Game of Thrones - "The Night Lands" - 1:42 pm Thursday, January 15 on HBO Drama (West)

Peter Dinklage (Actor)

Born: June 11, 1969
Birthplace: Morristown, New Jersey, United States

Trivia: Standing four feet five inches tall, actor Peter Dinklage has had a prolific career both on-stage and in film. After graduating from college in Vermont, he studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London and the Welsh School of Music and Drama in Wales. He worked in several productions off-Broadway and wrote his own play entitled Frog. He made his film debut in Tom DiCillo's 1995 independent comedy Living in Oblivion as the dwarf in the dream sequence. He then appeared in Safe Men, Bullet, Never Again, and Just a Kiss before returning to independent comedies. In 2001 he had a substantial role in Michel Gondry's Human Nature, written by Charlie Kaufman. In 2002, he played Binky, the sidekick to the clown Bananas played by Steve Buscemi in Alexandre Rockwell's 13 Moons. His first starring film role was in Tom McCarthy's The Station Agent as Finbar McBride, a lonely misfit who shacks up in an abandoned railway depot. Also starring Patricia Clarkson and Bobby Cannavale, the film won festival acclaim at Sundance. In 2003, Dinklage can be seen in both the Lincoln Center production of Toulouse Lautrec and the Jon Favreau holiday comedy Elf starring Will Ferrell. After a supporting role in The Baxter found Dinklage appearing in one of the year's most off-beat romantic comedies, and the sci fi television series Threshold afforded him the opportunity to appear alongside Star Trek: The Next Generation star Brent Spiner, Dinklage would next share the screen with the most popular canine in film and television history in the 2006 family-oriented adventure Lassie. In 2005, Dinklage took on a starring role in Threshold, a short-lived science fiction series from CBS, and joined the cast of filmmaker Michael Showalter's comedy The Baxter, in which he played a wedding planner. The following year the actor would make waves in Ryan Murphy's highly sexed drama Nip/Tuck. After appearing in a variety of television roles (including a stint playing himself on HBO's popular series entourage) Dinklage once again teamed with HBO to join the cast of Game of Thrones. This proved a fateful decision on his part, as the adaptation of George R. R. Martin's popular series of novels would become wildly successful, in no small part due to Dinklage's portrayal of Tyrion Lannister, the "imp" whose political savvy and brilliant mind allow him to thrive in a world that is less than kind to those it perceives as physically limited. The role led to an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Series, Miniseries or Television Film in 2012.

Lena Headey (Actor)

Born: October 03, 1973
Birthplace: Hamilton, Bermuda

Trivia: One of the latest in an illustrious line of British actresses to graduate from the English Rose School of Acting into the realm of full-bodied contemporary roles, Lena Headey first came to the attention of audiences in 1992, when she played the younger version of Jeremy Irons' wife in Waterland. Hailing from Yorkshire (though she was born in Bermuda in 1973), Headey originally intended to be a hairdresser. Fate intervened, however, when her performance in a one-off show in the company of six school friends at the National Theatre caught the interest of a casting agent, who contacted her drama teacher and subsequently cast Headey in Waterland.Headey's turn as a sexually adventurous schoolgirl in the film led to her being cast as a sexually adventurous maid in Merchant Ivory's The Remains of the Day in 1993. More period adventure followed that same year in The Summer House, in which Headey played a quiet young lass being forced into a 1950s marriage with an insufferable mama's boy. After another stint as a corseted virgin in The Jungle Book (1994), Headey finally got to take part in the latter half of the 20th century in the BBC miniseries Loved Up (1995), in which she played an Ecstasy-saturated raver. That same year, she took part in another BBC mini, Band of Gold, in which she further distanced herself from her period past by portraying a lesbian prostitute. Over the next several years, Headey would appear in several projects like Posession, The Brothers Grimm, and The Red Baron, as well as TV series like Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Game of Thrones.The actress returned to period drama in Marleen Gorris' adaptation of Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway (1997), which cast her as the younger version of the title character's best friend. More contemporary work subsequently came her way in Antonia Bird's Face (also 1997), a crime thriller in which she played the social worker girlfriend of Robert Carlyle's political idealist-turned-gangster. She also starred in the romantic fantasy The Man with Rain in His Shoes (1998) as one of the love interests (along with Penelope Cruz) of an out-of-work Scottish actor (Douglas Henshall).After supporting turns in the lavish made-for-TV Merlin (1998) and Onegin (1999), the latter of which featured her as Liv Tyler's sister, Headey crossed over into the realm of Hollywood teen-oriented offerings with Gossip (2000), a college-set drama that cast her as one of three students who start a nasty rumor about two of their classmates (Kate Hudson and Joshua Jackson). Although the film was a bomb, Headey's career looked bright with a number of projects on the horizon. Included amongst them was Aberdeen (2000), a road movie set in Norway and Scotland that also starred Ian Hart, Charlotte Rampling, and Stellan Skarsgård.

