The 46 Best Movies & Shows Starring Your Fave Game Of Thrones Actors

Just like the lands of Westeros and Essos, the world of entertainment is much smaller than you realize at first glance. With such an expansive cast, many Game Of Thrones actors have been in other projects throughout the years. Whether it was before, during, or after their Thrones days, the cast of the epic fantasy series appears in an absurd amount of famous movies and TV shows. While there are bound to be some you knew about, even the most devoted pop culture buffs will be surprised by at least some of these TV series and movies that feature Game Of Thrones actors.

TV series that are popular across the pond, like Black Mirror, The Crown, Doctor Who, and Downton Abbey, are ideal for Game Of Thrones actor spotting, so you won't find those obvious shows on this list. And with eight films in the franchise, you most likely know that the Harry Potter movies are chock full of people who have experienced the fact that winter is coming. But Game Of Thrones stars aren't strictly limited to British or fantasy movies and series — even if they do often appear in them — as this list of 46 projects proves. So as you wait for the GoT prequels and reminisce on the original series, allow your mind to be blown with this list of shows and movies that you never realized had Game Of Thrones cast members in them.

1. The Empire Strikes Back

Grand Maester Pycelle was stabbed to death in Season 6. But before then, Julian Glover was General Veers in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, aka the commander of the 501st Legion who leads the Empire's attack on ice planet Hoth in the series’ second installment, released in 1980. He also played a bad guy in another franchise — secretive businessman Walter Donovan in Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade.

2. The Brothers Grimm

Although the 2005 film wasn't well-received, Lena Headey starred opposite Matt Damon and Heath Ledger in The Brothers Grimm as Angelika, daughter of a woodsman who was turned into a werewolf huntsman due to the Queen’s curse. Another Game Of Thrones star featured in the film is Jonathan Pryce — the very same actor responsible for Cersei's walk of shame — as General Vavarin Delatombe, an evil French military commander.

3. Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Back in the '90s, Oberyn Martell actor Pedro Pascal was going by the name Pedro Balmaceda. He played a freshman at UC Sunnydale named Eddie in the Season 4 premiere of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Too bad his friendship with Buffy was extremely short-lived, as she was forced to kill him after a group of vampires transformed him into one of their own.

4. John Adams

Stephen Dillane played Leonard Woolf opposite Nicole Kidman in her Oscar-winning performance as Virginia Woolf in The Hours, the cast of which also included Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore. But the Stannis Baratheon actor also portrayed Thomas Jefferson in the 2008 HBO miniseries John Adams, which also starred Paul Giamatti and scored four Golden Globe awards and 13 Emmy awards — more than any other miniseries in history.

5. An Education

An Education was a breakout film for Carey Mulligan, who played a schoolgirl named Jenny. But her buddy in the coming-of-age movie was none other than actor Ellie Kendrick, who played Jenny’s friend Tina and Meera Reed in Thrones. Her film debut was an especially successful one considering it received three Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, and has since been adapted into a stage play.

6. Batman Begins

There was once a time where you could look at Jack Gleeson and not see the demented Joffrey Baratheon, and that time was in 2005 with Batman Begins. Reportedly cast at the recommendation of Christian Bale after the two starred in 2002’s Reign of Fire together, Gleeson appeared in Batman Begins as a young fan of the superhero, who later rescues him from villain Ra’s al Ghul, played by Liam Neeson.

7. The Wire

Before he was Littlefinger, Aidan Gillen appeared in another HBO series, The Wire. Entering the show in Season 3, the actor portrayed Tommy Carcetti, an ambitious Baltimore politician who begins his arc as a city councilman. Gillen was also in the short-lived British version of Queer As Folk, leading the series’ ten episodes as Stuart Alan Jones, a successful advertising executive.

8. The Fast & The Furious

Nathalie Emmanuel is a newer addition to The Fast And The Furious franchise. The Missandei actor played the hacker Ramsey — no relation to Ramsay Bolton — alongside Vin Diesel and Chris “Ludacris” Bridges in 2015's Furious 7, 2017's The Fate Of The Furious, and 2021’s F9: The Fast Saga. (Bonus: Tormund actor Kristofer Hivju was also in The Fate Of The Furious.)

