All the Game of Thrones Characters Who Have Been Recast Over the Years

Scott played the oft-resurrected Dondarrion for a brief season-one appearance.

When this Brotherhood Without Banners man became a bigger part in the series in season three, Dormer was brought in to replace the "placeholder" actor from season one.

This hunky sellsword is introduced as a major character in Daenerys's life in season three but had to be recast in subsequent seasons. The show claims it was because of scheduling conflicts, but Skrein maintains it was political.

Huisman was brought in for season four onward.

Stroma had to drop out of playing Samwell Tarly's brother after season six because of his commitment to ABC's time-travel drama, Time After Time.

Black Sails actor Tom Hopper was brought in to play Dickon in season seven, giving much more oomph to Dickon's onscreen presence (Hopper stands at a towering 6'5").

Leaf is a Child of the Forest who is particularly helpful to Brandon Stark and Meera Reed. Alexandru portrayed the character in season four.

When Leaf's role became bigger in season six, an older actress was cast in the role.

Ser Gregor Clegane, aka The Mountain, was played by stuntman Stevens in season one, but he later left the show to work on The Hobbit.

Whyte appears as The Mountain in season two, but he was replaced when the role was expanded in later seasons. Fun fact: Whyte has taken on other Game of Thrones roles, too (a White Walker and giants Dongo and Wun Wun).

What do you do when you need a giant hulk of a man to cave in Oberyn Martell's head? Find a strongman who weighs in at 6'9" and over 400 pounds. Enter Bjornsson, who holds the world record in the keg throw at over 23 feet.

Richardson plays Cersei's daughter in brief scenes in seasons one and two before being shipped off to Dorne.

Myrcella has a slightly bigger role in seasons five and six, so Free was brought in to fill the part.

Brake plays this leader of the White Walkers in one episode in each of seasons four and five.

When Brake reportedly had scheduling conflicts for subsequent seasons, Furdik was brought in as the new Night King. He even appears out of makeup in one season-six scene.

This Stark bannerman appeared briefly in season one.

In another case of a placeholder actor appearing early on, only to be replaced later when the onscreen role was expanded, Stahl took over for Blount for seasons two and three.

Another brief season-one appearance of a character who later becomes much more important to the story.

Fitzgerald was brought in for seasons three through five, getting the meaty material of Selyse standing idly by while her young daughter is burned at the stake. Nice!

In the early seasons, Tommen was a little boy who hardly had a storyline due to older brother Joffrey, who was hogging all the screen time. When Tommen became more important later on, an older actor was brought in.

When young Tommen marries older woman Margaery Tyrell, an actor who was (slightly) more age-appropriate was cast in the role for seasons four through six.

Rodger plays the mystical Three-Eyed Raven for one brief scene in season four.

When the Three-Eyed Raven starts to train Brandon Stark to take over his role, a more recognizable actor was brought in: von Sydow, who had just appeared in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Game of Thrones has an unaired pilot out there that has somehow never seen the light of day. In it, Daenerys Targaryen was originally played by Tamzin Merchant (left), Jamie Campbell Bower was Waymar Royce, and Jennifer Ehle was Catelyn Stark.

The two female characters were eventually, of course, played by Emilia Clarke and Michelle Fairley, respectively. Waymar was played by Rob Ostlere for one episode (Waymar is killed by White Walkers).

Pilot recasting is not uncommon, for a variety of reasons; sometimes creators decide to go in a different direction with a character or, as was the case with Bower, the actor is unavailable for reshoots. In Ehle's case, she felt it was too soon after the birth of her daughter to commit to such a massive project, so she chose to leave Game of Thrones voluntarily.