In the George R.R. Martin books that HBO's Game of Thrones is based on, the character
of Beric Dondarrion has a relatively small part to play.
But when you have an actor as talented as Irish star Richard Dormer, you want to showcase
him as much as possible.
Here's a look at some of Dormer's previous roles to help you remember just why Beric
from Game of Thrones looks so familiar.
Hurricane
Dormer got his start on the stage, appearing in over two dozen plays.
In 2002, a one man play he wrote and starred in resulted in Dormer's big break, with his
portrayal of controversial Irish snooker star Alex Higgins in Hurricane garnering rave reviews
over its three-year run.
Higgins himself was a fan of the play, attending several performances and striking up a friendship
with Dormer.
Following Higgins' battle with throat cancer and subsequent death in 2010, Dormer revived
the play for a last hurrah at the Belfast Opera House in order to give "a final farewell
to a true genius and a legend."
Hidden
In 2011, Richard Dormer landed a featured role in the four-part BBC thriller/conspiracy
drama Hidden, starring Philip Glenister as small-time solicitor Harry Venn.
When Venn is asked to help track down the truth about a missing witness, he finds himself
well over his head in a deep conspiracy that may have ties to his own dark past.
He enlists the help of Dormer's character Frank Hanna, a resourceful ex-con who's out
of his depth, and finds himself in more than one sticky situation along the way.
Whatever Venn is paying him, it's definitely not enough.
Hunted
A year after his appearance in Hidden, Dormer returned to television when he appeared in
two episodes of the Cinemax/BBC television series Hunted, joining Game of Thrones alumni
Stephen Dillane and Indira Varma in the production.
Dormer played venture capitalist Lewis Conroy, who is present during a murder committed by
his business partner, Jack Turner.
Conroy later attempts to track down the woman who witnessed their crime in order to find
out exactly how much she knows.
Good Vibrations
In 2013, Dormer teamed up with yet another Game of Thrones co-star — Liam Cunningham
— for a dramedy based on the life of Belfast record-store owner Terri Hooley, founder of
the "Good Vibrations" record store.
Set during the height of the violent "Troubles" in the 1970s, Good Vibrations finds Hooley
opening his Belfast shop on "the most bombed half-mile in Europe."
After hearing some up-and-coming underground punk bands, Hooley embraces the new art form,
inspiring to start his own record label.
Good Vibrations gained wide critical acclaim, bringing Dormer a Best Actor nomination at
the Irish Film and Television Awards.
"It's showing you know, a sense of people rising above and against something that's
ultimately dark."
'71
In 2014, Dormer starred in another film about the Troubles when he appeared in the historical
thriller '71.
When a unit of the British Army is deployed to Belfast, they find themselves stationed
in a dangerous neighborhood with Catholics on one side and Protestants on the other.
Under attack from both sides, they're forced to withdraw, accidentally leaving one soldier
behind.
Dormer plays a Catholic man who helps the soldier, putting his daughter's life in grave
danger.
We're Doomed!
The Dad's Army Story
Created in 1968 by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, the sitcom Dad's Army focused on a fictional
group of British Home Guard soldiers during World War II.
The show became one of the U.K.'s most beloved comedies, running for 80 episodes and spawning
two different movie adaptations.
In 2015, the BBC premiered a TV movie about the making of the series called We're Doomed!
The Dad's Army Story, with Richard Dormer playing the series' co-creator, David Croft.
11 Minutes
Also in 2015, Richard Dormer starred as a sleazy Hollywood director in the Polish experimental
action movie 11 Minutes.
The film chronicles the lives of a number of Warsaw residents, including a low-level
drug runner, an elderly artist, a hot-dog vendor, a skyscraper window washer, a student,
a team of paramedics, and an actress and her jealous husband.
As director Richard Martin holds an "audition" for the actress in a hotel room, the rest
of the characters go about their lives.
But for 11 minutes, their paths all intersect in unexpected and life-changing ways.
Fortitude
2015 continued to be a busy year for the actor, as that's when Dormer got his own starring
television role in the Amazon Original series Fortitude, playing Sheriff Dan Anderssen,
the man charged with protecting the residents of an isolated town.
The town of Fortitude is historically
peaceful.
But that all changes when a local scientist is found brutally murdered — the first violent
crime in the town's history.
"This would not stop me, nevermind a bear."
Unbeknownst to Anderssen, one of the town's residents has placed a call resulting in the
arrival of London Police Inspector Eugene Morton, who comes to Fortitude to "help" with
the investigation.
The show has run for two seasons thus far, with fellow Game of Thrones alumni Michelle
Fairley joining the cast in season two.
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