What 9 "Game of Thrones" Actors Are Up To Now!

On this day back in 2011, TV changed forever – for better or worse, depending on who’s reading this – when HBO premiered their epic fantasy drama “Game of Thrones”, based on the beloved (and unfinished) A Song of Ice and Fire novels by George R.R. Martin. 8 seasons and 59 Emmy Awards later, the impact of the series cannot be denied. Even to this day, every new prestige drama that comes out is touted by their network as being “the next ‘Game of Thrones’”.

The series was also responsible for launching the careers of dozens of actors. A few were already pretty well-established in the biz (such as Sean Bean, Peter Dinklage, and Lena Headey), but a significant portion of the cast was made up of young actors getting their first real big break. In the years since the show’s finale, their post-“GoT’ premieres have been hit or miss – for example, Emilia Clarke is a bona fide star, having branched out into other major franchises like Terminator, Star Wars, and the MCU, while Maisie Williams has been in a handful of projects that haven't really taken off.

Today would be a perfect day to see what the old “GoT” gang is up to nowadays, but since the show has SO MANY actors, I decided to just focus on the ones that we have interviewed! So let’s see what’s going on beyond Westeros!

1. Kit Harington

Arguabley one of the most central characters of the series, Kit Harington became an instant heartthrob with his role of the half-Stark, half-Targaryen Jon Snow. He’s had a handful of projects under his belt since the show bowed, the most high-profile of which was Marvel’s Eternals, which was meant to introduce his character Dane Whitman, AKA the Black Knight for future development. But due to the poor performance of the film, it seems plans for any followup to this movie or with his character have been shelved. Additionally, a reported Jon Snow sequel series was in development for a hot second but that was scrapped as well. Whomp whomp… Don’t cry for Jon Snow, though, he’s still a working man, with 3 upcoming projects in the works.

2. Richard Madden

Richard Madden played the ill-fated eldest Stark child, Robb Stark, AKA The King In The North, and since his brutal and bloody end at the Red Wedding in Season 3, Madden has been doing quite well for himself. He appeared opposite Lily James in Disney’s wildly successful live-action Cinderella in 2015, and he even won a Golden Globe in 2019 for his role in the Netflix series “Bodyguard”! He also appeared in Oscar-nominated films like Rocketman and 1917 and was a lead in the aforementioned Eternals (where he reunited with his “GoT” brother/cousin Kit!). Last year, his thriller series “Citadel”, co-starring Priyanka Chopra-Jonas, landed on Prime Video to mixed reviews. Next up, he has another project with Amazon Studios, Killer Heat, co-starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Shailene Woodley, that is currently in post-production. In it, Madden plays twins!

3. Sophie Turner

One of the lucky few OG characters to survive to the very end (but at what cost?), Sophie Turner was only 13 when she was cast as Sansa Stark, and during the run of the show she kept herself busy with other projects. Her most notable non-“GoT” role thus far has been as the younger version of the iconic X-Men character Jean Grey, AKA Phoenix, who she played in 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse and 2019’s Dark Phoenix. Aside from that, she had a memorable role in Netflix’s 2022 dark comedy Do Revenge, but nothing else has really taken off. However, there is a ton of buzz surrounding her upcoming lead role in the upcoming 6-part British crime drama “Joan”, which is based on real-life British underworld crime queenpin Joan Hannington. The series is expected to premiere in the U.K. sometime this year, but with the amount of hype it’s getting, I expect to see it here in the States at some point as well.

4. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

As the dastardly but dashing Jaime Lannister, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau had quite the rollercoaster ride of character development. Starting out pretty evil (pushing a kid out a window in the very first episode is as evil as it gets) to finding redemption (thank you Brienne!) to going back to his old ways (thank you Cersei!) to ultimately ending up dead, Jaime was kind of all over the map. Outside of “GoT”, NCW has had some mostly mid projects, from playing Horus in the cringey Gods of Egypt (2016) to showing off his comedy chops in The Other Woman (2014), NCW is a reliable Handsome Leading Man™. His most recent project was the film Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever from his native Denmark, and among his upcoming projects is the role of none other than William the Conqueror in a BBC/CBS series called “King and Conqueror”, which retells the epic story of the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, from which all current British royals are descended. We love it when NCW has a sword in his hand!

