Top 10 Game of Thrones Cameos

When you’re a director, writer and producer for one of the most successful TV programmes in history, you’re allowed to set your own rules from time to time. The opening episode of “Game of Thrones” season four sees Daenerys march on Meereen, Prince Oberyn arrive at King’s Landing and Jamie inherit a sparkly new sword. And while all that’s going on, David Benioff sneaks his parents on set to play a couple of peasants. It’s Tyrion who spies them while gazing thoughtfully ahead, and both do a sterling job. While neither are celebs exactly, David’s father was once a leading banker and a member of the George Bush administration.

While taking the director’s chair for this crucial episode toward the end of series four, Neil Marshall couldn’t resist a quick turn on the other side of the camera. The Battle of Castle Black proves a defining moment for Jon Snow, as Kit Harrington’s character steps forward as a leader and commander of the Night’s Watch. For the briefest of moments, Marshall plays one of those under Snow’s orders. An archery enthusiast away from his day job, the director stands in as an archer with arrows at the ready. He’s on screen for a matter of milliseconds, but no doubt he gave a crucial contribution toward the wall’s defence.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that the bear in the bear-pit of season three’s seventh episode was some sort of CGI creation. But, Brienne of Tarth’s ferocious opponent is the real thing, and a regular around Hollywood. Bart the Bear II, named as such because he’s his handler’s second bear actor, has also been in big screen movies such as “Into the Wild”, “Evan Almighty” and “We Bought a Zoo”. His resume aside, it’s clear that Brienne is woefully ill-equipped for this encounter, and had Jamie not arrived when he did then the Thrones fans’ favourite would’ve died there and then.

Musical cameos are a reasonably regular occurrence across the Seven Kingdoms, and today’s first sees an Icelandic indie band perform for the crowds in Braavos. Arya, on the orders of Jaquen, is tasked with finding and killing an actress, so she hides in the audience for one of her shows. The play features a harsh portrayal of Arya’s father Ned Stark, leaving her suitably unimpressed, but at least the musical interludes are pleasant enough. Of Monsters and Men can be spotted above the stage in two sixth season episodes, serenading the throng in between scenes. Not that Arya is really paying attention.

Another band, but an altogether different setting. Mastodon are best known as one of the world’s leading metal groups, but they swapped guitars for swords during season five of GOT, when three of the foursome cameoed as wildlings at Hardhome. Playing their part in one of the show’s most epic battles, they’re brutally killed off by the White Walkers before being resurrected as part of the Army of the Dead, sparking instant rumours of a potential series return for the band. Speaking afterwards, drummer Brann Dailor highlighted the weirdness of watching his friends die in the name of entertainment before being stabbed in the stomach himself, adding that the whole experience made him ‘love being in Mastodon even more.’

You don’t need to be a die-hard “Game of Thrones” enthusiast to have heard at least a bit about the ‘Red Wedding’, it’s one of the most famous scenes in the show and one of the bloodiest massacres on television, but did you know that Coldplay were there? Or at least one of them was. Drummer Will Champion, a Thrones super-fan, can be seen doing what he does best just before the first kills are made. Look at him, he looks so happy and care-free. In just a few moments he’ll have witnessed murder, betrayal and the best part of the Starks entirely wiped out. No wonder some of Coldplay’s songs sound a little sad.

While some cameos sneak by largely unnoticed, this one really didn’t. Not only is Ed Sheeran an instantly recognisable international superstar, but he’s also afforded a lot of screen time. The singer breaks into song for a scene in the opening episode of season seven, during a chance meeting in the woods with Arya. And while writers kept his dialogue to a minimum, he’s seen on plenty of occasions laughing, smiling and passing the booze. His appearance sparked a massive divide amongst fans, who took to social media to vent their rage or back their boy – with Ed quitting Twitter for apparently different reasons soon afterwards. The big question though, is where’d he stash his loop pedal?

Suffice to say, it is possible to sing on Thrones and not face a Twitter tirade because of it. The Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody managed exactly that when he led a rousing chorus of “The Bear and the Maiden Fair”, midway through season three. Lightbody, whose name does have a certain Seven Kingdoms ring to it, appears as a Bolton soldier riding horseback through the trees, performing lyrics taken straight from George R. R. Martin’s saga itself. A high camera angle means the singer is heard more than he’s seen, but he’s kitted out and ready for war anyway. And the song’s quite catchy too.

YouTube comedian Steve Love is well known for his spot-on impressions of “Game of Thrones” characters, including a near-perfect Jon Snow, but did you spot Steve rocking his own role in Westeros in season six? Shortly after being featured on Jimmy Kimmel, the comic got the call from GOT producers, one thing led to another and he wound up in the show himself. Not only that, but he gets to drop the F-bomb and he’s subject to a classic kill. Starring as one of the Brotherhood Without Banners, he comes up against the Hound and lasts all of two seconds. An axe to the neck and he’s breathed his last, but what a way to go.

We’re at King’s Landing for today’s winner, and a defining moment for the series. But before Joffery drinks from the goblet and everything changes forever, there’s the small matter of his wedding to Margaery Tyrell. Despite the King’s deplorable state of mind, there’s a feast, as well as dancing and singing. Cue Sigur Rós stationed around a unique ensemble of instruments, performing a haunting, or perhaps foreboding, rendition of “The Rains of Castamere”. Joffery doesn’t seem to like it much though, and the band are quickly heckled off, somewhat harshly. Apparently Icelandic art rock just isn’t to his taste. But it’s a killer cameo, all the same.