Hafthor Julius Bjornsson poses with apparently tiny “Game of Thrones” costar Lena Headey.
Credit: Hafthor Julius Bjornsson’s Instagram
In the game of strongness, you win or you come in second. At which point you can join the cast of a megahit HBO show. Not a risky game at all, really.
That’s the career path followed byHafthor Julius Bjornsson, who plays Gregor Clegane, “The Mountain who Rides,” on HBO’s “Game of Thrones.” Bjornsson, who’s the third actor to play the Mountain, is only moonlighting on the fantasy drama: His day job is being a strong dude. Bjornsson came in second in the 2013 World’s Strongest Man competition. He’s 6’9″, bench presses 500 pounds and eats 10,000 calories a day to maintain his physique, according to his AMA on Reddit.
Bjornsson will take center stage on next week’s episode, where the villainous Mountain and the charming Prince Oberyn Martell will duel for Tyrion’s life. Bjornsson was cast specifically for that fight sequence, showrunner Dan Weiss told Entertainment Weekly. “It’s one of those fights that from the very beginning of the process of planning the show before season one we knew would be a high point if done properly,” Weiss said. “And it’s a real challenge because The Mountain isThe Mountain— you need to find an enormous human being who can also deliver what you need on physical front.”
I guess the world’s strongest man must have been busy that day.