9. Bridget Jones' Diary

Pervy Uncle Geoffrey was always inappropriate with Bridget, and he was played by Randyll Tarly actor James Faulkner in all three of the Bridget Jones franchise’s films, based on Helen Fielding’s late ’90s novels. Renée Zellwegger, Colin Firth, and Hugh Grant also starred in the trilogy, which has grossed a combined $756 million and received nominations at the Oscars, Golden Globes, MTV Movie Awards, and more.

10. Moulin Rouge!

Jim Broadbent was also in the Bridget Jones movies — as well as many other projects on this list — and you can catch Archmaester Ebrose singing and dancing alongside Kidman in Moulin Rouge! The character Le Chocolat from Baz Luhrmann's musical was also from Game Of Thrones, as actor Deobia Oparei also played Areo Hotah — captain of the Martell guard.

11. Captain America

Actor Natalie Dormer, aka Margaery Tyrell in GoT, kissed Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers in the first Captain America movie, which was fitting as she excels at portraying a seducer. While she didn’t appear in the series’ two sequels, Dormer scored a role in another popular franchise just two years later as Cressida in both installments of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay.

12. Baywatch

For its last two seasons, Baywatch was revamped and became Baywatch Hawaii, with only David Hasselhoff, Brooke Burns, Michael Bergin, and Michael Newman returning from the original lineup. One of the main new stars was a young Jason Momoa — aka the one and only Khal Drogo — in his television debut. The retooled version of Baywatch was short-lived, but it spawned a television film and would go on to launch the career of the future Aquaman.

13. Titanic

Ron Donachie has a habit of playing Masters of Arms, as that was his role in Titanic, in which he arrested Leonardo DiCaprio's Jack Dawson, who was framed for theft. He portrayed Rodrik Cassel in Game Of Thrones, aka the Master of Arms of Winterfell with epic facial hair. Donachie would go on to appear in 1994’s live-action The Jungle Book and the cult classic sci-fi series Doctor Who.

14. Love Actually

OK, you probably already knew that Jojen Reed was Sam in Love Actually, but the young actor Thomas Brodie-Sangster is too adorable to leave off this list. In addition to the classic romance film and GoT, Brodie-Sangster memorably appeared in 2005’s Nanny McPhee, voiced the often-silent Ferb in Disney Channel’s Phineas & Ferb, and was recently nominated for an Emmy for his portrayal of Benny Watts in Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit.

15. The Others

Many Game Of Thrones stars have worked with Kidman, including Catelyn Stark actor Michelle Fairley, who was essential to the twist of the Golden Globe-nominated Spanish horror film The Others. Fairley also memorably played the mother of Hermoine Granger (Emma Watson) in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1 before her time on GoT, during which she received two Screen Actor’s Guild award nominations.

16. Suits

Both Lord Varys (Conleth Hill) and Catelyn Stark (Fairley) have shown up on the USA series Suits as Edward Darby and Dr. Ava Hessington, respectively. The legal drama followed the associates of a fictional New York City law firm and now boasts real-life royalty in Meghan Markle, who played lead character Rachel Zane for seven of the series’ nine seasons.

17. Broadchurch

In addition to actors from The Crown, Fleabag, and Bridgerton, ITV’s 2013 crime drama Broadchurch featured a few Game Of Thrones actors over its three seasons. In the series’ Season 1, which followed the aftermath of the murder of an 11-year-old boy, GoT actors including Grey Worm’s Jacob Anderson, Walder Frey’s David Bradley, and Septa Mordane’s Susan Brown all made appearances.

18. Braveheart

Although Jeor Mormont died in Season 3, his presence still looms large over Game Of Thrones. Actor James Cosmo is no stranger to epic stories as his half-century-long career has included roles in Highlander, Troy, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, Wonder Woman, and Braveheart — where he played Campbell, a follower of real-life late-13th-century Scottish warrior William Wallace.

