21 Game of Thrones Stars You’ve Definitely Seen Before Inline
Photo: (From left) Courtesy of Exclusive Media Group; Courtesy of HBO1/21Tom Wlaschiha as Jaqen H’ghar
While his character faithfully serves the Many-Faced God, you might have a sneaking suspicion you’ve seen Wlaschiha’s mug before, too. Turns out the German actor has starred in many popular films, including Rush, Munich, and Valkyrie—which also featured another GoT costar, Carice van Houten (aka The Red Woman).
Photo: (From left) Courtesy of Warner Bros.; Courtesy of HBO2/21Essie Davis as Lady Crane
Even though Lady Crane plays a mighty fine Cersei Lannister, before Davis joined Game of Thrones, she was starring in another fantasy production: The Matrix Reloaded. Davis played Maggie, a medical expert, in the 2003 sci-fi sequel. Bet you didn’t recognize her without her Cersei wig.
Photo: (From left) Courtesy of StudioCanal; Courtesy of HBO3/21Rory McCann
Before McCann was hacking enemies to pieces in Westeros, he was . . . attempting to murder Simon Pegg in Hot Fuzz. McCann starred as the laconic henchmen Michael Armstrong in the 2007 satirical action film. And even though his Hot Fuzz character was a man of few words, I wouldn’t mind hearing The Hound pull out a few “narps” from time to time.
Photo: (From left) Courtesy of Warner Bros.; Courtesy of HBO4/21Clive Russell
The stubborn Blackfish met his end this season—not without a fight, of course—but Russell is no stranger to the action genre. He starred in Sherlock Holmes as Captain Tanner and reprised the role for its 2011 sequel, and he also played a deity in Thor: The Dark World.
Photo: (From left) Silver Screen Collection / Getty Images; Courtesy of HBO5/21Diana Rigg
Our personal favorite: Before Lady Olenna was serving up the sickest burns in all the Seven Kingdoms, she was playing a man-eating secret agent on the British series The Avengers and went on to become James Bond’s only wife in 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
Photo: (from left) Courtesy of HBO; Courtesy of Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM6/21Keisha Castle-Hughes as Obara Sand
Did that spear-wielding Sand Snake seem familiar? Besides reminding audiences of her late onscreen father, Oberyn Martell, Keisha Castle-Hughes likely had Star Wars fans thinking of a galaxy far, far away. In 2005, she played Queen of Naboo in Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith.
Photo: (from left) Courtesy of HBO; Everett Collection7/21Indira Varma as Ellaria Sand
Indira Varma had many big screen roles before she became Oberyn Martell’s fiery paramour, Ellaria Sand. In 2004, Varma starred in Bride & Prejudice, a Bollywood-style adaption of the Jane Austen novel. She also had a role in 2006’s Basic Instinct 2 and most recently **Ridley Scott’**s Exodus: Gods and Kings
Photo: (from left) Courtesy of HBO; Courtesy of Miramax8/21Roger Ashton-Griffiths as Mace Tyrell
Before Mace Tyrell was the Master of Coin, Roger Ashton-Griffiths had more than 90 film and television credits to his name. Most notably, he had roles in A Knight’s Tale, Gangs of New York, and The Brothers Grimm.
Photo: (from left) Photofest; Photofest9/21Nathalie Emmanuel as Missandei
While Missandei has quickly become Daenerys’s most trusted advisor, Nathalie Emmanuel’s career has had a similarly meteoric rise. Emmanuel starred in the latest installment of the Fast and Furious franchise, Furious Seven, which currently holds the number four spot in worldwide grosses.
Photo: (from left) Courtesy of HBO; Courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures10/21Anton Lesser as Qyburn
Before he was conducting unorthodox medicinal practices in King’s Landing, Anton Lesser had a role commissioning Jack Sparrow to find the Fountain of Youth in 2011’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
Photo: (from left) Courtesy of HBO; Courtesy of HBO11/21Stephen Dillane as Stannis Baratheon
Stephen Dillane made his HBO debut well before he was fighting over the Iron Throne. In 2008, he starred in the miniseries John Adams as Thomas Jefferson, which earned him an Emmy nomination. Dillane also starred in 2002’s The Hours as **Nicole Kidman’**s onscreen husband, Leonard Woolf. (Another fun fact: His son, Frank Dillane, played Tom Riddle in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.)
