Some of us may have spent the last couple of weeks moping because, once again, our Hogwarts acceptance letter has got lost in the post but at some point we just have to suck it up and accept that we are muggles.
In honour of ‘Back to Hogwarts’ day, I wanted to do a Harry Potter themed post and considering the fact that I am still reluctant to accept that Game of Thrones has ended, I thought I would combine the two, which might sound a little strange but there are actually a surprising number of actors that featured in both franchises.
David Bradley – Argus Filch & Walder Frey
In Harry Potter, Bradley plays the grumpy cat-loving, student hating caretaker of Hogwarts, Argus Filch, and in Game of Thrones he’s the miserable backstabbing patriarch of the Frey clan.
Mark and I saw David Bradley at Comic-Con once and despite the characters he plays, he is actually a really nice and friendly guy, although I still wouldn’t trust him to plan my wedding!!
Jim Broadbent – Professor Slughorn & Archmaester Ebrose
Jim Broadbent joined both franchises quite late on in the game. He joins the Harry Potter universe in The Half Blood Prince as the bumbling Potions master, Professor Horace Slughorn.
Game of Thrones fans will know him from season 7 and his turn as Samwell Tarly’s mentor, the rather prickly Archmaester Ebrose.
Natalia Tena – Tonks & Osha
Spoiler alert: Natalia Tena doesn’t survive her forays in either of the franchises. Her character in Harry Potter, Nymphadora Tonks dies during the Battle of Hogwarts. In Thrones she plays the fierce wilding with a big heart, Osha, who is killed by Ramsey Bolton for her association and loyalty to the Starks.
Michelle Fairley – Mrs Granger & Catelyn Stark
While she had a major role in Thrones, as the Stark matriarch, Catelyn, in Harry Potter she had a blink-and-you-miss it role as Hermione Granger’s mum.
Ciaran Hinds – Aberforth Dumbledore & Mance Rayder
This one may surprise you a little bit, I still can’t quite wrap my head around it as the characters look so different but are both outsiders in their own way.
Aberforth Dumbledore turns his back on his brother following a family argument although he does wind up redeeming himself during the Battle of Hogwarts.
Whereas, Hinds’ Thrones character, Mance Rayder, deserts the Nights Watch for the Free Folk and establishes himself as the ‘King in the North’.
Freddie Stroma – Cormac McLaggen & Dickon Tarly
The slightly arrogant Gryffindor and wannabe Quidditch Keeper Cormac McLaggen, played by Freddie Stroma, makes a short lived appearance in the sixth season of Game of Thrones as Sam’s brother, Dickon Tarly. Stroma’s character was recast for season 7, not that it made much of a difference as Dickon Tarly, along with his father was burnt alive in dragon fire for failing to bend the knee to Daenerys.
Ralph Ineson – Amycus Carrow & Dagmer Cleftjaw
You would be forgiven not making the connection with this one as Ralph Ineson doesn’t have a huge amount of screen time in either franchise. In Harry Potter, he plays Death Eater Amycus Carrow who, for fans of the books, was the one who spat in McGonagall’s face.
He’s not much better in Game of Thrones either, his character, Dagmer Cleftjaw, was the one who knocked out Theon and handed him over to the Boltons, after persuading him to take Winterfell in the first place.
Julian Glover – Aragog & Grand Maester Pycelle
Yep, you are seeing that right, the same man who voiced the giant Acromantula in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets also played the bumbling, creepy old Grand Maester Pycelle.
Until next time…. x
Ooh nice one! 😀