Iwan Rheon is a Welsh actor, singer, and musician. He is best known for his roles as Simon Bellamy in the E4 series Misfits, Ramsay Bolton in the HBO series Game of Thrones, and Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars in the film The Dirt. He has also appeared in the series Vicious, Riviera, and Inhumans.
Iwan Rheon is mostly the bad guy in front of the camera, but behind the scenes he’s quite a likeable guy. In fact, he never wanted to be an actor.
FIRST NAME: Ivan
SURNAME: Rheon
BORN: May 13, 1985, Carmarthen, Wales / United Kingdom
STAR SIGN:
AGE: 37
HEIGHT: 1.73 m
PARTNER: Zoe Grisedale (current)
CHILDREN: Child (*2018)
Biography of Iwan Rheon
It’s always said that the actors who play the baddest guys on TV or in the cinema are the nicest guys in real life. That could also apply to Iwan Rheon , an actor of villains of the very nasty kind.
A villain, as he is in the book
Just think of the terrible “Ramsya Snow”, later ” Ramsay Bolton “, from “Game of Thrones” , who happily torments and tortures his opponent simply because he himself had a lousy childhood. The fact that Iwan Rheon the vengeful villain is so well taken care of speaks for his acting qualities. He has already been able to prove this in a number of theater and TV productions: Iwan Rheo began acting at the age of 17 and initially worked mainly in plays. Even then he was often chosen for roles with a particularly complex psyche, such as that of “Moritz Stiefel” , which he played in a 2008 musical version of the play “Frühlingserwaken”.
This role paved the way for Iwan to major productions, most notably for the British series Misfits . Again he is the very introverted, nervous and difficult to understand boy, not necessarily the easiest role but a very impressive one. But Iwan Rheon has long since come to terms with this scheme: “I have to come across as a bad, neurotic guy with quite a few problems, I’m just always cast for roles like that.” And why complain? After all, it was precisely these roles that ultimately led him to the hit series” Game of Thrones ” and made him known worldwide as the heartless “Ramsay Bolton”.
And what happened after the “Game of Thrones” era?
After three years on the set of one of the most successful series of all time, Iwan Rheon and “Game of Thrones” ended in 2016. In 2017, the talented Brit landed a new lead role in the series. In ”Marvel’s Inhumans” about the fictional Marvel species ”Inhuman” he mimics Maximus Boltagon/Maximus – again, of course, a super villain. When the series flopped, it was quietly and quietly canceled after only eight episodes. However, this did not harm Iwan Rheon’s career, he continues to be in front of the camera for various series and films.
But Iwan Rheon can also be different
Making viewers hate him for his nasty roles isn’t the actor’s only skill. He is also a gifted and passionate musician. Iwan Rheon has been making music since he was 15 , played in a punk band, later sang at weddings and in the band The Convictions. But things didn’t really work out with the group projects, and so Iwan preferred to concentrate on the music alone, just as his acting career was gaining momentum.
At the same time, he worked diligently on songs until he finally released his first album “Dinard” at the beginning of 2015 . A moment that must have been very special for Iwan, because even before acting, music is actually his greatest passion: “I’ve been very enthusiastic about music since I was little, I’ve always played the guitar and written songs and so on. And I love it, but my life just turned out differently, acting kind of took over.” Doesn’t seem to have hurt him or his career either.
From villain to fun-loving bird catcher
After Iwan Rheon had the villain’s stamp for a long time, he can now show himself from a completely different side. In “The Magic Flute – The Legacy of the Magic Flute” he hums happily and in colorful clothes across the screen – as the bird catcher Papageno. The new interpretation of Wolfgang Amadeu’s opera offers a real contrast to the otherwise so dark roles of Iwan. A dream comes true for him, he can finally combine acting and music. ”I didn’t hesitate a minute. I just loved the idea of being there and throwing myself into this incredible music,” he says.
Iwan Rheon’s most successful films and TV series at a glance
- 2009-2011: ”Misfits” (TV Series)
- 2011: ”Resistance”
- 2011: ”Wild Bill”
- 2013: ”Libertador”
- 2013-2016: ”Vicious” (TV series)
- 2013-2016: ”Game of Thrones” (TV series)
- 2017: ”SUM1”
- 2017: ”Marvel’s Inhumans” (TV Series)
- 2017-2020: ”Riviera” (TV series)
- 2019: ”Berlin, I Love You”
- 2019: ”The Dirt – They wanted Sex, Drugs & Rock’n’Roll”
- 2021: ”American Gods”
- 2022: ”The Magic Flute”
Interesting facts about Iwan Rheon
- Iwan was really serious about music: in 2002 he even applied to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest and wanted to represent the United Kingdom. But he could not assert himself against his competitors.
- He was actually shortlisted for the role of Jon Snow on Game of Thrones, but was later cast for Ramsay Snow. And: Iwan also auditioned for the roles of “Daario Naharis” and “Viserys Targaryen”.
- Iwan didn’t slip into acting in any way, but was trained as an actor at the “London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art” – no wonder that the villain is so easy to believe!
- In reality, he is good friends with Alfie Allen, who is tormented by him quite a lot as “Stinker” in “GoT”. “But we don’t fiddle around on set because of that. We work, then we go play pool afterwards or something to put the horror of the day behind us.”
- “I love playing Ramsay Bolton. He’s really bad, but other than that he’s a pretty happy guy.”
- Family tradition: As a child, he went to the cinema with his family every Christmas. At that time he could not have dreamed of being on the big screen himself.
