I have been patiently waiting for the Game of Thrones series to wrap up to make a call that I’ve been ready to make for a while. Now that all the relevant content for consideration is released, we can decide who was the best actor on Game of Thrones.
By this I mean specifically: who gave the best acting performance within the show – regardless of their proof of talent outside the world of Westeros.
Spoilers for Game of Thrones’ final season ahead.
Although the actor that tops the list is not in the core circle, there have undeniably been some incredible performances by the core cast of characters. Like Emilia Clarke, who served unforgettable face while tipping over the edge into grief-driven, blood-thirsty madness in the final season.
Lena Headey’s performance as Cersei has been perfect for all eight seasons, and it’s the moments where her hard exterior comes crumbling down – like in her final scenes – that hit the hardest.
Peter Dinklage has of course been flawless as Tyrion Lannister – the character with the most lines in the show. Maisie Williams deserves a shout out for her nuanced portrayal of Arya Stark.
For Kit Harrington as Jon Snow, unfortunately the script did not do him any favours in terms of character range. Jon Snow’s already-narrow range deteriorated further in the later seasons until it seemed all he was allowed to do was look confused and say the lines “the Night King is coming,” “I don’t want it”, and “you are my queen”, on rotation.
Similarly, Isaac Hempstead Wright had a tough gig with Bran Stark. Bran literally told us in season seven that he doesn’t have a personality any more because he has too many memories to know which one’s are his own.
So playing a creepily vacant magician of sorts for so much of the series takes Isaac out of the race.
Sophie Turner had an opportunity that not many of the other main characters had – her character changed. Sansa Stark was a completely different person from season one to eight, and Turner’s performance of that transformation was epic.
But the crown for the best actor in Game of Thrones, belongs to someone who is not even in that core circle of characters. The crown belongs to Alfie Allen, for his performance as Theon Greyjoy.
Like Sansa Stark, Theon Greyjoy’s character transformed. Except Theon’s transformation was the most extreme, complex, and well-represented on the show.
When we first meet Theon, he is a cocky douchebag with a little-brother complex and no loyalty. He carries himself with an off-putting sense of self-importance.
Theon goes from villain to victim in what is unmistakably the show’s darkest time – Ramsay Bolton’s rule of Winterfell. He suffers un-watchable physical and psychological torture for multiple seasons and becomes a broken-down, emaciated version of himself. He becomes ‘Reek’.
Alfie Allen’s portrayal of the deterioration of Theon is harrowing, and in the seasons after Theon’s escape he captures the PTSD from this experience with astoundingly impressive nuance.
Take the scene in season seven when Theon is surrounded by bloody battle after Euron attacks the ship.
The trauma resurfaces and you can see him reverting to the fear he felt as Reek, down to the lip quivers and face twitches. Theon jumping overboard makes sense only because Alfie Allen portrays Theon’s trauma so powerfully.
Theon Greyjoy was unforgettable all the way down to his final relief in being reassured he’s a good man. His character arc had clear development and drive, and Alfie Allen’s performance made him one of the most powerful characters to watch throughout the Game of Thrones series.