19. Pride & Prejudice, 1995

Rupert Vansittart was also in Braveheart, but the Yohn Royce actor (Royce is the bannerman of House Arryn who oversees Lysa Arryn's son Robin) is better known to Jane Austen fans for his role as Mr. Hurst in the BBC’s 1995 Pride and Prejudice miniseries. Vansittart proved his devotion to the Regency era author when he also starred in 2013’s Austenland, which followed a thirty-something woman (Keri Russell) obsessed with Pride and Prejudice and was produced by Twilight author Stephanie Meyer.

20. Prometheus

Speaking of Lysa Arryn, Kate Dickie is in the Oscar-nominated 2012 Alien prequel Prometheus, directed by Ridley Scott. Dickie starred as Ford, the spaceship’s medic, alongside fellow GoT actors Ian Whyte, who played Wun Wun the giant, and Emun Elliott, who played Marillion, the troubadour whose tongue was cut out in Season 1. However, none of them returned for the film’s sequel, 2017’s Alien: Covenant.

21. The Exorcist

Max von Sydow has been acting since the 1940s, so the Three-Eyed Raven actor has an impressive resume, including the role of Father Merrin in The Exorcist, for which he received a Golden Globe nomination. Other roles in his extensive career include Jesus Christ in George Stevens’ The Greatest Story Ever Told, Doctor Kynes in David Lynch’s Dune, and Dr. Jeremiah Naehring in Martin Scorcese’s Shutter Island.

22. Nashville

Michiel Huisman already had an impressive set of roles under his belt when he appeared on Game of Thrones for Seasons 4, 5, and 6 as Daario Naharis. Prior to his stint on the iconic HBO fantasy series, Huisman portrayed Liam McGuinnis for 13 episodes on Nashville and Cal Morrison for six episodes on Orphan Black. Since his time on GoT, he’s appeared in Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House and HBO Max’s The Flight Attendant.

23. The Walking Dead

Obara Sand actor Keisha Castle-Hughes began her career as Paikea in the film Whale Rider, for which she received an Oscar nomination. Before she was GoT’s Sand Snake, she also played Joan in the Season 5 episode of The Walking Dead. In "Slabtown," Joan was a fellow "patient" at Grady Memorial Hospital with Beth Greene (Emily Kinney). In recent years, she’s played Hana Gibson on FBI and its spinoff, FBI: Most Wanted.

24. Resident Evil

Long before he played Ser Jorah Mormont, actor Iain Glen appeared in several films based on video games. Starting with a lead role as Manfred Powell alongside Angelina Jolie in 2001’s Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Glen then went on to portray Dr. Alexander Issacs in three installments of the Resident Evil film series. He’s also appeared in two other series with GoT-level fanfare: Downton Abbey and Doctor Who.

25. Pirates Of The Caribbean

Pryce has been acting since the 1970s, and he was already a prolific actor before he became the High Sparrow on GoT. Prior to his time on the HBO series, he played Governor Weatherby Swann, aka Elizabeth Swann's father in the first three installments of the Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise. More recently, Pryce portrays Prince Philip in Seasons 5 and 6 of Netflix’s The Crown.

26. The Babadook

The Babadook gained notoriety when the creature of the horror film miraculously became a symbol of LGBTQ pride. Actor Essie Davis played the film’s lead, Amelia Vanek, and in GoT, she was Lady Crane, the theater actor in Braavos who saved Arya. Throughout her decades-long career, Davis has also received a Tony nomination for her role of Dotty in the Broadway production of Jumpers.

27. Atonement

Long before he was Theon Greyjoy, Alfie Allen was born into a family of creatives, including his sister Lily Allen, who wrote a song about his marijuana habits titled “Alfie” on her 2007 album Alright, Still. Prior to his Emmy-nominated role in GoT, he appeared in the Oscar-nominated film Atonement, which also features Tobias Menzies (Edmure Tully) and Nonso Anozie (Xaro Xhoan Daxos).

