Game of Thrones character Ned Stark: actor Sean Bean. Biography, filmography, interesting facts about the actor and character

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Among the characters of the "Game of Thrones" who were "killed" by the ruthless George Martin, the first serious victim was Eddard (Ned) Stark (actor Sean Mark Bean). And although 5 seasons have already passed, the consequences of the death of this hero are still disentangled by the inhabitants of the 7 kingdoms of Westeros.

The World of Game of Thrones

For starters, it's worth remembering what the television series "Game of Thrones" is about.

Ned Stark and his childhood friend Robert Baratheon, with the support of several noble houses of Westeros, raise a rebellion against the ruling Targaryen dynasty.

The reason for this is that the son of King Aerys II Rhaegar kidnapped and dishonored Ned's sister Lyanna (Robert's fiancee). In addition, the king executed Eddard's older brother and father, who tried to get a fair punishment for the prince.

The rebels managed to win, and Robert Baratheon became the king of Westeros. After all that had happened, Ned returned home to his ancestral castle Winterfell, where he lived peacefully with his family for the next fifteen years as Lord Keeper of the North.

Allthe above events took place prior to the start of the television series. In Game of Thrones, the action begins fifteen years after the uprising.

Robert Baratheon appoints Eddard as his Hand (chief adviser) after the mysterious death of Jon Arryn, who previously held this position. Together with him in the capital, Ned takes two daughters: the shrew Arya and the modest Sansa.

Having plunged into the swamp of capital intrigues, Stark begins to suspect that the wife of King Cersei has been cheating on her husband with her brother Jaime Lannister for many years. Moreover, all three of Robert's children are Jaime's bastards.

By giving the Queen time to leave with the children before reporting the incident to the Lord of Westeros, Ned makes a mistake. Taking advantage of the respite, Cersei organizes the murder of her husband, and declares Stark a rebel and puts him in jail, and later executes.

After the death of Robert and Eddard, the eldest son of Baratheon Jofri (actually a bastard) becomes the ruler of the seven kingdoms. And the two younger brothers of the late ruler claim their rights to the throne. In addition, the eldest son of Ned Robb raises an uprising in the North. And in the free cities, the daughter of the deposed Baratheon Aerys II is gathering an army.

But while a civil war is going on in the 7 kingdoms, an ancient evil has woken up behind a giant ice wall, planning to destroy all life. The only one who realizes the gravity of the situation and tries to stop this evil is Ned Stark's bastard named Jon Snow.

Game of Thrones TV Series: Ned Stark

This character is the epitome of chivalryvalor and honor.

Despite the many troubles that have befallen him, Ned Stark (actor Sean Mark Bean) has remained a man worthy of respect. However, nobility ruined him - taking advantage of Stark's honesty, Cersei and his accomplices caught him in a trap, after which the hero lost his life.

Ned Stark's wife was Catelyn Tully. She was originally engaged to his older brother. But after his death, Ned married her in order to enlist the support of her house. Despite the lack of love between them at the beginning of family life, later Eddard and Caitlin sincerely fell in love with each other and carried these feelings through their lives.

Ned had six children. Four sons (three legitimate: Robb, Brandon, Rickon and one bastard - John), as well as two daughters (Sansa and Arya).

He brought up all the offspring worthy people. But when the civil war broke out in Westeros, the young Starks dispersed. Each of them had to choose whether to follow their father's precepts or not.

Despite the death of Eddard in the first season, his family and friends remember him in almost every season. It serves as a certain moral guide for them.

Sean Bean plays Ned Stark

On the screen, the role of the valiant Lord Guardian of the North was played by British actor Sean Mark Bean.

Unlike his hero, Sean came from an ordinary British family of hard workers. As a child, he dreamed of becoming a football player, but due to an injury from this dream, he had torefuse.

After leaving school, Sean Bean went to train as a welder to work in his father's company. Once he mixed up the audience and got into the drama club. He liked it there, and he signed up there. After some time, Bean won a scholarship to the most prestigious theater school in the UK - the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Selected filmography of the actor

In parallel with his studies, the actor played in the theater, and also tried to act in films and on television. His first major achievement in his homeland was the main role in the television series Lorna Doone. And the actor earned worldwide fame by playing the Irish terrorist Sean Miller in the film adaptation of the novel by American short story writer Tom Clancy's "Patriot Games".

The peak of Bean's popularity can be considered the nineties and the first decade of the 2000s. At this time, he is filming a lot both at home and abroad.

In Britain, the actor became famous for playing the role of the British gunslinger Richard Sharpe in a series of television films based on the books of the English writer Bernard Cornwell.

Besides, he played in other well-known costumed British television series (Lady Chatterley, Scarlett, Canterbury Tales) Sean Bean. Films with his participation that have become classics are Goldeneye, Anna Karenina, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, National Treasure, Troy, The Island, Pixels and The Martian.

The role of Ned Stark did not become any particularly outstanding in the actor's filmography. However, he played it with dignity, and thanks tothe popularity that the show has gained in the years to come, Bean has regained cult status.

The actors who played Ned Stark in season 6

After being executed in the first season, Eddard "returned" to the television series only in the sixth, and even then as visions of his son Brandon.

Ned Stark in season 6 appears in the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 10th episodes. However, since these visions reflect the events of the past, in which Eddard was still young, he was not played by Bean, but by other actors.

So in the 5th and 6th episodes of "Game of Thrones" the teenager Ned Stark appears before the audience. The actor who played this role is thirteen-year-old Sebastian Croft, known to the audience for a small role in "Penny Horrors".

But a more mature Eddard, who survived the uprising and became Lord of Winterfell, was played by aspiring television actor Robert Aramayo.

Fun Facts

• In the book, Ned is 35 years old, although he looks somewhat older. In the series, his character was "aged" by 5 years. This is due to the fact that at the time of filming, Sean Bean was already over 50. And even with the efforts of the best make-up artists on the planet, he did not look 35.
• In the first season, Ned Stark (actor Sean Mark Bean) appeared only in 9 episodes, but the name of the performer of this role is in the credits of the final, tenth episode.
• In the sixth season, the truth about the origin of Eddard's bastard Jon Snow is revealed. It turns out that he was the son of Ned's sister, Lyanna, by Prince Rhaegar Targaryen. Fearing that the girl's ex-fiance Robert,wanting to take revenge on the rapist prince, kill the baby, Stark passes him off as his bastard.
• In his youth, Sean Bean played a major role in the film adaptation of the scandalous novel Lady Chatterley's Lover. In 2015, another television series based on the same work was released. In it, the huntsman Oliver Mellors, who won the heart of a lonely lady, was played by Richard Madden, who previously played the eldest son of Ned Stark in the Game of Thrones.

When the first season of "Game of Thrones" was just beginning to shoot, the producers were worried about how the audience would react to the death of the main character. They turned out to be right: moviegoers around the world criticized this plot move, not only because they managed to fall in love with the noble Ned Stark in 9 episodes, but also because many of them started watching Game of Thrones for Sean Bean, who showed off on most posters. Fortunately, other artists of the project managed to attract the attention of the audience, but even today, after many seasons, Bean's Eddard Stark remains one of the favorite characters of the project.