Emilia Clarke (Actor)

Born: May 01, 1987
Birthplace: London, England

Trivia: The daughter of a theatrical sound engineer, began acting at age 3 after attending a stage production of Show Boat that her father worked on. Appeared in secondary-school productions of West Side Story and Twelfth Night. Made British-TV debut in a 2009 episode of the BBC soap opera Doctors; made U.S. TV debut in the 2010 SyFy movie Triassic Attack.

Aidan Gillen (Actor)

Born: April 24, 1968
Birthplace: Drumcondra, Dublin, Ireland

Trivia: The embodiment of the line "when Irish eyes are smiling, they're up to something bad," Aidan Gillen oozed ruthless charisma and wicked sex appeal in his role as the sexually prolific Stuart Alan Jones in the 1999 British TV series Queer As Folk. Bringing wry humor and understatement to a potentially over-the-top role, Gillen earned a reputation as one of the U.K.'s most compulsively watchable new performers.Born in Dublin, Gillen got his professional start in the late '80s, appearing in minor film roles. He worked steadily through the 1990s, in film and on television, popping up in such diverse offerings as Circle of Friends (1995), Some Mother's Son (1996), and Jez Butterworth's Mojo (1997). His major breakthrough role was inarguably that of Queer As Folk's Stuart, an arrogant, vain, and thoroughly sexy PR executive who strips countless men of both their clothing and resistance. The success of the controversial miniseries ensured that it -- and its talented actors -- would be back for a second go-round, which followed in 2000. That same year, Gillen found accompanying acclaim on the big screen, in Jamie Thraves' acclaimed directorial debut The Low Down, in which he starred as an amiable but frustrated commercial artist whose life changes when he meets a radiant, ambitious woman. He appeared in both My Kingdom and Lorna Doone, as well as the action comedy Shanghai Knights before joining the cast of the revered HBO series The Wire in that show's third season. When his time on that program came to a close he was in the action film 12 Rounds, and then was cast in the series Identity.

Iain Glen (Actor)

