Unsurprisingly, none of them have any big TV projects on their upcoming CVs…
It is all too easy to be typecast when you’re part of a show that is hugely popular, and viewers only want to see you in that one thing.
Sure, it is possible to sometimes break free of that curse (Idris Elba freed himself of The Wire, and most of the cast of Friends did well for themselves), but when was the last time you’ve heard about anything involving 99% of the cast of Lost? Or pretty much anyone but Bryan Cranston from Breaking Bad? Or most of the Sex & The City gals? Or the supporting cast of 30 Rock? We could go on, but we’ve got something else to talk about…
We wanted to see if this curse would continue with the cast (and the two primary writers/directors) of Game Of Thrones, so we’ve scoured the internet to see what they’re all up to next.
EMILIA CLARKE (Daenerys Targaryen)
During GOT: Definitely maintained one of the bigger careers outside of the show, thanks to rom-com-dram Me Before You, sci-fi sorta-sequel Terminator Genysis, and sci-fi sorta-prequel Solo: A Star Wars Story.
After GOT: True-life crime thriller Above Suspicion tells the story of the first ever conviction for the murder of an FBI agent (from the director of Clear And Present Danger, Salt, and Patriot Games), while Last Christmas is a Xmas-y rom-com from the director of Bridesmaids, based around the hit George Michael song. Both are due for release before the end of 2019.
KIT HARRINGTON (Jon Snow)
During GOT: Disaster movie (both in plot and in quality) Pompeii, and provided voice work for a supporting character in the How To Train Your Dragon series.
After GOT: Nothing for the moment. Some well-deserved down-time.
SOPHIE TURNER (Sansa Stark)
During GOT: Was a consistent highlight during two of the worst X-Men movies to date, 2016’s Apocalypse and this summer’s Dark Phoenix.
After GOT: Revenge thriller Heavy sees Turner playing one half of a rich couple caught up in the high-end drugs scene in New York, while Broken Solider sees her playing a teenager who befriends a veteran suffering from PTSD. Both are currently scheduled to arrive in cinemas in 2020.
PETER DINKLAGE (Tyrion Lannister)
During GOT: Played the villain in X-Men: Days Of Future Past, the creator of Thanos’ weapon in Avengers: Infinity War, saved the world from aliens in Pixels, and provided voice work for The Angry Birds Movie, and hit video-game Destiny.
After GOT: A number of powerful dramas are all in the works, but the biggie on the horizon is the rumour that he’s going to star in Mel Gibson’s remake of The Wild Bunch alongside Michael Fassbender and Jamie Foxx.
MAISIE WILLIAMS (Arya Stark)
During GOT: A number of small roles in small projects, but also a recurring character in Doctor Who, and provided a voice for the heroine in Aardman animation Early Man.
After GOT: A horror version of the X-Men was due for release in 2018, but so far, The New Mutants is still waiting to hit cinemas. She’ll also star in The Owners, a thriller about a group of teenagers who decide to rob a house for fun, only for things to spiral madly out of control.
NIKOLAJ COSTER-WALDAU (Jaime Lannister)
During GOT: Supporting parts in Tom Cruise sci-fi actioner Oblivion, revenge comedy The Other Woman, and then headlining modern flopbuster Gods Of Egypt.
After GOT: He is mostly returning to Scandanavian cinema for a while, but The Silencing does see him team up with The Mummy’s Annabelle Wallis for a cat-and-mouse serial killer thriller.
LENA HEADEY (Cersei Lannister)
During GOT: Highlights include murderous villain in Dredd, protective home-owner in The Purge, victorious queen in 300: Rise Of An Empire, and loving mother in Fighting With My Family.
After GOT: Asylum-seeker drama The Flood, top-secret action thriller Gunpowder Milkshake (alongside Karen Gillen, Michelle Yeoh, Angela Bassett, and Carla Gugino), and violent thriller Crooks alongside Dirty John’s Juno Temple.
ISAAC HEMPSTEAD WRIGHT (Bran Stark)
During GOT: Provided voice work for characters in Family Guy and animation feature The Boxtrolls.
After GOT: Plays one of the five best thieves in the world in The Blue Mauritius as they all attempt to steal the most expensive stamp in existence, and stars alongside Colin Farrell and Tye Sheridan in dark sci-fi thriller Voyagers, which shows a group of young astronauts go primal on a newly discovered planet after their captain is killed.
GWENDOLINE CHRISTIE (Brienne Of Tarth)
During GOT: Captain Phasma in the Star Wars sequels left quite an impression, but Christie also popped up in Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, The Darkest Minds, Welcome To Marwen, and cult hit show Top Of The Lake.
After GOT: The 100%-sure-to-make-you-cry The Friend tells the story of a man dealing with his wife’s imminent death (co-stars Casey Affleck, Dakota Johnson, and Jason Segel), while The Personal History Of David Copperfield is the next project from the creator of The Thick Of It and VEEP, and co-stars Tilda Swinton, Hugh Laurie, and Dev Patel. Expect Oscars.
DAVID BENIOFF & DB WEISS (Showrunners)
During GOT: They wrote an episode for It’s Always Sunny, while Benioff provided the script for Will Smith’s sci-fi action thriller Gemini Man.
After GOT: Before the end of the last season of the show, they announced they were working on a new HBO show titled Confederate, which was “set in an alternate reality in which the Confederate States successfully seceded from the Union and the institution of slavery thrives.” There was HUGELY negative reaction to that, and it hasn’t been mentioned again since then as far as we can tell. Instead, they’re now both working on a new, non-Skywalker-related Star Wars movie, due in December 2022.
