Isaac Hempstead Wright was just 10 years old when he became a part of the legacy of one of the most talked-out TV series of all time by being cast as Bran Stark on Game of Thrones. “It actually started because I found soccer club too cold, so I thought, what else can I do? Drama club,” Hempstead Wright told Jimmy Kimmel in 2019. “I was able to do six auditions, and I just enjoyed sort of being part of this drama club. And then my sixth audition was for this ‘HBO pilot’—and I knew what none of those words meant—for Game of Thrones.” It was his first onscreen part aside from a commercial, he explained.
Hempstead Wright ended up spending ten years on Game of Thrones, with his character gaining increasing prominence; the only season Bran wasn’t a part of was Season 5. Now, the British actor is 23 years old and three years removed from the show’s divisive 2019 finale. Read on to find out what else the young star is up to today.
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Hempstead Wright will always be known to some as Bran Stark, but he’s continuing to take on more roles. In addition to starring on the popular series, he was also in the 2011 horror movie The Awakening and the 2013 thriller Closed Circuit. He also had a voice role in the 2015 animated movie The Boxtrolls. Most recently, Hempstead Wright appeared in the 2021 sci-fi movie Voyagers.
In an interview with GQ in 2019, Hempstead Wright shared what he took from the Game of Thrones set and that he regretted the keepsakes he chose.
“We came back to do a cover shoot for EW, and at the end of that, I was like, ‘Oh, [expletive], this is my last day on Game of Thrones ever. I’ve got to grab something,'” he said. “I just ran through the set and grabbed a wooden spoon and a little tub with some kind of gel in it. I think other people have got some really cool things, and I’ve just stolen kitchen utensils.”
Hempstead Wright began college during Game of Thrones but later dropped out to focus on acting.
“It was really hard to juggle it with filming Season 8,” the actor told Kimmel, “but also it was kind of overwhelming the response I had of students who were very, very big Game of Thrones fans. I can remember when I first arrived at my halls of residence, my flatmate opened the door and just sort of looked at me in this slightly stunned expression. And then, apparently, I went down to get some more stuff and they had to have like a flat conference where they were like, ‘Oh my god, the Three-Eyed Raven is in our flat.'”
After the show concluded, Hempstead Wright went back to school to study a field far different from acting. “I’m going back to studying neuroscience now,” he told Anthem magazine in 2019.
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Hempstead Wright spent 10 years of his life working on Game of Thrones, so, after the show ended, he was glad to live a less hectic life while still working occasionally.
“It feels like I’ve just lived an entire career and an entire life, but I’ve literally just started my life,” he told GQ a few years ago. “I mean, I’m 19. I feel like I’ve got time to try and be like, ‘Right, let’s take stock, and have fun for a bit.’ So, yeah, the plan is: just relax and have fun, get some acting jobs here and there, and then come back and go for it at Uni.” Evidence of this can be seen on Hempstead Wright’s Instagram account, where he sometimes shares pictures of himself hanging out with his friends, traveling, and reading neuroscience books.
Told by GQ that he sounded willing to go with the flow, the actor responded, “That’s what Bran and I did for the past nine years, and I haven’t done so badly.”