Born: June 24, 1961
Birthplace: Edinburgh, Scotland

Trivia: A handsome supporting player whose occasional leap into the lead has resulted in some interestingly varied performances, actor Iain Glen has appeared in everything from low-budget indies to high-profile Hollywood blockbusters -- frequently holding his own opposite such screen heavies as Harvey Keitel (The Young Americans) and Billy Connolly (Gabriel & Me). A native of Edinburgh, Scotland, who studied at Edinburgh Academy and the University of Aberdeen before honing his craft at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, the talented Shakespearian actor would go on to impress audiences in such stage works as Macbeth and Henry V. In 1985, the ascending stage talent made a successful transition to the screen with a small role in an episode of the popular U.K. mystery series Taggart, and after making the leap to the big screen with a supporting role in the 1987 feature Will You Love Me Tomorrow, Glen returned to television the next year for a role in the series The Fear. In the years that followed, Glen's big-screen career gained notable momentum thanks to solid performances in Gorillas in the Mist (1988) and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1990), with his early years coming to a peak when he took home a Best Actor award from the Berlin International Film Festival for his turn as a convicted killer in the 1990 film Silent Scream. That same year, Glen also received accolades for his portrayal of real-life explorer Lt. John Hanning Speke in Mountains of the Moon, though the remainder of the decade would find him sticking mainly to U.K. television (occasionally taking the lead, as in 1992's Frankie's House). Following an endearing turn as a sports reporter whose one-night fling leads him to come to terms with his tragic past in Glasgow Kiss, Glen received notable international exposure with a high-profile role opposite Angelina Jolie in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Though Glen's shattering performance as a father suffering terminal lung cancer in the drama Gabriel & Me (screenwriter Lee Hall's follow-up to Billy Elliot) ultimately failed to gel with audiences, Glen's horrific turn as a seemingly possessed father in Darkness offered the talented actor at his manic best. By this point, Glen seemed to be growing increasingly comfortable alternating between more independent-minded features and more large-scale productions, taking the role of noted psychiatrist Carl Jung in the 2003 romantic drama The Soul Keeper before taking a more epic turn as an anthropologist who hunts and captures pygmies in order to study them and prove a link between man and ape in 2005's Man to Man. He appeared in Ridley Scott's epic Kingdom of Heaven, as well as Resident Evil: Extinction. In 2008 he had a major part in a retelling of The Diary of Anne Frank for the BBC, and followed that up with a part in the Michael Caine vehicle Harry Brown. In 2011 he acted in the Oscar winning biopic The Iron Lady.

Kit Harington (Actor)

Born: December 26, 1986
Birthplace: London, England

Trivia: Descended from a viscount who served as Britain's Secretary of War at the turn of the 19th century, and is a nephew of a baronet; the family is listed in Burke's Peerage. Originally planned to be a journalist before deciding on acting. Starred in the World War I stage drama War Horse in London immediately after graduating from drama school. Made his TV debut in Game of Thrones. Named the face of Jimmy Choo in 2015. Played the title role in Doctor Faustus at the Duke of York Theatre in the West End in 2016.

Liam Cunningham (Actor)

Born: June 02, 1961
Birthplace: Dublin, Ireland

Trivia: Irish actor Liam Cunningham has spent much of his career on stage, but also occasionally appears on television and in feature films. He made his movie debut with a small role in Mike Newell's charming Irish fantasy Into the West (1993). He has since played supporting roles in productions such as War of the Buttons (1994) and Michael Winterbottom's Jude (1996). Before entering drama school in the 1980s, Cunningham had been an electrician. He started out on the Irish stage and then embarked upon a U.S. tour with a travelling Irish troupe. Cunningham's other stage credits include stints with the Passion Machine theater company and London's Royal Court Theatre. His television credits include guest-starring roles on such British series as Cracker.

Alfie Allen (Actor)

Born: September 12, 1986
Birthplace: Hammersmith, London, England

Trivia: Had a small role, with sister Lily Allen, in Oscar-nominated Elizabeth (1998), on which their mother, Alison Owen, was a producer. Is the subject of "Alfie," a song on Lily's debut album, Alright, Still (2006). Claims to be one of the first children in the United Kingdom to be given Ritalin after being diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD). In 2008, succeeded Daniel Radcliffe in the role of troubled teen Alan Strang of Peter Shaffer's Equus for a revival tour of the 1973 play.

Maisie Williams (Actor)

Born: April 15, 1997
Birthplace: Bristol, England

Trivia: Got her first acting job in HBO's Game of Thrones as Arya Stark. Studied dance at the Susan Hill School of Dancing and Bath Dance College. Credits her dancing experience for her ability to sword fight. Is naturally right-handed, but attempts to do things left-handed in the series because it is mentioned in the George R.R. Martin books that her character is left-handed. Won two 2012 Portal Awards (for best Supporting Actress/TV and Best Young Actor).

