The Mountain Actor Fiasco

 The Mountain

Ser Gregor Clegane: One man, three faces.

 

Over the course of the Game of Thrones series, Gregor Clegane has been portrayed by three actors.

 

 

 

The first actor was Australian wrestler Conan Stevens, who lobbied extensively for the role with his fans and also auditioned for Khal Drogo. When he finally got the role of The Mountain, he was offered the role of the Orc King in the Hobbit movies so he had to back out of the Game of Thrones series.

A little over 7' tall, he made an imposing figure and I really liked his portrayal of Gregor in The Wolf and the Lion episode. It's a shame that he had to pull out of the series.

Judging from his other work, he's quite capable of doing dialogue and I'm sure his Australian accent would have worked well within Game of Thrones. Alas, it was not meant to be.

The second actor was brought in from within the cast. Ian Whyte, who also plays at least two White Walkers and the giant in the Wildling army. He also played the Predator in Aliens vs. Predator.

Being slightly taller than Stevens, it made little difference in terms of size but from what I've seen he's not much of an actor. He's mostly done stuntman work.

Cue the third person to play Ser Gregor. Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson. Easily the most imposing figure of the three, he's actually the smallest, being slightly under 7 feet. His first fighting scene was promising, but his face is just too friendly.

Look at that smile! That's not The Mountain. That's not the evil bastard who put his brother's face to the flame over a toy. This is your friendly behemoth uncle who lets you sit on your lap.