Jim Broadbent has been cast in a major Game of Thrones Season 7 role. Broadbent is probably best known for playing Horace Slughorn, Slytherin socialite, in the Harry Potter movies, but the veteran character actor can also be spotted in Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits and Brazil, Paddington, Cloud Atlas, Hot Fuzz, Gangs of New York, Topsy-Turvy and The Crying Game.
It’s unclear exactly who Broadbent will be playing in the next season of Game of Thrones, but it’s a safe bet he won’t be wielding a sword. Broadbent specializes in menacing nerds, using his disarmingly expressive face to hide his true intentions. His characters frequently hide a knife under an avuncular front, the perfect Westerosi (or Braavosi) bureaucrat. Which leads to a couple of compelling theories for his role in the Season 7 cast.
Broadbent would be a great foil for Sam at the Maester’s HQ, The Citadel. But it also wouldn’t be surprising to see Broadbent step into the power vacuum left behind by the death of the High Sparrow. Cersei would love a High Septon under her thumb and Broadbent would deliver the combination of obsequiousness and deviousness missing since the death of Grand Maester Pycelle.
With the next George R.R. Martin novel, The Winds of Winter, still far from release, we likely won’t learn much about Broadbent’s role until we’re much closer to the Game of Thrones Season 7 premiere date.
Season 7 of Game of Thrones has begun filming in Iceland, with Spain and Northern Ireland locked in as additional shooting locations.
