Some of the most familiar faces in Westeros have changed a lot during the course of Game
of Thrones' run on HBO. Over the course of the series, several of the show’s key actors
have ended up being replaced - leading fans to wonder just what really happened.
Throughout the entire series, Emilia Clarke has shined as Daenerys Targaryen. From a mild
young bride to the fierce and ruthless warrior she is today, Daenerys has been through one
of the show's most exciting arcs, and without Clarke's portrayal, far fewer viewers would
have fallen in love with the character the way that they have. Hailed as a feminist icon,
fans have been gripped by Daenerys' finest moments, and Clarke herself has achieved international
recognition for the role - as well as nominations for several awards.
“I’m not going to stop the wheel. I’m going to break the wheel.”
With that in mind, it might seem difficult to believe that anyone else could ever have
played Daenerys, but in the initially troubled pilot for Game of Thrones, Daenerys was originally
played by Tamzin Merchant - best known for her role as Henry VIII's fifth wife Catherine
Howard on The Tudors. Creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss have been open about their
disdain for the original pilot, but neither the two showrunners nor casting director Nina
Gould have fully discussed the reason for Merchant's exit. Today, fans are left to wonder
just how different the series might have been with a different Daenerys riding those dragons.
Game of Thrones' third season introduced a new potential love interest for Daenerys in
the form of Daario Naharis, played by Ed Skrein. This clever, long-haired mercenary was obviously
interested in Daenerys from day one, and when he betrayed his own men to join her side,
it became clear that Daario’s machinations would make him an even bigger player in the
seasons to come.
After a three-episode arc in the third season, however, Skrein was unceremoniously replaced
by Michiel Huisman. As it turned out, Skrein had run into a scheduling issue, as he was
set to appear in the new Transporter film. The actor has since admitted that it wasn't
the easiest decision, but that he had no regrets in leaving Game of Thrones. Luckily for Huisman,
he quickly became yet another one of the show's beloved key players, and his romance with
Daenerys left many wondering where he might end up as the show concludes.
In the early seasons of Game of Thrones, viewers discovered that Cersei Lannister’s three
children, all of whom were supposedly of Baratheon blood, were actually bastards borne of her
incestuous affair with her twin brother, Jaime. However, nobody paid much attention to any
of the children besides Joffrey, Cersei's eldest and most wicked child, who eventually
ascended to the throne and wreaked a significant amount of havoc on King's Landing and Westeros
as a whole. As a result, the other two supposed Baratheon children were often shunted to the
side, making it easy for them to be recast as required - a frequent reality when dealing
with young actors whose growth easily put them out of sync with the show's pacing.
Because of these age issues, Tommen Baratheon was recast in the show's fourth season, and
when it was time for him to take the crown from Joffrey, Callum Wharry was replaced by
Dean-Charles Chapman. Chapman went on to handle many of the mild King Tommen's more difficult
scenes, including a love scene with his new wife Margaery Tyrell, as well as his death
at the end of the sixth season. However, many fans might have recognized Chapman's face
from somewhere - since he had actually appeared in the show's third season, playing a young
Lannister squire who was held hostage by the Starks and eventually killed by Rickard Karstark.
This actually gives Chapman the rare distinction of having played two separate roles during
the show's run - and having died twice, too.
Much like Tommen, Cersei Lannister's middle child, Myrcella, went largely overlooked until
later seasons of Thrones. Myrcella was essentially left out of the plot entirely until the second
season, when her uncle Tyrion decided to send her to Dorne, creating a permanent rift between
Tyrion and Cersei. In the fifth season, she re-appeared as a lovestruck teenager engaged
to Trystane Martell, the young prince of Dorne. Thanks to an ongoing battle between the Lannister
and Martell families, she ended up murdered at the hands of Ellaria Sand, shortly after
she discovered her true parentage.
Though Myrcella was played by the young actress Aimee Richardson during her appearances in
the earlier seasons, when she returned, she was played by the dynamic Nell Tiger Free.
Much like Tommen's strategic recasting, this can likely be chalked up to discrepancies
between the growth of the actor and her character.
As the older of the much-feared Clegane brothers, the Mountain is one of Westeros' most terrifying
warriors. And although he has kinda managed to make it through the entire series so far,
he has nonetheless undergone a significant transformation along the way. Once a formidable
fighter known for his penchant for committing war crimes on behalf of the Lannisters, the
Mountain was nearly felled by a poisoned spear tip during his duel with Oberyn Martell in
season four. After that, however, he was turned into a kind of mute zombie, loyal only to
Cersei herself.
But that wasn’t the only transformation that the Mountain has undergone during Game
of Thrones’ run, as he’s actually been played by no fewer than three separate actors.
In season one, when the Mountain nearly killed Loras Tyrell after a joust, he was played
by Conan Stevens, an Australian actor. The Mountain was far less visible in season two,
but when he did appear, he was played by the Welsh actor Ian Whyte. From the fourth season
on, the fearsome and intimidating Icelandic strongman Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson has
portrayed the Mountain. Of course, now that he's ensconced in an iron mask, it doesn't
seem to matter much that this massive man has changed faces three times.
