A Game of Thrones is the first novel in A Song of Ice and Fire, a series of fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin. It was first published on August 1, 1996. The novel won the 1997 Locus Award and was nominated for both the 1997 Nebula Award and the 1997 World Fantasy Award. The novella Blood of the Dragon, comprising the Daenerys Targaryen chapters from the novel, won the 1997 Hugo Award for Best Novella. In January 2011, the novel became a New York Times Bestseller and reached No. 1 on the list in July 2011.
Roger William Allam is a British actor, who has performed on stage, in film, on television and radio.
Gregor Clegane, nicknamed "The Mountain That Rides" or simply "The Mountain", is a fictional character in the A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin, and its television adaptation Game of Thrones. In the books, the character is initially introduced in 1996's A Game of Thrones. He subsequently appeared in A Clash of Kings (1998), A Storm of Swords (2000) and in A Dance with Dragons (2011).
Jaime Lannister is a fictional character in the A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin and its television adaptation Game of Thrones, where he is portrayed by Danish actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. Jaime becomes a prominent point of view character in the novels beginning with A Storm of Swords (2000).
Michael Vivian Fyfe Pennington is an English actor, director and writer. Together with director Michael Bogdanov, he founded the English Shakespeare Company in 1986 and was its Joint Artistic Director until 1992. He has written ten books, directed in the UK, US, Romania and Japan, and is an Honorary Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He is best known for his role as Moff Jerjerrod in the original Star Wars trilogy film Return of the Jedi.
Cersei Lannister is a fictional character in the A Song of Ice and Fire series of epic fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin, and its television adaptation Game of Thrones, where she is portrayed by actress Lena Headey. Introduced in 1996's A Game of Thrones, Cersei is a member of House Lannister, one of the wealthiest and most powerful families on the continent of Westeros. She subsequently appears in A Clash of Kings (1998) and A Storm of Swords (2000), and becomes a prominent point of view character beginning with A Feast for Crows (2005). Cersei will continue to be a point-of-view character in the forthcoming volume The Winds of Winter.
Amanda Root is an English actress. She is perhaps best known for her starring role as Anne Elliot in the 1995 BBC adaptation of Persuasion. A familiar face on both stage and screen, she worked regularly with the Royal Shakespeare Company during her early career, performing as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, among other roles. In 2009, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performance as Sarah in Alan Ayckbourn's The Norman Conquests.
Margaery Tyrell is a fictional character in the A Song of Ice and Fire series of epic fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin, and its television adaptation Game of Thrones, where she is portrayed by English actress Natalie Dormer. Margaery is first mentioned in A Game of Thrones (1996) and first appears in A Clash of Kings (1998). She subsequently appeared in A Storm of Swords (2000) and A Feast for Crows (2005).
Walter Charles Dance is an English actor. He is known for playing strict, authoritarian characters and villains. Dance started his career on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) before appearing in film and television. For his services to drama he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2006.
Raymond Fearon is an English actor. He played garage mechanic Nathan Cooper on ITV's long-running soap opera Coronation Street and voiced the centaur Firenze in the Wizarding World film series Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts.
Alan Armstrong, known professionally as Alun Armstrong, is an English character actor. He grew up in County Durham in North East England, and first became interested in acting through Shakespeare productions at his grammar school. Since his career began in the early 1970s, he has played, in his words, "the full spectrum of characters from the grotesque to musicals... I always play very colourful characters, often a bit crazy, despotic, psychotic".
Lord Varys is a fictional character in the A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin, and its television adaptation Game of Thrones.
Petyr Baelish, nicknamed Littlefinger, is a fictional character in the A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin, and its television adaptation Game of Thrones. Introduced in 1996's A Game of Thrones, Littlefinger is the master of coin on King Robert's small council. He is a childhood friend of Catelyn Stark, having grown up with her and her two siblings at Riverrun. He subsequently appeared in Martin's books A Clash of Kings (1998), A Storm of Swords (2000), and A Feast for Crows (2005). He is set to appear in the forthcoming novel The Winds of Winter. Littlefinger's primary character attributes are his cunning and boundless ambition. Originally hailing from a minor family with little wealth or influence, Baelish used manipulation, bribery, and the connections he secured at Riverrun to gain power and prestige in King's Landing. His intrigues cause several major events that impact Westeros, including the framing of Tyrion Lannister for the attempt on Bran Stark's life, the downfall of Lord Eddard Stark, the deaths of Lord Jon Arryn and King Joffrey Baratheon, and the War of the Five Kings. He is one of the main antagonists in the series.
Indira Anne Varma is a British actress and narrator. Her film debut and first major role was in Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love. She is known for her television roles, such as playing Niobe in the BBC and HBO series Rome (2005–07), Suzie Costello in the BBC series Torchwood (2006), Zoe Luther in the BBC series Luther (2010), Ilsa Pucci in Human Target (2010–11), and Ellaria Sand in the HBO series Game of Thrones (2014–2017). In September 2016 she began starring in the ITV/Netflix series Paranoid as DS Nina Suresh.
Sir Simon Russell Beale is an English actor. He has been described by The Independent as "the greatest stage actor of his generation". He has received two BAFTA Awards, three Olivier Awards, and a Tony Award. For his services to drama, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2019.
Dame Harriet Mary Walter is a British actress. She has performed on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and received an Olivier Award, and nominations for a Tony Award, five Emmy Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2011, Walter was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for services to drama.
Paul Shelley is an English actor.
Jasper Britton is an English actor.
Olenna Tyrell is a fictional character in the A Song of Ice and Fire series of high fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin, and its television adaptation, Game of Thrones.
"Winterfell" is the first episode of the eighth season of HBO's medieval fantasy television series Game of Thrones. The 68th episode of the series overall, it was written by Dave Hill and directed by David Nutter. It first aired on HBO on April 14, 2019.