Stephen Dillane (Actor)

Born: November 30, 1956
Birthplace: Kensington, London, England

Trivia: A well-respected stage and TV actor who has also appeared in a number of films in his native England, Stephen Dillane is blessed with both exceptional talent and the kind of dark, wry good looks that allow him to move effortlessly through a variety of characterizations.Raised in South London as the son of a surgeon, Dillane first became involved in theatre while in school. He studied history and politics at Exeter University and then did a stint as a journalist for the Croydon Advertiser. As he developed an intense and unswerving hatred for journalism very early on, Dillane was soon casting his thoughts toward an alternate career and, after a few years, decided to chuck journalism for acting. After studying his adopted profession at the Bristol Old Vic theatre school, he began finding work on the stage and was soon racking up positive notices. His theatrical credits grew throughout the 1990s, with critically acclaimed work in the 1994 Peter Hall production of Hamlet, in which Dillane was cast as the eponymous Dane, and the London production of Angels in America.Dillane first struck a responsive chord with British TV viewers in 1994, when he starred in The Rector's Wife. He went on to do starring screen work in Henry Jaglom's Deja Vu (1997), in which he played a painter, Firelight (1997), which cast him as a 19th-century aristocrat opposite Sophie Marceau, and Michael Winterbottom's Welcome to Sarajevo (1997), which featured Dillane as a journalist. In 2000, the actor received a Tony Award for his portrayal of a brilliant but emotionally evasive playwright in Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing, earning a new level of respect and recognition on both sides of the Atlantic.Throughout the early part of the 2000's, Dillane appeared in an increasing number of high-profile films. In 2001 he was onscreen with the likes of Robert Redford and Brad Pitt in Spy Game, and in 2002 he could be seen in The Truth About Charlie, Jonathan Demme's remake of Charade, and the critically-acclaimed The Hours. His next big-screen role would be as Merlin in Antoine Fuqua's 2004 historical retelling of the story of King Arthur. As the next several years came to pass, Dillane would appear in many more projects, like Savage Grace and 44 Inch Chest, as well as TV series like Game of Thrones and Coup.

Carice Van Houten (Actor)

Born: September 05, 1976
Birthplace: Leiderdorp, The Netherlands

Trivia: Born September 5, 1976, in the Netherlands, actress Carice van Houten worked steadily in her native country on both the small and big screens, garnering a number of nominations for her work. She first started to acquire international fame as the star of Paul Verhoeven's Black Book, portraying Rachel Stein, a Jewish woman who disguises herself and uses her allure and beauty in order to manipulate the Nazis in charge of the occupation of Holland. The exposure from her work in that film served as a springboard for van Houten, and she was soon appearing prominantly in high-profile Hollywood pictures, such as Bryan Singer's WWII drama Valkyrie, starring Tom Cruise; the sci-fi film Repossession Mambo, as the wife of Jude Law's character; and the biographical drama Vivaldi, starring Joseph Fiennes as the classical composer. In 2012, she joined Game of Thrones, playing Melisandre, though she still found time to return to the big screen, including The Fifth Estate in 2013 and the Jesse James biopic Race (2016), playing German film director/propagandist Leni Riefenstahl.

Jerome Flynn (Actor)

Born: March 16, 1963
Birthplace: Bromley, Kent, England

Trivia: Has been a vegetarian since he was 18; is a patron of the Vegetarian Society. In 1995, released a cover version of "Unchained Melody" with his Soldier Soldier co-star Robson Green; it sold more than a million copies and was the best-selling single of the year. Robson and Jerome donated £27,000 to Greenpeace from the proceeds of their singles. Before his appearance on Game of Thrones in 2011, had not been on screen for 10 years. Is a patron of The Forces-Helpline, a website that helps address any bullying issues in the Navy, Army or Royal Air Force.

