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Home / Entertainment

Game of Thrones star Thor Bjornsson: 'You can expect blood ... and kills'

Siena Yates
NZ Herald·
5 Jun, 2016 09:10 PM2 mins to read

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Thor Bjornsson plays The Mountain in Game of Thrones.

Thor Bjornsson plays The Mountain in Game of Thrones.

In the lead-up to another trial by battle, the man who plays Game of Thrones' The Mountain says there will be blood, and kills - yes, kills. Plural.

However, Thor Bjornsson is a man of few words - the epitome of the strong silent type - so he's not giving too much else away.

Standing at 2.06m and weighing in at 180kg, he was the perfect candidate to play the formidable Gregor Clegane, the hitman of Queen Cersei (Lena Headey).

Actress Lena Heady as Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones. Photo / Supplied
Actress Lena Heady as Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones. Photo / Supplied

Fans know him as a man who can crush someone's skull in his bare hands and Bjornsson knows as much about his character's inner workings as we do. When he was given the role, producers simply handed him a script and said "do your job and we will pay you".

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But the actor, who shot to stardom after The Mountain killed Oberyn Martell in season four, says he "can't wait until the next fight comes up".

Coming into another trial by battle, Bjornsson says "you could expect some blood ... and some kills".

Pushed on whether The Mountain will kill more than once, Bjornsson offers only a "maybe".

Either way, becoming a killing machine on Game of Thrones has opened doors for Bjornsson, who is considering cutting back on competing as a professional strongman to focus on acting.

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The 27-year-old had no acting experience when he started, calling it "a big step in a different direction", but says he's improving each year.

"I still have my focus on strongman, I still have a few goals left to see through before I go fully into acting," he says. "But I definitely see myself going more into the acting world."

He's been doing a bit of commercial work, including a Heavy Bubbles sparkling water ad, that has gone viral.

Bjornsson is also set to play Big John in Icelandic Viking movie Zon 261 later this year, as well as Psycho Phil Bell in the upcoming Devilish Deeds.

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• Game of Thrones screens today at 1pm and 8.30pm on Sky Soho, and streams via Neon.

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