28. The James Bond Franchise

Many Game Of Thrones actors have appeared in James Bond films. Menzies acted as Villiers alongside Judi Dench as M in 2006’s Casino Royale, the first Bond movie to feature Daniel Craig in the titular role. Additionally, Olenna Tyrell’s Diana Rigg appeared as Tracy in 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Ned Stark’s Sean Bean played Janus in 1995’s GoldenEye, and Talisa Stark’s Oona Chaplin portrayed a hotel receptionist in 2008’s Quantum of Solace.

29. Luther

Indira Varma — whose character Ellaria Sand was last seen imprisoned at King's Landing and forced to watch her daughter die — portrayed Zoe Luther, the wife of Idris Elba's character in the first season of Luther. Rose Leslie (Ygritte), Lucian Msamati (Salladhor Saan), and Patrick Malahide (Balon Greyjoy) have also shown up on the BBC series, which has received nominations at both the Emmys and Golden Globes.

30. Star Trek

Doran Martell was killed by Ellaria in Season 6 of GoT, but years earlier, actor Alexander Siddig portrayed Dr. Julian Bashir in the Star Trek shows The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. Siddig also appeared as Hamri Al-Assad in 24 — which won 20 Emmy awards and two Golden Globes — though he didn’t reprise his role in any of the series’ spinoffs.

31. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Maester Luwin took care of Bran and Rickon in Seasons 1 and 2 of GoT, and you may recognize actor Donald Sumpter as Detective Morell in the American version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, released in 2011. The film took home an Academy Award in 2012 for Best Film Editing and spawned a 2018 sequel titled The Girl in the Spider’s Web, though Sumpter did not reprise his role.

32. Sherlock

The banker Tycho Nestoris is portrayed by Mark Gatiss, who was Mycroft Holmes on BBC’s Sherlock — the older brother of the titular character, played by Benedict Cumberbatch. Gatiss also co-created the series, which won a Peabody and nine Emmy awards during its original seven-year run. He seems to have a penchant for franchises with immense fanfare, having also acted in Doctor Who and Mission: Impossible 7.

33. The Worst Witch (1986)

Lyanna Mormont actor Bella Ramsey starred in the Netflix adaptation of The Worst Witch, which premiered in 2017 and ran for four seasons. But back in 1986, Lady Olenna actor Diana Rigg was in ITV’s made-for-television movie version with Tim Curry in this obscure but beloved gem. Ramsey currently voices the titular character of Netflix’s Emmy-winning fantasy children’s series Hilda.

34. A Little Princess

Get ready to love Davos Seaworth even more than you already do. Liam Cunningham portrayed Captain Richard Crewe, aka Sara's father in the beloved 1995 film A Little Princess. Since his first appearance on Game of Thrones, Cunningham has lent his acting chops to Doctor Who and even tried his hand at voice acting for a guest spot on Rick and Morty.

35. The Imitation Game

Those who appeared in Sherlock aren’t the only GoT actors who have had the pleasure of acting alongside Cumberbatch. Tywin Lannister actor Charles Dance kept his persona of a stern authority figure in 2014’s The Imitation Game, which won an Oscar and received several Golden Globe nominations. More recently, Dance portrayed Lord Mountbatten in Seasons 3 and 4 of Netflix’s The Crown, which earned him an Emmy nomination.

36. A Knight's Tale

He may have been king of Westeros, but Robert Baratheon actor Mark Addy was just a lowly squire back in 2001’s A Knight’s Tale. Addy starred alongside Heath Ledger as his loyal friend Roland in this quasi-medieval adventure film that received three MTV Movie Award nominations. In 2019, the GoT actor also appeared as Mr. Bakewell in the Downton Abbey movie.

37. Valkyrie

Carice van Houten, the Red Woman herself, played Nina Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg — aka the wife of Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, played by Tom Cruise — in 2008’s WWII thriller Valkyrie. Jaqen H'ghar (Tom Wlaschiha) also appeared in the film, which depicts the German army officers’ 1944 plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler and to use the Operation Valkyrie national emergency plan to overtake the nation.

