Game of Thrones Season 7 enlists British actor Jim Broadbent to play a “significant role” in the upcoming season of HBO’s epic drama series set to premiere in Summer 2017.
The seventh season of Game of Thrones is a hop, a skip, and an entire year away, but news about it continue to flow as a recent report from Entertainment Weekly reveals how Broadbent joins its cast .
The Oscar-winning actor became popular in the hit franchise Harry Potter as Potions Professor Horace Slughorn but is now entering a different realm where he would play a “significant” part of the story.
Unfortunately, that does not necessarily mean he will become a regular as Cinema Blend noted Game of Thrones’ uncanny way killing off people who have already served their purpose to the awe-inciting plot.
Season 7 is expected to become more surprising considering how Maisie Williams, who plays the vengeful Arya Stark, reacted after reading the script.
shit gets REAL
— Maisie Williams (@Maisie_Williams) August 22, 2016
i’d start preparing yourselves now
— Maisie Williams (@Maisie_Williams) August 22, 2016
scratch that, nothing will prepare you for this
— Maisie Williams (@Maisie_Williams) August 22, 2016
According to Entertainment Weekly, showrunners of Game of Thrones are keeping Broadbent’s role a secret as of the moment. Of course, that does not keep fans from speculating.
Jim Broadbent cast in #GameofThrones ? Here are our initial theories on who he might be. Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/qW6dYBh1zT
— ScreenJunkies (@screenjunkies) August 31, 2016
TV Line notes that it is possible that — given his stature and age — the British award-winning actor would play a priest in Season 7.
The outlet pointed out that aside from his looks, a report from the avid Game of Thrones fan-based website Watchers on the Wall in mid-August revealed a casting notice describing additional actors and actresses needed for Season 7.
The notice listed down general description of the characters needed for the new season of Game of Thrones.
Among the new characters to be added to the show includes a white general aged 40 to 55 years old; a “tough-looking bruiser” warrior within the age range of 35 and 45; a gate guard in his 20s; a city guard in his 30s; a young lord in his 20s; a merchant who is around 40 years old; a lieutenant in his 20s; and a lovely lady who is willing to go nude.
It also included a priest in his 60s who emits a “moral authority and gravitas.” According to the posting, showrunners are looking for “a white actor, using an RP accent, with characterful face for this part.”
Watchers on the Wall explained that the “RP accent” described in the notice refers to the variety of British accent mostly used by well-to-do characters residing in King’s Landing which is a whole lot different from what characters from lower echelons of the Game of Thrones world like Ser Davos use.
That sounds quite a bit like 67-year-old Broadbent is running for priesthood, don’t you think? Of course, he could also pass as the general or the merchant in the casting call, though the priest is the closest possibility.
Unfortunately, all we can do is speculate since HBO refuses to neither confirm nor deny such speculations, as Entertainment Weekly points out how producers usually release casting calls that are “deliberately inaccurate” because they think it would wind up online.
Either way, we won’t be able to see which Game of Thrones character Broadbent would be playing until summer of next year especially since the production of the show has been pushed to a later date, considering the plot circumstances summarized by the Starks’ new line, “Winter is here.”
Broadbent is the latest Harry Potter actor to enter the world of Game of Thrones following Natalia Tena who played Osha ( GoT ) and Tonks ( HP ); Ciarán Hinds as Mance Rayder ( GoT ) and Aberforth Dumbledore ( HP ); and David Bradley as Walder Frey ( GoT ) and Filch ( HP ).
[Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images]