Oh, “Game of Thrones,” we’ve missed you so. But now that, as of Sunday’s season opener, we are back in the warm embrace of a new season of the HBO phenomenon (which has officially been renewed for two further seasons), we’ve also found ourselves plunged back into the midst of one of the biggest ensemble casts on TV, and occasionally snapping our fingers at the screen going “Him! Him! That guy! Wasn’t he in that thing with the other guy from whatjacallit?” It’s one of the great joys of this exquisitely made show that the cast is so rich and deep and full of “that guy” character actors, but it can also be a bit of a pain when their other credits don’t come readily to mind, or when they’re rendered so unrecognisable under prosthetics, accents and/or exotic costumes that you simply can’t place them. In an effort to combat that irritation, we’ve compiled this handy list running through the main credits of the main cast members of “Game of Thrones” so you can commit this all to memory and then concentrate on more important stuff, like theorizing about who Jon Snow’s mother was and marveling at the cut of the Khaleesi’s desert chic dresses.
Of course, the other great thing about this huge cast is just how many actors it has given a start to, so there are quite a few main cast members who simply don’t have enough of a prior career to warrant an entry below, like Richard Madden (Robb Stark), Maisie Williams (Arya Stark), Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Kristian Nairn (Hodor), Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark-Lannister), Gethin Anthony (Renly Baratheon) and John Bradley (Samwell Tarly) among others. And so, if when the closing credits roll, you’re dying for a bit more Samwell or desperate to see what Arya did before, you’re fresh out of luck. However in the vast majority of cases, there are other films and TV shows you can check out if you’re a particular fan of one of the performers, and we make our own suggestions for where to start below. Spoilers, for up till the end of Season 3 probably abound, so if you’re not caught up to there yet, come back to us when you are.
Peter Dinklage
Role in “Game of Thrones”: Tyrion Lannister, aka “The Imp,” son of Tywin, brother to Jaime and Cersei, despised and derided due to his dwarfism but a canny operator with a surprisingly wide decent streak (for a Lannister) nonetheless.
Yes, But Where Else Do I Know Him From? Dinklage is probably the breakout star of “Game of Thrones,” as it has provided him with one of the most nuanced and engaging characters he’s ever played, but he’s been around a long time, and been a tremendous asset to almost everything he’s appeared in. Chief among those is “The Station Agent,” Tom McCarthy’s lovely, deeply indie indie about the hesitant friendships that spring up amongst an unlikely trio of misfits. TV-wise, sci-fi show “Threshold” and a recurring role on “Nip/Tuck” followed. But he’s also reliably onscreen every December in newly-minted Christmas classic “Elf” in a terrifically terrifying turn as tyrannical superstar children’s book author Miles Finch. Less illustriously, but more recently, he showed up in Sundance also-ran “Low Down” and the glancingly released “Knights of Badassdom,” while later this month he can be found amid another massive ensemble in “X-Men: Days of Future Past.”
Fans Should Check Out: Definitely “The Station Agent” has given him his best movie showcase so far, though the ghoulish might want to check out notorious WTF movie “Tiptoes” in which he plays the friend of lead dwarf played by Gary Oldman (perhaps the film would be less distasteful if those roles had been reversed, though perhaps not). Meanwhile, here’s a terrific clip from the very enjoyable inside-baseball pic about an independent film production, “Living in Oblivion,” by Tom di Cillo, in which Dinklage questions his role as a dwarf in a dream.