Ranking The 10 ‘Game Of Thrones’ Cast Members Most Likely To Succeed In Feature Films

For all the accolades we rightly give George R.R. Martin, the author behind Game of Thrones, and David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the showrunners, what often goes underappreciated is the work of casting directors Nina Gold and Robert Sterne. Consider the fact that they’ve taken a collection of barely known character actors and nobodies and assembled one of the best ensemble casts on television. I haven’t read the books, but it’s rare that I hear anyone complain that a particular character has been miscast. Consider that, when Game of Thrones began, the most famous actor on the show was Sean Bean, which was purposeful as it made the most recognized actor’s outcome all the more shocking.

Moreover, thanks to the success of Game of Thrones, many of the actors involved in the series have gained incredible fame, big enough in many cases to translate into feature-film success. Obviously, many of these actors were already bouncing around Hollywood and in British television, but two seasons of Game of Thrones have made them near iconic. No one had ever heard of Emilia Clarke before Game of Thrones, and now she’s tabloid fodder. It’s impressive.

But how well has that really translated into the world outside of Westeros? Better for some than for others. Here, however, is a look at the 10 actors most likely to come away with promising feature film careers.

Honorable Mention: Gwendoline Christie — Christie has absolutely no feature films on her slate, and only has one other British series — Russel T. Davies Wizards and Aliens — on her CV that’s even noteworthy. But she has a certain eccentric look about her that suggests that she could end up taking Tilda Swinton’s sloppy seconds for the next decade.

10. Oona Chaplin — Oona, who plays Talisa Maegyr and is the great granddaughter of Charlie Chaplin, was great in a British series with modest success in America, The Hour, but the only feature film on the horizon is Powder Room, in which she’s fourth billed among a bunch of nobodies. Still, she’s got the talent, and she seems like the kind of waifish, forgettable international actress that ends up starring opposite Tom Cruise is one of his action films.

9. Sophie Turner — Turner, who plays Sansa Stark, most likely has a direct-to-DVD future in front of her, including Panda Eyes, in which she’s first billed alongside some relatively well known actors like Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Claire Forlani in an Isabel Coixet (My Life Without Me) film. It’ll do the festival rounds and be forgotten, and unless Sophie Turner makes a bigger mark in GoT‘s future, so shall she.

8. Jason Momoa — Momoa was the show’s very first break-out star. Unfortunately, he frittered away that popularity on the Conan the Barbarian remake, which tanked at the box office (despite being unintentionally hilarious) and as the villain in Stallone’s Bullet to the Head, which fared even worse at the box office. He was up for a juicy role in Guardians of the Galaxy, but he let it slip through his fingers by trying to negotiate a higher salary. Idiot. Now he’s been reduced to third-rate Redbox fare, including Wolves and Debug — starring a bunch of nobodies, directed by nobodies — and Road to Poloma, written and directed by himself, in which his real-life girlfriend, Lisa Bonet, plays opposite him.

7. Richard Madden — Madden, who plays Robb Stark, has a few projects in the works, including The Long Promise opposite Rebecca Hall (The Town), but what makes Madden’s future possibly bright is that he’s being rumored for the role of Prince Charming in Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella. That movie also stars Cate Blanchett, and would be a very high-profile role for Madden if he lands the gig. Otherwise, Madden will likely return from whence he came: British television.

6. Emilia Clarke — I’m still uncertain on Clarke’s feature film career. I think she’d probably do fine in British or American television after Game of Thrones (although, not being a book reader, I have no idea how long she’ll be on GoT), but her feature film career seems a little dicey. She has one film in the hopper, a Jude Law film called Dom Hemingway , in which she would play his love interest. There’s not any buzz about the film, and the writer/director, Richard Shepard, is of little note (at least so far), so it’s hard to know if the film will help her break-out.

5. Lena Headey — Headey has been in feature films for two decades, and after signing on to Game of Thrones, landed what looked to be a significant role as the villain in the Dredd remake. The movie was great, but no one saw it. Headey, however, will be in a sequel to 300 later this year; she has top billing in the movie based on the popular YA series, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones and she’ll be in next month’s The Purge, opposite Ethan Hawke, which looks surprisingly good. Nevertheless, I think Headey is destined to permanent B-movie status. That’s OK, though: It suits her.

4. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau — Among all the names on this list, Coster-Waldau may be the most talented pure actor, which you’d know if you’ve seen the phenomenal Norwegian film, Headhunters (it’s on Netflix; go watch it now). He also had a nice turn in Tom Cruise’s Oblivion over the weekend. His next significant film role is in Nick Casavettes The Other Woman, in which he plays the male lead opposite Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann, and Kate Upton. The movie is about a mistress and a wife who plot revenge against their husband/lover after they find out he’s cheating on both of them with Kate Upton’s character. It could be the film that elevates Coster-Waldau outside of GoT circles, and perhaps even demonstrates that he has some comedic range.

3. Natalie Dormer — It didn’t take long at all for Dormer to make a huge impact on Game of Thrones as Margaery Tyrell. In turn, she’s already landed the role of Irene Adler in CBS’s Sherlock Holmes TV series; she’s the main love interest opposite Chris Hemsworth in Ron Howard’s Formula 1 film, Rush; and she’s in Ridley Scott’s The Counselor with Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender, Penélope Cruz, and Cameron Diaz, due out later this year. The quickest way to success is to work with successful people, and Dormer seems to be doing a great job of that.

2. Peter Dinklage — Dinklage, of course, already had a modest movie career before Game of Thrones (and if there’s one movie you MUST see, it’s Station Agents, which should’ve landed Dinklage ALL the Oscar gold), but GoT has elevated Dinklage significantly. His long-delayed Knights of Badassdom may actually get a release thanks to his popularity; he’s going to have a substantial role in X-Men: Days of Future Past in 2014; he’s got The Angriest Man in Brooklyn with Mila Kunis and Robin Williams later this year, and he has four other films in various stages of production. Dinklage is going to be busy outside of GoT and will likely remain a popular feature film actor for years.

1. Kit Harington — Harington is not the guy I’d have predicted as the actor from Game of Thrones destined for box-office greatness, but his upcoming films suggest that he’s got a very promising feature film career ahead of him. He’ll be in The Seventh Son, a horror movie opposite Julianne Moore, in October; he’s the lead in Paul W.S. Anderson’s Pompeii (which will probably be terrible but make a billion dollars); and he’ll voice the Dragon Prince in How to Train Your Dragon 2. However, the film most likely to make him a big star is Monte Cassino, which he’s attached to as the heroic lead. The film is about a bloody World War II battle where 200,000 soldiers were killed, a battle that was nevertheless overshadowed by D-Day. The film — which would be directed by Hamburger Hill’s John Irvin — is still in development, but if it gets made, it could be a star-marker for Harrington.

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