Much like the rest of humanity, I’m currently thoroughly embroiled in HBO’s most recent hit, Game of Thrones. Based on the books by George R. R. Martin, the excruciatingly popular series follows the lives of the inhabitants of Westeros and Essos – a fictional land set sometime in the medieval ages. The series sees various claimants to the throne squabble over who should rightfully sit their arse on the big iron chair. There are also dragons, regicide, lots of bloody battles, lots of gratuitous sex (sometimes incestuous)…

…And people with guttural, regional accents telling other people with guttural, regional accents that «thi knoar nowt». It’s actually a beautiful study in British dialects and accents with, funnily enough, all the King’s Landing folk sounding like they’re from the south of the UK and all the Wildlings and Winterfell inhabitants speakin’ in t’ good awld northern drawwwl. What’s also interesting is that the main island of Westeros looks suspiciously like the United Kingdom; the capital King’s Landing is, naturally, in a similiar position to London and the ever forboding «Wall» isn’t far from the location of Adrian’s Wall… Something about keeping those roaming Wildlings and vicious northern beasts out of the way…

But without further ado, let me present to you the main purpose of this article.

This is for all those out there who just couldn’t quite put their finger on where they’ve seen Ned Stark before, or that bloody warg kid who follows Bran around like a lost dog. Despite being an American production, almost all the characters are British or Irish, which means you’ve probably had to hit pause and angrily wonder where the hell you recognized the actor from. Well, wonder no more!

*May contain spoilers – depending on how many episodes you’ve seen*

Ned Stark – Sharpe

Still brandishing a sword and a smooth Yorkshire accent, Sean Bean once played a British soldier in the Napoleonic war drama, Sharpe. And Boromir in Lord of the Rings, we can’t forget about that. Keep on smouldering, Sean.

Warg Jojen Reed – Love Actually kid

It’s a shame he’s not dashing through the woods as quickly as he dashed through the airport in Love Actually. Thomas Brodie-Sangster also starred in Nanny McPhee.

Robert Baratheon – Dave from The Full Monty

«Yeh’ve got fat», he said. Yeh’ve always been a bit on the chubby side, Mark Addy.

Warg Wildling Orell – Gareth Keenan

Warg Orell from GoT is a far cry from little prick Gareth from The Office. A slightly closer cry to when Mackenzie Crook played a pirate in Pirates of the Carribean, though.

Joffrey – Batman Begins kid

Little Jack Gleeson played Jim Gordon’s son in Batman Begins, aged 13.

Bronn – Robson and Jerome’s Jerome

Get a load of this one! Badass Bronn was once a romantic crooner loved by mums up and down the nation. What a transformation, Jerome! Can you still sing as well as you brandish a sword?

The Hound – Yarp

At least Rory McCann has a few more lines than in Hot Fuzz, yarp?

Braavos banker – League of Gentlemen’s Mark Gatiss

Everytime I see Mark Gatiss pop up somewhere that is not in the bizarre League of Gentlemen world of Royston Vasey, I cannot for one minute invest in his character. I keep expecting him to snap into Mickey Love or the guy from Legs Akimbo at any moment.

Walder Frey –  Harry Potter’s Argus Filch

The only difference between David Bradley’s characters is that Frey’s missing the cat.

Fool Sir Dontos – «It’s not a pube, it’s a dog hair» cook in Extras

Tony Way is recognizable from this scene in Ricky Gervais’ Extras. Also appeared in comedies Black Books and Spaced and movie Sightseers (above).

Gendry – Chris in Skins

I never saw Skins but I recognised Joe Dempsie’s little face.

Lord Bolton’s bastard – Simon from Misfits

I’m still having trouble imagining Iwan Rheon as, quite literally, a Bastard (Poor Reek). He was just so lovely in Channel 4’s Misfits, awww. Also look out for Pypar the Crow who suffered an early death in Misfits as Simon’s fellow community worker.

But have I missed any? Who else have you spotted?

Contrary to what Ygritte says at the top of the page, now I’d like to think that at least tha knoars sumat abaat t’ Gaame o’ Throanes.

(Most images from gameofthrones.wikia.com, others from x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x)

• About
• Latest Posts

Lucy

British graduate of French & Spanish. Guiri in Valencia. Often angry, dressed in flannel and listening to crappy pop-punk.
lucy@sepiavlc.com

Latest posts by Lucy (see all)

• Depressing thoughts on Brexit - 24 junio, 2016
• Things in Spain and Valencia that foreigners find weird - 8 junio, 2016
• Cosas de España y Valencia que les parecen raras a los guiris - 8 junio, 2016