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Meet Vladimir Furdik, The Actor Behind Game Of Thrones' Night King

Meet Vladimir Furdik, The Actor Behind Game Of Thrones' Night King

After all, the night is dark and full of terrors

Tom Wood

Tom Wood

The Night King from Game of Thrones is terrifying. That's a good thing, given that he is supposed to be the commander in chief of a ghoulish army of the dead bent entirely on the destruction of humankind.

But - and sorry to ruin the fantasy for a minute - underneath it all, he's just a man. That is to say, the guy who plays the Night King is just a regular bloke.

This particular bloke is called Vladimír Furdík, and he is a 48-year-old Slovakian stuntman.

We've seen him in the show raising the armies of the dead at Hardhome, and riding on an ice dragon to melt the wall, but he's also starred in things such as Thor: The Dark World and The Huntsman: Winter's War.

Oh, and you won't remember, but he was also the White Walker killed by Jon Snow at Hardhome. That was before he got the top job, though.

Here he is in full Night King mode.
HBO

Interestingly, Furdík wasn't the first man to portray the character of the Night King. That honour went to Richard Brake.

Brake played Westeros' most badass ice-dude between seasons four and five, before the job was given over to Furdík.

Don't worry, though - Furdík didn't kill Richard Brake and suddenly make himself the Night King, it's not a Bran Stark/Three Eyed Raven sort of deal.

Spot the difference - Richard Brake as the Night King.
HBO

In actual fact, Brake just had scheduling problems, so his loss was Furdík's gain in the long run.

If you look at the pictures, you can see some subtle differences between the two actors behind all of the CGI and makeup.

It hasn't all been makeup, though. If you remember back to the scene in which the Night King was created by the Children of the Forest, Furdík was there.

Here's Vlad without his make up on.
HBO

That shirtless guy getting a piece of dragonglass plunged deep into his heart? That's the man.

Although he doesn't actually speak on the show, Furdík has offered up a few choice words in interviews as to what he thinks is going to happen in this eighth and final season of the show.

Speaking about the next episode, in which the army of the dead finally breaks over the walls of Winterfell, Furdík told Hungarian news website SorozatWiki: "In the third part of the last season, there is a battle that the creators intend to be the biggest in television history.

"Almost the full episode will be about the battle, it will take about an hour."

Here he is IRL. Not scary at all, right?
HBO

He looks certain to be right about that, but will his character be there? We'll have to wait and see.

In the meantime, why not tell us what your theory is over at Game of Thrones: Westeros Posting on Facebook?

Sky Atlantic will air the third episode of the final season of Game of Thrones at 2am on Monday 29 April. It will be repeated again at 9pm later that evening.

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Topics: TV and Film, UK Entertainment, US Entertainment