One of the most successful series in the world, 'Game of Thrones' debuted almost ten years ago on HBO (the anniversary is the next 17th), and followed by eight seasons in increasing ratings for the cable channel. The production marked a turning point for TV series, which started to receive more attention – and a bigger budget – even before the popularization of streaming. At the time, the 'GoT' cast was all the rage in Hollywood.
Read also:
- 'Game of Thrones': Top 10 of the best moments of the series
- 'Game of Thrones' for those who have never watched it: what it is and what to watch every season
- Fabergé produces 'Game of Thrones' egg that costs R $ 12,6 million
- HBO works on three “Game of Thrones” spin-offs
But after the (controversial) end of the series, what happened to its actors and actresses? Have those who were already famous before the show managed to maintain their careers? Did the revelations hold the hype and amend works in successful productions? Let's take advantage of the 10 year anniversary of 'Game of Thrones' and see what is part of its cast today:
Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen)
Briton Emilia Clarke had only made a few cameos in films before embodying the Mother of Dragons in 'Game of Thrones' – and she wasn't even the first choice for the role, having replaced Tamzin Merchant ('The Tudors') after filming the pilot . Still during the series, she participated in two major film franchises: she played the young Sarah Connor in 'The Terminator: Genesis' (2015) and Qi'ra, the romantic interest of the protagonist of 'Han Solo: A Star Wars Story ' (2018). Both films were heavily criticized, by the way.
The “Khaleesi of the Dothraki” found more fertile ground in romantic films. Made a lot of people cry Lou Clark in 'I Was Before You' (2016) and Kate in 'A Second Chance for Love' (2019). She still had time to make two thrillers that didn't get much attention at the box office: 'Voice from the Stone' (2017) and 'Crime and Desire' (2019). She is currently recording the voices of one of the characters in the animation 'The Amazing Maurice'.
Harington Kit (Jon Snow)
Another “offspring” of 'Game of Thrones', the Englishman Kit Harington tried to start a heartthrob career in Hollywood, but he didn't know how to choose his roles very well. Also during the series, he starred in the underwhelming 'Silent Hill: Revelation' (2012) and the epic / catastrophe 'Pompeii' (2014). His performance in 'GoT' accredited him for another fantasy, 'The Seventh Son' (2014), which even has a good cast of Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, Alicia Vikander and Djimon Hounsou, which could work in theory. But only in theory.
He made romantic drama in 'Stolen Juventudes' (2014), action in 'Spooks: The Spy Master' (2015) and returned to terror in 'Cursed' (2016), but without any major highlights. Harington may once again re-invent the one genre he hasn't tried yet: superhero. He is part of the cast of 'The Eternals', one of the Phase 4 films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, scheduled to debut in 2021.
Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister)
Possibly the biggest highlight of 'Game of Thrones', the North American Peter Dinklage worked a lot in Hollywood before conquering his deserved prominence. During the series, he played villain Bolivar Trask in 'X-Men: Days of Future Past' (2014) and was one of the protagonists of the edia Pixels (2015).
Versatile, the actor participated in both the award-winning 'Three Billboards for a Crime' (2017) and the super blockbuster 'Avengers: Infinity War' (2018). He was recently on Netflix's 'Eu Me Importo' (2020) and has no less than eight other projects in the pipeline for the coming years.
Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister)
Another one who worked a lot before – and after – 'Game of Thrones', Lena Headey started her career in the 1990s. Before 'GoT', she also played Sarah Connor, but in the series 'Terminator: The Chronicles of Sarah Connor' (2008), and Queen Gorgo from '300' (2006). She even played the villainous Ma-Ma in what is one of my favorite comic book adaptations for the cinema: 'Dredd: The Judge of the Apocalypse' (2012).
the projection achieved in 'Game of Thrones', Headey got a series of roles, in 'The Purge' (2013), 'The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones' (2013), 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies' ( 2016) and the '300' sequel, '300: Rise of an Empire' (2014). After the end of 'GoT', the actress made other series, 'The Enchanted Crystal: Age of Resistance' (2019) and will be the voice of Malign in the next adaptation of 'He-Man'.
Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark)
Just 15 years old, Sophie Turner made her acting debut in 'Game of Thrones'. The role of Sansa Stark caught the attention of producers, who cast her to play another famous fictional redhead: the mutant Jean Grey, from the X-Men, in two films of the franchise: 'X-Men: Apocalypse' (2016) and ' X-Men: Dark Phoenix' (2019). Then Disney stopped Fox and that joke ended.