Conleth Hill (Actor)

Born: November 24, 1964
Birthplace: Ballycastle, County Antrim, Northern Ireland

Trivia: A veteran of the theater in Scotland, Ireland, Broadway, and London's West End, actor Conleth Hill began supplementing his impressive stage career with on-screen acting in the late '80s. He started by making minor appearances on British television, eventually working his way up to more substantial parts, like his recurring role of Jared on the comedy series The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle in 2007. In 2009, Hill was cast as Brockman in the Woody Allen comedy Whatever Works, opposite Larry David.

John Bradley (Actor)

Born: January 01, 1988
Birthplace: Manchester, England

Trivia: Began performing as a child, putting on impromptu scenes for family by cobbling together costumes and props from around the house. Had to request a day off from drama school rehearsals in order to travel to London for an audition on the HBO television series Game of Thrones. Is an avid music fan and an amateur drummer.

Sibel Kekilli (Actor)

Born: June 16, 1980
Birthplace: Heilbronn, West Germany

Trivia: Her parents moved from Turkey to West Germany before she was born. Trained as a public administrator and worked for two years at a municipal waste office. After she was nominated for several awards for her work in Head-On (2004), the German press uncovered that she had previously worked in the adult film industry; during one of her acceptance speeches, she publicly complained about the situation. Supports women's rights and volunteers with Terre des Femmes, which fights to end domestic violence against women.

Julian Glover (Actor)

Born: March 27, 1935
Birthplace: Hampstead, London, England

Trivia: Trained at RADA, spindly British actor Julian Glover made his film bow as Lt. Matherton in the Oscar-winning Tom Jones (1963). Glover has since proven equally adept at chop-licking villainy and eccentric comedy relief. His movie roles include Shrdlu in The Adding Machine (1968), Kristatos in For Your Eyes Only (1977), General Veers in The Empire Strikes Back (1980), King Richard in the made-for-TV Ivanhoe (1982), Walter Donahue in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), Dr. Livesey in the Charlton Heston version of Treasure Island (1989) and King Gustav in King Ralph (1992). Julian Glover also appeared as megalomanic heavy Dr. Stefan Kilkis in the campy TV series QED (1982).

Robert Pugh (Actor)

Born: January 01, 1950
Birthplace: Matthewstown, Wales

Trivia: Decided to become an actor when attending a production of The School for Scandal with his class at school. Aged 21, dropped out of university to audition for RADA, but didn't learn his lines and wasn't accepted; worked as a bin man to make ends meet while attending night classes at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. Wrote the Welsh television series We Are Seven (1989-91) and the made-for-television films Better Days (1988) and Ballroom (1988), both starring Glyn Houston. In 2015, took part in the Hackers Cup charity golf tournament at the Mid Ocean Club and Port Royal Club, Bermuda.

Patrick Malahide (Actor)