38. Hot Fuzz

Sandor “The Hound” Clegane showed his more playful side when actor Rory McCann played Michael Armstrong in 2007’s buddy cop film Hot Fuzz, which centers on two West Country police officers as they investigate many horrific deaths. The film also stars Nick Frost and Simon Pegg, and it’s part of the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, created by Pegg and Edgar Wright.

39. Wimbledon

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, aka the actor behind Jaime Lannister, used both his hands in the 2004 rom-com Wimbledon as he portrayed Paul Bettany's tennis buddy Dieter Prohl. Since his time on GoT, the Danish actor has starred in 2020’s The Silencing, and he appears in Netflix’s forthcoming Against the Ice, on which he also served as a co-writer alongside Joe Derrick.

40. Gulliver's Travels (2010)

Although it's almost impossible to tell, Yara Greyjoy actor Gemma Whelan made a small appearance as the Lilliputian portraying Rose from Titanic in the 2010 fantasy film based on the 1726 novel of the same name starring Jack Black. More recently, Whelan popped up in one episode of Killing Eve and acted alongside Anya Taylor-Joy as Mrs. Weston in 2020’s Emma.

41. The Crucible (1996)

Actor Peter Vaughan died shortly after his Game Of Thrones character, the wise Maester Aemon, did in Season 5. About two decades earlier, he played another virtuous character as Giles Corey in The Crucible alongside Daniel Day-Lewis’ John Proctor. Throughout his extensive career, Vaughan also played the Bishop in 1998’s Lés Misérables and Uncle Alfie in 2007’s Death at a Funeral.

42. The Strain

Like Jim Broadbent, David Bradley has so much overlap on this list — Captain America, Broadchurch, Hot Fuzz — that it's a requirement to highlight him. At the same time that he was playing the despicable Walder Frey on Game of Thrones, he was busy being a good guy on FX's The Strain as Abraham Setrakian. Bradley will also portray Mister Geppetto in Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson’s forthcoming take on Pinocchio.

43. 30 Rock

It’s common knowledge that Buddy Hobbs (Will Ferrell) offensively mistook Peter Dinklage’s character for one of Santa’s helpers in 2003’s Elf before the actor took on the role of Tyrion Lannister in GoT. But you may have forgotten that Dinklage played Stewart on 30 Rock, who went on a date with Tina Fey’s Liz Lemon. However, she mistook him for a child more than once, so he understandably dumped her.

44. Dark Phoenix

Sophie Turner was just a teenager when she made her onscreen acting debut as Sansa Stark. During her time on the series, Turner was cast as Jean Grey in Marvel’s X-Men: Apocalypse in 2016, and she led the 2019 sequel, Dark Phoenix. Thanks to her husband Joe Jonas, the actress has also starred in two Jonas Brothers videos, “Sucker” and “What A Man Gotta Do.”

45. The New Mutants

Maisie Williams also made her onscreen debut in GoT as Arya Stark. In 2020, she starred as Rahne Sinclair alongside Taylor-Joy in superhero horror The New Mutants, aka the final X-Men film. Continuing on a horror streak, Williams starred in The Owners the same year, and she’ll soon conquer the role of real-life groupie and model Pamela Rooke in Pistol, a forthcoming series on the Sex Pistols that also stars Brodie-Sangster.

46. Eternals

Following in Turner and Williams’ footsteps, Jon Snow actor Kit Harington will act in a superhero film following his time on GoT. He’ll appear in Chloé Zhao’s upcoming Eternals film alongside Angelina Jolie and Kumail Nanjiani as human warrior Dane Whitman. Harington has also tried his hand at voice acting as Eret in the second and third installments of How to Train Your Dragon.

Next time you watch some of these favorite films and shows, keep your eye out for the Game Of Thrones stars — because even though most of their characters never won the game of thrones, they're clearly winning the game of entertainment.