5. Dean-Charles Chapman

I think it’s safe to say that Dean-Charles Chapman has fared much better than his “Game of Thrones” character, the boy king Tommen Baratheon. After leaping to his death and into meme infamy, DCC has done pretty alright for himself since. Most notably, he was one of the 2 main leads of Sam Mendes’s 2019 epic Oscar-nominated WWI drama 1917, which won him much acclaim. More recently, he appeared in Prime Video’s Catherine Called Birdy and 2022 British mini-series “The Walk-In”, and you can see him in the first episode of the upcoming Star Wars series “The Acolyte”, coming in June to Disney+.

6. Eugene Simon

Eugene Simon appeared periodically throughout the series as Lancel Lannister, a cousin to the main Lannister siblings, until he met a fiery end in Season 6. He’s had a handful of roles since, including a few short films and an appearance in NatGeo’s series “Genius” as Albert Einstein’s son Eduard. His most recent film was in 2022 but he has two projects coming up, including the historical drama Steal Away and mystery thriller Jump Out. Both projects are listed as in “pre-production” on IMDb.

7. Natalie Dormer

Natalie Dormer was no stranger to being a queen in medieval-esque epics even before she donned the crown of Margaery Tyrell on “Game of Thrones”, having played the notorious Anne Boleyn on HBO’s “The Tudors”. She also made an appearance in another sci-fi/fantasy franchise when she played Cressida in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 and Part 2. Since her stint on “GoT”, she’s kept pretty busy, nabbing several leading roles including the Prime Video series “Picnic at Hanging Rock” (2018), mystery thriller In Darkness (2018), the supernatural horror Patient Zero (2018), Showtime’s “Penny Dreadful: City of Angels” (2020), and South African crime thriller “White Lies”, which came out last month. She has a few projects in the pipeline, including a biographical series called “Vivling” in which she is slated to play iconic Gone With The Wind actress Vivien Leigh.

8. Nathalie Emmanuel

Fun Fact: In the ASOIAF books, Missandei – the slave-turned-interpreter-turned-advisor to Daenerys Targaryen – is only 9 years old! But the producers decided to age her up considerably and cast the gorgeous Nathalie Emmanuel in the role. Like her name sake above, Ms. Emmanuel has had plenty to keep her occupied in the years during and since her run on “Game of Thrones”, including a recurring role as a part of the Family™ in the Fast & Furious franchise. She also appeared in Hulu’s “Four Weddings and a Funeral” reboot series (2019), the horror thriller The Invitation (2022), and the Mark Wahlberg adventure drama Arthur the King, which is currently in theatres. She has almost a dozen other projects in the works, including what appears to be a significant role in Francis Ford Coppola’s highly-anticipated sci-fi epic Megalopolis, which is expected to premiere at Cannes next month.

9. Jacob Anderson

Last but definitely not least, the leader of the Unsullied himself, Jacob Anderson managed to avoid a notorious “Game of Thrones” death, his character Grey Worm surviving until the end. As the stoic warrior, “GoT” did not exactly afford Jacob a whole lot of opportunity to exercise his acting chops. Well, all of that changed for good when he landed the plum role of Louis de Pointe du Lac in AMC’s take on the Anne Rice novel “Interview with the Vampire”. In this series – whose second season is scheduled to premiere on May 12 – Jacob has totally been killing it (literally!) as the conflicted vampire who unburdens himself and his crazy immortal life to a reporter. Anderson also appeared in 7 episodes of Series 13 of “Doctor Who” as the pilot Vinder. He does not appear to have any other projects in the works at this time, but if Season 2 of “IwtV” is anything like Season 1, he will make a hell of an impression!

In other “GoT”-related news, Season 2 of the prequel spinoff “House of the Dragon” is slated to premiere this June, while another prequel spinoff, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”, just announced their principle cast and is expected to begin production this Spring/Summer.