In the meantime, the actress also participated in other teen productions, the thriller 'Meu Outro Eu' (2013), the adventure 'Escola de Espiões' (2015) and the comedy 'Madness of Time' (2018). Currently, she will lend her voice to the animation 'The Prince', which will “make fun” of the life of Prince George, son of William and Kate Middleton, third in line to the British throne. Sophie will play her younger sister, Charlotte.
Maisie Williams (Arya Stark)
Sansa's sister (and Sophie Turner's best friend in real life) also made her 'Game of Thrones' debut at a young age of 14. But since then she has been working hard, taking advantage of the success of the series to build a solid career. During the series, he starred in, among others, the films 'A hell of a journey' (2013), 'iBoy' (2017) – one of the first Netflix films -, 'Mary Shelley' (2017) and even a few episodes of 'Doctor Who' in 2015.
More recently, Maisie can be seen in 'The New Mutants' (2020), the last Marvel mutant film produced by Fox (before Disney stopped the studio and ended this antics) and in the horror 'The Owners' (2020).
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jamie Lannister)
Before embodying the scoundrel we love in 'Game of Thrones', Nikolaj Coster-Waldau had an extensive career in Denmark, his native country, which began in the 1990s. Upon his arrival in Hollywood, he played small roles in big films, the Black Hawk Down (2001) and Crusade (2005) – both directed by Ridley Scott.
After 'GoT', he got slightly more prominent roles, in the horror 'Mama' (2013), produced by Guillermo del Toro, and in the big-budget, low-quality epic, 'Gods of Egypt' (2016). His most recent work was in the thriller 'Death Hunt' (2020).
Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth)
Model, dancer and gymnast, the stunning Gwendoline Christie did little work (mostly for TV) before 'Game of Thrones'. The role of the knight Brienne of Tarth fell like a glove, and catapulted the British actress to new roles in 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – The Final' (2015) and two chapters of the 'Star Wars' saga: 'The Force Awakens ' (2015) and 'The Last Jedi' (2017). She will still play the role of Lucifer in the adaptation of 'Sandman' for Netflix.
Aidan Gillen (Petyr Baelish)
“How do I know this guy?”. Many must have asked themselves this question, seeing Aidan Gillen as “Littlefinger” in 'Game of Thrones'. You “know this guy” from a few works, the 'Hit or Run in London' (2003), 'Dawn of the Dead' (2009), 'Batman: The Dark Knight Rises' (2012), 'Bohemian Rhapsody' (2018 ), the 'Peaky Blinders' series (2017) and even the Xbox game 'Quantum Break' (2016).
Natalie Dormer (Margaery Tyrell)
On the other hand, I bet you remember all the times you saw Natalie Dormer act. forgetting her in the series 'The Tudors' (2007), or the nurse in both 'Captain America: The First Avenger' (2011) and in 'Rush: On the Edge of Emotion' (2013). Natalie was also in the two parts of 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay' (2014 and 2015) and more recently participated in 'Penny Dreadful: City of Angels' (2020).
Pedro Pascal (Oberyn Martell)
Seven episodes. That's what it took for Pedro Pascal to make Oberyn Martell one of the most beloved characters on 'Game of Thrones' and catapult the Chilean actor to Hollywood stardom. After the traumatic death of his character in 'GoT', Pascal starred in the Netflix series 'Narcos' (2015) and the films 'Kingsman: The Golden Circle' (2017), 'If Beale Street Could Talk' (2018) and 'Wonder Woman 1984' (2020), among others. But his most popular work right now is certainly the bounty hunter protagonist of 'The Mandalorian', the series of 'Star Wars' on Disney+.
Jason Momoa (Khal Drogo)
A character who, despite appearing in several episodes of the first season of 'Game of Thrones', barely speaks. And when he speaks, it's in a language no one understands. But Hawaiian Jason Momoa is such a charismatic fellow that he managed to use Khal Drogo the springboard to make him one of the highest paid stars in Hollywood today.
Before 'GoT', Momoa did the series 'SOS Malibu' (between 1999 and 2001) and 'Stargate: Atlantis' (2005 to 2009). In cinema, she starred in 'Conan the Barbarian' (2011), the most recent attempt to adapt the work of Robert E. Howard. After 'Game of Thrones', he was cast mainly in action films, the 'Double Target' (2012), 'Dangerous Adventure' (2016) and 'Mountain Peril' (2018), in addition to the series 'Frontier' ( 2016).
But it was Zack Snyder who saw in Momoa the potential to experience Aquaman in the DC Universe, which guaranteed him the role of the hero in 'Batman vs Superman: The Origin of Justice' (2016), 'Justice League' (both versions, 2017 and 2021) and 'Aquaman' (2018), to this day, the most successful film by Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman.