The Tarly family isn't exactly the most important clan in Westeros, but astute viewers will
have gotten to know them pretty well over the years. By far the most significant member
of the family is Samwell Tarly, the lovable bookworm of the Night's Watch and frequent
companion to Jon Snow. Sam has proven to be the heart and soul of the show time and time
again, but he’s not so popular among his own family. In the sixth season, when Sam
arrived at Horn Hill with his girlfriend Gilly, he received a cold welcome from his stern
father, Randyll, who clearly favors Sam's handsome and accomplished brother, Dickon.
“Not fat enough already?”
During season six, Freddie Stroma of Harry Potter fame appeared as Dickon. However, scheduling
issues forced him out of the show, so Black Sails' Tom Hopper stepped in - to plenty of
acclaim from fans. Sadly, Hopper's time as Dickon has also been cut short, as both he
and his father Randyll were burned alive by Daenerys when they refused to bend the knee
to her in season seven. Easy come, easy go.
Most viewers of the show will be familiar with Stannis Baratheon - who, as King Robert
Baratheon's brother, staunchly believed he was the rightful heir to the Iron Throne - but
some might not remember his wife, Selyse Baratheon. While Stannis fought for the Throne with the
aid of Melisandre, Selyse remained nothing if not a loyal. After all, she stuck by her
husband through several unsuccessful battles, as well as his obvious attraction to Melisandre
herself. When Stannis used their daughter, Shireen, as a human sacrifice, Selyse finally
took her own life, only for Stannis to meet his final defeat in battle a few hours later.
Selyse, when she was introduced, was a very minor character, who can be spotted simply
standing in the vicinity of Melisandre and Stannis while the latter commits himself to
the Lord of Light during a magical ceremony in the second season’s premiere. At that
time, she was played by Sarah MacKeever, had no lines at all and served as little more
than a glorified extra. However, when Selyse’s role was expanded to include a multi-episode
arc, the show chose a more venerated actress fore the role: Tara Fitzgerald, who famously
appeared opposite Ralph Fiennes in Hamlet on Broadway during the mid-1990s.
Game of Thrones' first episode ended on a pretty shocking final scene - specifically,
the young Bran Stark being pushed out of a tall tower after catching Jaime and Cersei
in a compromising position. Bran survived the fall, however, losing his mobility and
eventually gaining a new set of powers, including the ability to review and even meddle in events
of the very distant past, making him the heir apparent to the role of the Three-Eyed Raven.
When the audience finally met the mysterious Three-Eyed Raven in season four, he looked
fairly different to the character fans would later come to know. Originally played by Struan
Rodger, Bran first meets the Raven while the omniscient being is holed up in a secluded
tree. By the time the Three-Eyed Raven returned to the show in its sixth season, Rodger had
been replaced by legendary actor Max von Sydow, best known for The Exorcist and Flash Gordon.
Since then, it has been von Sydow’s Raven who has guided Bran through the secrets of
the past, present, and future of Westeros.
Game of Thrones is rife with villains and antagonists, but few are more sinister or
mysterious than the Night King, the ancient and seemingly infallible leader of the White
Walkers. The Walkers, who reside far north of the wall that separates Westeros from the
northern wilderness, were previously considered nothing more than a frightening legend, but
have recently made their presence known in Westeros in a pretty spectacular way. Throughout
the show's run, audiences have watched the Night King perform a range of despicable acts
- from turning a child sacrifice into a White Walker to taking down one of Daenerys' beloved
dragons.
Though the character comes to life via impressive prosthetic make-up, as the show went on, sharp-eyed
viewers realized that the Night King looked a little different from when we first met
him. Before season six, the Night King was played by Richard Blake, but the role then
went to Vladimir Furdik, an actor hailing from Slovakia. Though the show's creators
have never provided a concrete reason for the change, it's possible that Furdik won
the role thanks to his history as a stuntman, giving him more mobility for battle scenes.
Throughout Thrones' run, Beric Dondarrion has quite literally lived several lives. In
season one, he served as nothing more than a member of a search party sent by Ned Stark
to bring the Mountain to justice. As war broke out in Westeros, however, he joined a group
called the Brotherhood Without Banners, who, through their loyalty to the Lord of Light,
have followed Beric as he is constantly revived from the dead by his resident Red Priest,
Thoros of Myr. Most recently, Beric has been found aiding Jon Snow in his fight against
the White Walkers, traveling north of the Wall in order to get more information on these
mysterious and ancient creatures.
David Michael Scott portrayed Beric for his minor role during the first season. Beginning
in season three, however, Irish actor Richard Dormer took the reins. Luckily, Beric’s
change in appearance is easy enough to explain in-universe, considering the man died multiple
times off-screen before viewers met him for the second time again.
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