Terry Gilliam’s captivating Orwellian movie Brazil.
He further demonstrated his versatility in David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross, Martin Scorsese’s The Age of Innocence, and even as a James Bond villain in Tomorrow Never Dies. In GoT, he played the High Sparrow, the leader of a shadowy religious cult called The Sparrows.
Jonathan Pryce – Now
Pryce appeared as the threatening High Sparrow in just 12 episodes between 2015 and 2016. Fans believe George R. R. Martin based his character on Italian friar Girolamo Savonarola, who ruled the Republic of Florence in the late 15th Century.
To further give his old drama tutor the bird, Pryce went on to win two Tony Awards and two Laurence Olivier Awards. And if that wasn’t enough, he was also awarded an illustrious CBE medal (Commander of the British Empire) and knighted for his services to British drama. Yes, amongst all those knights in Westeros, Sir Jonathan Pryce is a real knight of the realm.
Since hanging up his Sparrows wings, Jonathan has appeared in The Wife, Taboo, The Two Popes, The Crown, the excellent Slow Horses, and 3 Body Problem.
Bella Ramsey – Then
Even though she’s called Isabella May Ramsey, luckily, she isn’t in House Bolton. Bella Ramsey (not Ramsay) is the youngest of our stars. She was born in Nottingham in 2003. Yep, that’s the same Nottingham where Robin Hood and his merry men robbed from the rich and gave to the poor.
She started acting as a hobby when she was four and trained at the Television Workshop, a local drama school. In 2016, Bella made her Game of Thrones debut as the fiercely outspoken, 10-year-old Lyanna Mormont, Head of House Mormont of Bear Island, in season six’s “The Broken Man.”
Despite Lyanna’s young age, she quickly became a fan favorite due to her fierce determination, intelligence, and unwavering loyalty to the Stark family. Young Bella expertly portrayed the character’s no-nonsense leadership style and commanding presence.
Bella Ramsey – Now
However, Lyanna’s fearlessness was her undoing when she sacrificed herself trying to singlehandedly slay an undead wight giant in the Battle of Winterfell. Following her scene-stealing performances, Bella Ramsey has gone on to have a great career with roles in Resistance, Hilda, His Dark Materials, Becoming Elizabeth, Catherine Called Birdy, and Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget.
But by far and away, Bella’s biggest success is reteaming with Thrones alum Pedro Pascale to play Ellie in HBO’s adaptation of the zombie video game The Last of Us.
Aged 18, Ramsey was diagnosed as neurodivergent and feels this has “massively” influenced their career and performances. In 2023, the actress came out as non-binary, saying they are “Not 100% straight. I’m a little bit wavy,” adding that she didn’t mind what pronouns people use.
Iwan Rheon – Then
Born in 1985 in Carmarthen, Wales, Iwan Rheon was another young upstart. But unlike many other young GoT actors, he was already famous for his role in the E4 series Misfits.
Iwan played the invisible superhero Simon Bellamy, which must be a quandary as an actor because you’re always going to miss out on half your screen time being invisible! Nevertheless, Iwan won plaudits showcasing his range as an actor by turning socially awkward outcast Simon Bellamy into a confident superhero.
This performance won him the role of one of Thrones‘ most notorious and despised characters… Ramsay Bolton. His vain insecurity, lack of empathy, cunning manipulativeness, ruthless ambition, and sadistic pleasure in causing pain meant fans were glad to see the back of him when he met his demise…
Iwan Rheon – Now
The evil Ramsey Bolton finally met his maker in “Battle of the B*stards.” The ninth episode of season six saw the long-awaited showdown between Ramsay Bolton and Jon Snow. After accepting a duel, Jon swiftly beats Ramsay in hand-to-hand combat and locks him in the kennels, where Sansa Stark feeds him to the hungry hounds!
Since going to the dogs, Iwan Rheon has appeared in Neal Gaiman’s American Gods and Marvel’s laughable Inhumans. He also played Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars in the 2019 film The Dirt.
On his own side of the pond, he has recently been on British TV in The Light in the Hall and Wolf. The fluent Welsh speaker, singer, songwriter, and guitar player lives in London and has a son with ex-flame actress and activist Zoë Grisedale.