Born: March 24, 1945
Birthplace: Reading, Berkshire, England

Trivia: Born Patrick G. Duggan on March 24, 1945, Patrick Malahide grew up in the Thames Valley west of London in the village of Pangbourne, where Kenneth Grahame wrote about Mole, Toad, and Rat in the 1908 children's classic The Wind in the Willows. Malahide's Irish immigrant parents each held down two jobs to send Patrick and their other two children to the best schools. Patrick attended St. Anne's Primary and then the Douai School of the Benedictine Abbey at Upper Woolhampton, Berkshire. At both schools, Patrick received an excellent education and learned to mix with upper-class children and mimic the articulation and cadence of their speech. Thus, he was unwittingly preparing himself for film roles requiring an understanding of class-conscious societies and a mastery of accents. Such roles included his portrayal of Sir John Conroy in the 2001 TV miniseries Victoria and Albert, Captain Claude Howlett in the 1999 TV miniseries All the King's Men, and the Rev. Casaubon in the 1994 TV miniseries Middlemarch. After attending Edinburgh University, where he studied literature and psychology and performed with a dramatic society, he taught English at a boys' school in Wokingham. Soon, however, he abandoned the classroom for the stage, managing and directing at a small theater and acting in the plays of Henrik Ibsen, Noel Coward, Anton Chekhov, and Arthur Miller. After performing in London, he signed on with the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh, playing roles in the dramas of Shakespeare and other classic authors, accepted television roles, and earned critical acclaim in 1981 in a tour de force one-man show, Judgement [writer's note: the British spelling of the word "judgment" is correct here], in which he tells the audience why he resorted to cannibalism to survive as a Russian officer in a Nazi prison. Then came worldwide recognition from productions such as The Killing Fields (1984), the TV miniseries The Singing Detective (1985), A Month in the Country (1987), the TV docudrama Investigation: Inside a Terrorist Bombing (1990), A Man of No Importance (1994), U.S. Marshals (1998), and Billy Elliot (2000).

Francis Magee (Actor)

Born: June 26, 1959

Dominic Carter (Actor)

Tom Wlaschiha (Actor)

Born: June 20, 1973
Birthplace: Dohna, Bezirk Dresden, German Democratic Republic

Trivia: Grew up in communist East Germany, where he only had one TV channel.The fall of the Berlin Wall happened when he was 17.Traveled to the United States as an exchange student when he was 17, he stayed there for a year studying English and acting in theater.Started his acting career in theater.Has performed at the Theater Junge Generation, the Schauspielhaus Zürich and the Schauspiel Frankfurt.Speaks multiple languages, including German, Russian, English, Italian and French.He dubs his Game of Thrones character in German.

Joe Dempsie (Actor)

Born: June 22, 1987
Birthplace: Liverpool, England

Trivia: Enjoyed acting at school and attended an acting workshop for children in Nottingham twice a week after school free of charge. Is a keen supporter of Nottingham Forest football team. Has voiced Clearasil adverts in the United Kingdom. Big break was playing tragic teen Chris in E4 drama Skins, in which he appeared completely naked in his opening scene. Dyed his hair black and hit the gym to build muscle for his role as Gendry in Game Of Thrones. Originally auditioned for the roles of Jon Snow, Pypar and Grenn in Game Of Thrones. Has said his social life has doubled since moving to London because most of the actors in Game of Thrones live there. Admires actors who set themselves challenges, such as Daniel Day-Lewis who transforms himself time and again. Being half Scottish, he is a fan of the Scotland national football team.

Mark Stanley (Actor)

Ben Crompton (Actor)

Roxanne McKee (Actor)

Born: August 10, 1980

Trivia: Grew up in London, England.Worked as a waitress and a recruitment consultant.In 2005, won the talent hunt Hollyoaks on the Pull and was cast as Louise Summers in Hollyoaks.Appeared in Taio Cruz's 2008 music video "She's Like a Star."Has previously worked as a fashion model.

Amrita Acharia (Actor)

Born: July 31, 1987
Birthplace: Kathmandu, Nepal

Trivia: In 2010, made her television debut in an episode of 'Casualty'. Between 2011 and 2012, appeared as Irri on 'Game of Thrones'. In 2013, was nominated for Best Actress at the Norwegian Amanda Awards for her role in 'I Am Yours'. As of 2019, has starred as Doctor Ruby Walker in 'The Good Karma Hospital' since its 2017 debut. Is an ambassador for the charity ChoraChori.

Steven Cole (Actor)

Ben Hawkey (Actor)

Born: April 25, 1996

Eros Vlahos (Actor)

Born: January 13, 1995
Birthplace: London, England

Trivia: Began writing and performing stand-up comedy at age 8. Practiced his craft while enrolled in the Comedy Club 4 Kids, a U.K.-based children's comedy academy. In 2007, landed his first acting role playing a sick patient in the U.K. drama series Casualty. Performed at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival in Scotland.

