While Game of Thrones was an immediate and long-running success for HBO (despite fan criticism in the eighth and final season), the show did not begin with a number of well-known, big name actors taking on the roles that would quickly become beloved by millions worldwide. The series, instead, made stars of much of the cast, several of whom were getting their first big breaks by portraying various Starks, Targaryens, Lannisters and the nearly innumerable other characters who populated the drama. That includes John Bradley, who now admits he’s been typecast since the George R.R. Martin adaptation ended, but is hoping he just got “a bit of a reset” from a recent role.
What Did Game of Thrones’ John Bradley Say About Being Typecast And Getting A Career Reset?
For those who may not remember, one of the few characters who survived all the madness that went down across eight seasons on Game of Thrones was portrayed by John Bradley, who played the unbelievably decent Samwell Tarly for the entire run. As one of maybe a handful of people who truly wanted no part of politics, war, or ruling who became one of the long-running Game of Thrones characters in the most episodes, Sam was very different from many of those around him.
As Bradley recently told The Hollywood Reporter, he’s definitely been typecast since the 2019 finale of the fantasy hit. But, he’s hoping that his part in Dan Weiss and David Benioff’s new series, 3 Body Problem (which you can watch with a Netflix subscription), will kick off a new era in his career. He said:
Hopefully it’ll be a bit of a reset in terms of how I’m seen by people and being able to play more confident characters. David and Dan, it feels like they kick-started the entire first act of my career with Game of Thrones. And they kicked off the entire second [act] with this.
The actor had really just started his on-screen career the year that GOT debuted, in 2011, as his only credits for that year are that book to screen adaptation and the series Borgia: Faith and Fear. After people got to see his work as the loyal, kind, book-loving Sam, however, he was really off to the races.
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Bradley also noted that the creators of GOT, who also created 3 Body Problem, seemed to have “realized halfway through” the run of their first hit show that the man they chose to play Sam was actually nothing like his character, at least when it came to his confidence and comfort with his “place in the world.” Jack Rooney (his character on the recently debuted series), however, has both of those things in spades, along with being a bit full of himself and kind of a “dick,” as Bradley noted, and the duo actually both based the character on him and wrote the role specifically for him. He added:
They gave me this chance to show a different side of myself, and I was very flattered by the characterization of Jack, in a way, as somebody that’s very comfortable with himself and very confident and very happy with his place in the world. I was happy to show that side of myself to the world.
Considering that Jack turned out to be quite likable, despite his dickish tendencies, the role could very well open a lot of new doors for John Bradley before too long.