‘Game of Thrones’ casts new actor to play The Mountain

In the world of Westeros, the man who is the King’s Hand seems to get replaced like clockwork. In the real world of HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” that rotating role is Gregor Clegane.

Clegane, known as The Mountain, will be played by a new actor in the show’s upcoming fourth season. Icelandic actor and strongman contest competitor Hafthor Julius Bjornsson tweeted the news earlier this week.

“For all my fans! I am happy to tell you that I will be THE MOUNTAIN In season 4 In Game Of Thrones :),” he wrote.

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Bjornsson, who won the Strongest Man in Iceland and Iceland’s Strongest Man contests in 2011, is the third actor to play the role. Conan Stevens played Clegane in Season 1, and Ian Whyte played him in Season 2. The character, the brother of Sandor Clegane (played by Rory McCann) did not appear in Season 3.

The fourth season of the series is expected to air early in 2014 and is to adapt the second half of George R.R. Martin’s novel “A Storm of Swords.”

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