Esmé Bianco (Actor)

Born: May 25, 1982
Birthplace: St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England

Trivia: While attending university she began performing in neo-burlesque and cabaret shows. Modeled for luxury lingerie retailer Agent Provocateur and sang on their cabaret themed album Peep Show. Has posed for painters Christian Furr and Peregrine Heathcote. Became the spokesmodel for lingerie label The Modern Courtesan in 2008. Her character on Game of Thrones, Ros, was only supposed to appear in the pilot episode, but she was so well-received she stayed on the show for three seasons. Had a pair of shoes named after her by designer Terry de Havilland. In an interview in 2019, spoke of being a survivor of domestic abuse at the hands of a former boyfriend and how she still suffers from night terrors and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Andy Beckwith (Actor)

Gemma Whelan (Actor)

Born: April 23, 1981
Birthplace: Leeds, England

Trivia: In 2010, won the Funny Women Variety Award for her stand-up. Between 2012 and 2019, appeared as Yara Greyjoy in HBO fantasy drama 'Game of Thrones'. In 2013, appeared as Rachel Crabbe in a National Theatre revival of 'One Man, Two Guvnors'. As of 2019, has starred as Kate in BBC Comedy 'Upstart Crow' since its 2016 debut. In 2017, won the MAC Best Performance WFTV Award.

Kerr Logan (Actor)

Lucian Msamati (Actor)

Born: March 05, 1976

Karl Davies (Actor)

Gerard Jordan (Actor)

Ian Whyte (Actor)

Born: September 17, 1971

Sam Callis (Actor)

Hannah Murray (Actor)

Born: July 01, 1989
Birthplace: Bristol, England

Trivia: Her parents both worked at Bristol University, her father as a professor and her mother as a research technician. Was a member of the Bristol Old Vic Young Company. Auditioned for Skins to gain experience and was given the role of Cassie for two series. Made her stage debut in the West End play That Face in 2008. Had a small part in the film Bruges in 2008, but her scene was cut from the final version of the film. Won a Bafta Award in 2009 for her performance in Skins. Has played the role of Gilly in Game of Thrones since 2012. Played the lead in the play Martine at the Finborough Theatre in 2014, earning an Off West End Award nomination for Best Female Performance. Won the Best Actress in a Narrative Feature Film Award at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2015 for her role in Bridgend.

Amy Dawson (Actor)

Sahara Knite (Actor)

Daniel Portman (Actor)

Born: April 13, 1992
Birthplace: Glasgow, Scotland

Trivia: Dreamed of becoming a professional rugby player until he seriously injured his knee and groin. Started acting professionally after taking part in Anything Goes with Glasgow School's Youth Theatre. Auditioned for two other parts on Game of Thrones before landing the part of Podrick. Regularly held up filming of Game of Thrones due to laughing fits with co-stars Peter Dinklage and Jerome Flynn. Played Neoptolemos in Benny Young's adaptation of Philoctetes in 2015.

Jer O'Leary (Actor)

Derek Reid (Actor)

Josephine Gillan (Actor)

Dennis Stokes (Actor)

Michelle Fairley (Actor)

Born: January 17, 1964
Birthplace: Ballycastle, Northern Ireland

Trivia: Parents operated a tavern in Coleraine, Northern Ireland. Got her start in drama with the Ulster Youth Theatre. Made London stage debut in 1986. Played the killer in the Inspector Morse puzzler The Way Through the Woods, which aired on PBS's Mystery! in 1997. Made Broadway debut in The Weir in 1999. Earned a 2008 supporting-actress nomination for an Olivier (the British equivalent of the Tony Awards) for her role as Emilia in Othello. Played Hermione Granger's mother in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows (Parts 1 and 2).

