There’s already been a tonne of casting for the third season of HBO’s epic fantasy series Game of Thrones, but one role that remained vacant was that of Mance Rayder, the King Beyond the Wall and the leader of an army of Wildlings. Well, not any more, with Entertainment Weekly revealing that the coveted role has gone to Ciarán Hinds, whose credits include HBO’s Rome, as well as a host of feature films, with recent offerings including Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Woman in Black, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance and John Carter.
Hinds becomes the latest in a slew of series newcomers, with third season additions including Diana Rigg (The Avengers – no, not that one), Mackenzie Crook (The Office), Thomas Sangster (Nowhere Boy) and former Dennis Pennis Paul Kaye. They join a cast that is already bursting at the seams with the likes of Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister), Richard Madden (Robb Stark), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister), Jack Gleeson (Joffrey Baratheon) and Stephen Dillane (Stannis Baratheon).
The third season of Game of Thrones will adapt the first half of George R.R. Martin’s A Storm of Swords and is currently filming in Belfast, Northern Ireland ahead of its premiere on March 31st, 2013.
