Game of Thrones actors racked up lots of nominations at this year’s Emmys, but plenty more were left out. Who do we think was the best supporting actor from Season 6? Read our takes below, sound off in the comments, and vote in our poll!
DAN: Game of Thrones Season 6 didn’t lack for strong supporting performances from actors, but I’m going to give my nod to Owen Teale as Alliser Thorne of the Night’s Watch.
Part of the reason Teale’s performance worked so well was the writing. The producers could have gone the easy route with his character and made him a mustache-twirling villain. (Figuratively, of course—while I’m sure Teale could grow a hell of a mustache, he spared us that on the show.) He did, after all, lead the mutiny against Jon Snow. He was the first one to drive a dagger into the Lord Commander’s stomach in “Mother’s Mercy,” so we were primed to dislike him.
And don’t get me wrong—Alliser Thorne was unpleasant, but I liked that he took the time to explain his perspective to the rest of the Night’s Watchmen in “The Red Woman.” I didn’t agree with him, but I respected that he was a man of conviction, and Teale didn’t take it over the top. He was steady and solid, an actor inhabiting a man who was, if not evil, at least willing to do evil in the name of what he thought was good.*
Teale continued on this track through “Oathbreaker,” when Jon Snow executes his character. From a dialogue perspective, Alliser Thorne’s final speech to Jon is one of the high points of the year. “I fought. I lost. Now I rest. But you, Lord Snow, you’ll be fighting their battles forever.” Teale gives those lines the gravity they need to land. I’ll miss him and Alliser both. Love him or hate him, we will never see his like again.
*That said, I maintain that Jon Snow’s death and resurrection would have had more punch had the Lord Commander tried to rally the Night’s Watch to march to Stannis’ aid beforehand, as he does in the books.
RAZOR: As much as I would love to throw my vote at Owen Teale, or at Robert Aramayo, who did such an excellent job as young Ned Stark in Bran’s weirwood visions, or even at Daniel Portman as the legendary Podrick Payne, there is really only one choice for the best supporting actor of Season 6: Roger Ashton-Griffiths as Mace Tyrell.
When Cersei Lannister decided to decimate the center of King’s Landing with a cache of wildfire, she didn’t just take a monument from us—she took a true icon. If the Faith and the Crown were the twin pillars that held up the world, then Mace Tyrell was the base upon which those pillars rested.
Mace Tyrell was a poet with a warrior’s heart. When Jaime Lannister brashly (and stupidly, I might add) decided to charge up the steps the Great Sept of Baelor to kidnap Queen Margaery, it was brave Mace Tyrell, with his loyal army in tow, that stopped him. When the wicked Queen Cersei Lannister sent loyal Mace Tyrell away to Braavos on a clear suicide mission, Mace didn’t bat an eye. He puffed out his chest, sang a jaunty tune, and made arrangements with the infamous Iron Bank of Braavos.
The character of Mace Tyrell was made more lovable still by the talented Roger Ashton-Griffiths. From his baritone voice to his munchkin land facial hair, Griffiths made Mace Tyrell the character most likely to receive a hug. We didn’t just lose lords and ladies, septas and septons, the High Sparrow, and the Queen the day the Sept exploded. We lost our best friend. Game of Thrones will be lessened by his absence.
COREY: The Blackfish looks upon your list and wonders how in the seven hells you could pick anyone but him. Clive Russell did such an outstanding job as the cantankerous old warrior Brynden Tully that I was downright outraged when the character was killed off screen at the end of “No One.”
After Russell disappeared back in Season 3, taking the world’s most convenient bathroom break, we all wondered what had happened to the character. Like an un-evil Tywin Lanninster, Russell brought a palpable presence to his role. The Blackfish was not one to be trifled with, and pity the fool who ever tried.
Russell remained an intimidating presence on screen right through to the end, when the Blackfish occupied Riverrun. At 6’6”, the actor towered over many of his castmates, which reinforced his reputation as a legendary warrior. Despite being 70 years old in real life, Russell realistically sold his characters take-no-bull attitude and backed it up with the “laws of my fist.”
As I mentioned earlier, I was pretty livid that such a colorful character died offscreen. I felt slighted that we did not get to see this character go down swinging after all we had heard about his skills. It was great to see the character after a three-season absence, but the conclusion of his arc left a lot to desired. Still, I say thank you, good sir, for your contributions to Game of Thrones.
Edmure Tully: “The laws of Gods and men are very clear. No man may compel another man to marry.“
Brynden Tully: “The laws of my fist are about to compel your teeth.”
ANI: Man, this one is hard. I’m going to give it up to every last man in the Braavosi acting troupe. They say there are no small parts, but man, those parts were tiny. And they made the most of them. There was Richard E. Grant (as Izembaro, who played “Robert Baratheon” and “Tywin Lannister”), Leigh Gill as Bonobo (who played “Tyrion Lannister”), Rob Callender as Clarenzo (who played “Joffrey Baratheon”) and Kevin Eldon as Camello (who played “Ned Stark”). They formed a bizarro world King’s Landing, set up with plywood flats and cheap versions of the costumes (and in Grant’s case, a horrendous wig for Tywin). They were, in short, fantastic.
While the off-stage drama centered around the lady players and their rivalry (the juiciest bits of acting went to them, too), the four gentlemen were a scream in their funhouse versions of the events of the first four seasons. Shakespeare’s “play within the play” scenes are usually some of the most memorable moments of his comedies, and these four did justice to that tradition. Grant and Eldon especially are high-profile actors in their own right. Ao the meta comedy of Kevin Eldon playing Camello playing Sean Bean playing Ned Stark was just a moment of genuine delight that I didn’t know we needed after all the darkness of Season 5. They’ll probably be overlooked in the voting in favor of meatier, more dramatic parts, but as the best part of Essos this season, I hail them all.
KATIE: My vote tends to go to Anton Lesser and Daniel Portman every year, but my Season 6 personal favorite was Clive Russell as the Blackfish. Since it’s for all the same reasons as Corey has outlined above, though, James Faulkner as Randyll Tarly is a solid runner-up.
We don’t get a long look at Randyll, but it’s a telling one all the same. While we’ve known from Season 1 from Sam’s description of the man that he isn’t exactly a “#1 Dad,” Faulkner’s performance drives the point home. He was chilling in a particularly real way—the shamelessly abusive parent who seems to have nothing to say until it’s time to insult his son some more. Faulkner’s voice was enough to demonstrate the character’s stern disapproval, but his bold, unyielding gaze would make anyone want to look away (mad props to Gilly for standing her ground). The tension between Faulkner and John Bradley’s Sam was well played, and really contributed to the scene. We’ve never seen their relationship in action before, but it felt as though we’ve been watching this struggle for as long as Sam has been living it.
Faulkner lended serious insight into Sam’s insecurities, and he made the audience fume at Randyll as much as Sam cowered in his presence. Sam’s a lovable guy, the sort you don’t want to see anyone messing with, and Faulkner presented that challenge impeccably. I don’t think I could stomach sitting at the dinner table with him myself.
A note on the poll: When trying to decide which actors to call supporting players and which to call members of the main cast, we considered a combination of their screentime, their importance to the story, and how long they’d been with the show. It wasn’t an exact science, but we hope the results are satisfactory.
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