It’s no denial that Game of Thrones is absolutely dominating the internet, especially with last Sunday’s The Battle of Ice and Fire shaking the fans to the core. The long-anticipated final fight in the Great War immediately had people talking, starting with memes and ending in heated debates, whether the last (spoilers ahead!) blow was a satisfying conclusion or a missed opportunity. While on one side of the field we had an 8-seasons-worth line-up of everyone’s favorites, including the beloved House Stark and even a dragon or two, the other side had one of the most terrifying villains to ever exist on television. The terrible, fire-immune ice king had a massive army of zombies that could only be killed with fire, dragon-glass and Valyrian steel, so any conventional weapons were basically useless against the Great Foe. Talk about hard to defeat, right?

The man behind the terrifying Night King is Vladimir Furdik

Image credits: vladimir_furdik_

And while the assassin who prepared for years proved to be his undoing, the Night King still left his mark. Not only did he take away some of the show’s most notable characters, he also left an ever-lasting chill in the hearts of all who watched him. Luckily, the great villain was sadistic and cold-hearted only on the show and the man portraying him doesn’t have millions of undead followers.

Image credits: HBO

Vladimir Furdik is a Slovak stuntman-turned-actor who helped the show creators bring the master and the first of the White Walkers to life on screen. While Richard Brake briefly portrayed the Night King in seasons 4 and 5, when the focus of the show shifted to the Great War, Furdik took over the role and truly made it shine.

Image credits: vladimir_furdik_

Image credits: HBO

Furdik made his mark on television, as well as the big screens, working on such projects as 2013’s Thor: The Dark World and 2012’s Skyfall. He tried his skills out not only as a stuntman but as an actor as Andrzej in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and as one of the four ship guardians in Prometheus. Although his big role as the Night King had no dialogue, the villain’s presence and mannerisms alone were enough to strike fear not only into the hearts of the characters, but also people on the other side of the screen.

Image credits: vladimir_furdik_

Image credits: vladimir_furdik_

Though the world knows the Night King as this terrifying creature whose only purpose is to exterminate all life in the world, Vladimir’s Instagram page shows another image. The two are different like night and day (pun intended).

Image credits: HBO

Image credits: vladimir_furdik_

As an actor, stuntman and stunt supervisor since 2014, Furdik is an important part of the show’s cast and crew and the images posted on his social media reflect that. “She killed me with a smile” Vladimir writes by a picture of himself in full costume sitting next to Maisie Williams who portrays Arya Stark, the sneaky assassin that killed the ice king on the show. The man shares many behind the scenes photos, as well as moments from his life which show that he’s truly on the side of the living. And enjoying his life!

Image credits: vladimir_furdik_

The handsome 48-year-old can often be seen smiling, enjoying a glass of beer and most importantly, sharing moments with cast and crew of various projects. The photos also show him with the actors behind some of the most iconic characters on Game of Thrones, like Gwendoline Christie (who portrays Ser Brienne) and Kristofer Hivju (who portrays Tormund Giantsbane).

Image credits: vladimir_furdik_

Image credits: vladimir_furdik_

Watch Furdik’s impressive warm-up for the Tower of Joy

 

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A post shared by Vladimír Furdík (@vladimir_furdik_) on Apr 27, 2019 at 11:21am PDT

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