Jack Gleeson (Actor)

Born: May 20, 1992
Birthplace: Cork, Ireland

Trivia: Began acting at age 7. Appeared in Batman Begins in 2005. Cast in HBO's Game of Thrones as evil king Joffrey Baratheon. Says his inspiration for his Game of Thrones role was Joaquin Phoenix in Gladiator. Was named an academic scholar at Trinity College in 2012. Involved in puppet-theater production in Dublin.

Richard Madden (Actor)

Born: June 18, 1986
Birthplace: Elderslie, Renfrewshire, Scotland

Trivia: Joined a youth drama group at age 11 and was soon cast in a film (as a rape victim in the 2000 drama Complicity); and appeared in a children's TV series (My Barmy Aunt Boomerang) at age 13. Was bullied in secondary school because of his childhood acting experience. Starred in a Globe Theatre production of Romeo and Juliet in London and on a UK tour while still a student at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Has also appeared on stage with the National Theatre of Scotland and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Costarred in Hope Springs, a 2009 BBC comedy-drama series about women ex-cons; and Sirens, a 2011 BBC comedy series about paramedics. Won the 2009 Scottish Style Award for Most Stylish Male and was named one of Scotland's "most eligible men" by the Scotsman newspaper in 2010.

Isaac Hempstead Wright (Actor)

Born: April 09, 1999
Birthplace: England

Trivia: Had no interest in acting until he joined a drama club to get out of playing soccer on cold Saturday mornings during the winter. Began acting in commercials. Studied acting at the Kent Youth Theatre in Canterbury, England. Screen debut was in the 2011 horror flick The Awakening. Big break came when he was cast as Bran Stark on Game of Thrones. Plays piano and drums.

Rory Mccann (Actor)

Born: April 24, 1969
Birthplace: Glasgow, Scotland

Trivia: Worked as a lumberjack and bridge painter prior to acting. First gained notice by appearing in a Scottish breakfast-cereal commercial. Won a Scottish BAFTA Award for his role in the 2002 TV series The Book Group. Is an avid outdoorsman and experienced mountaineer; got to put his climbing skills to good use in the TV series Rockface. Plays the piano.

Nikolaj Coster-waldau (Actor)

Born: July 27, 1970
Birthplace: Denmark

Trivia: After a number of roles in his native Denmark, actor Nikolaj Waldau began appearing in U.S. films in the early 2000s with bit parts in Black Hawk Down and Wimbledon, to name a few. In 2007, he landed the lead role on Fox's New Amsterdam, a supernatural cop show from director Lasse Hallström.

Charles Dance (Actor)

Born: October 10, 1946
Birthplace: Redditch, Worcestershire, England

Trivia: Tall, sandy-haired British actor Charles Dance trained for a career in graphic design at Plymouth College of Art and Leicester College of Art. Dance developed a taste for the theatre by listening to the reminiscences of two elderly actors who ran a pub in his Dover neighborhood. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company at the age of 29, and made his first film, the James Bond picture For Your Eyes Only, six years later. Dance's widest professional exposure came in 1984 when he appeared in "The Jewel in the Crown," a 14-part British TV production seen in the U.S. on Masterpiece Theatre. Charles Dance's best-remembered performances have been as D.W. Griffith in Good Morning Babylon (1987); the role of Meryl Streep's husband in Plenty (1985); the title part in the 1990 TV adaptation of Phantom of the Opera; and the displaced "imaginary" villain in Arnold Schwarzenegger's The Last Action Hero (1993).

Gwendoline Christie (Actor) .. Brienne of Tarth

Born: October 28, 1978
Birthplace: Worthing, West Sussex, England

Trivia: Graduated from drama school in 2005. Worked at an interiors boutique in Brighton, England. Modeled for noted photographer Polly Borland. Performed in stage productions of Dr. Faustus and Shakespeare's Cymbeline. Stands 6-foot-3.

Game of Thrones: The Night Lands

1:42 pm - 2:36 pm, Today on HBO Drama (West) ()

The Night Lands

Season 2, Episode 2