Photo: (from left) Everett Collection; Courtesy of Lucasfilm Ltd.12/21Julian Glover as Grand Maester Pycelle
While the Grand Maester is certainly a bumbling thorn in Cersei’s side, Julian Glover has played far more nefarious characters before his role on GoT. In 1980, he starred as an Imperial officer in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, and in 1989 he played the greedy industrialist Walter Donovan in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. “He chose . . . poorly.”
Photo: (from left) Courtesy of HBO; Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures13/21Ciarán Hinds as Mance Rayder
Before he played the leader of the Free Folk, Ciarán Hinds had starred in many big-name films including 2005’s Munich, There Will Be Blood in 2007, and he even did some vocals for 2013’s animated juggernaut Frozen. Most notably, however, Hinds played Albus Dumbledore’s estranged brother, Aberforth, in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. (People always forget Aberforth, indeed.)
Photo: (from left) Courtesy of HBO; HBO/Photofest14/21Aidan Gillen as Petyr Littlefinger Baelish
Game of Thrones isn’t the first acclaimed HBO series to star Aidan Gillen. In 2004, he joined the cast of The Wire, playing Tommy Carcetti, the ambitious politician who rises up the gubernatorial ladder in Baltimore. Gillen also had a memorable role in the opening sequence of The Dark Knight Rises.
Photo: (from left) HBO/Photofest; Everett Collection15/21Iain Glen as Ser Jorah Mormont
Before he played Khaleesi’s banished advisor, Iain Glen had a recurring role in the Resident Evil series as the calculating scientist Dr. Sam Isaacs. Glen also appeared on Downton Abbey in 2011 as Sir Richard Carlisle, a tabloid publisher who was once betrothed to Lady Mary.
Photo: (from left) Courtesy of HBO; Courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures16/21Jonathan Pryce as High Sparrow
Swore you’d seen that soup-ladling High Sparrow before? You probably have. Jonathan Pryce starred as the powdered-wig wearing Governor Weatherby Swann in the Pirates of the Caribbean series.
Photo: (from left) Courtesy of HBO; Courtesy of Columbia Pictures17/21Alfie Allen as Theon Greyjoy
Years before he was Reek (née Theon Greyjoy) on Game of Thrones, Alfie Allen made his first onscreen appearance in 1998’s Elizabeth and had a small part in **Joe Wright’**s Atonement. A year later, he slipped into a sixteenth century–style robe for his role as the king’s messenger in The Other Boleyn Girl.
Photo: (from left) Courtesy of HBO; Courtesy of ITV/Kudos18/21Jacob Anderson as Grey Worm
Before he played the loyal and laconic Grey Worm, Jacob Anderson had an arc on Showtime’s Episodes and most recently appeared on BBC’s miniseries Broadchurch as Dean Thomas. But Anderson isn’t just a character actor, he is also a musician who performs under the stage name Raleigh Ritchie, and has a U.K. tour planned for this October.
Photo: (from left) Everett Collection; Photofest19/21Conleth Hill as Lord Varys
It’s hard to imagine Lord Varys as anything but the silver-tongued Master of Whispers, but in 2009, Hill starred alongside Larry David in Whatever Works as the longhaired lothario Leo Brockman.
Photo: (from left) Courtesy of HBO; CBS/Photofest20/21Alexander Siddig as Doran Martell
Trekkies were sure to recognize the Prince of Dorn as _Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’_s Chief Medical Officer, Julian Bashir. Siddig also starred in Clash of the Titans and had an arc on 24.
Photo: (from left) Courtesy of HBO; Everett Collection21/21Charles Dance as Tywin Lannister
While he played the dignified Tywin Lannister on Game of Thrones, Charles Dance traded in his stiff upper lip for a leopard crop-top and bright red miniskirt in 2002’s Ali G Indahouse alongside Sacha Baron Cohen. (And we thought being slain on the privy was embarrassing . . . .)
