‘Game Of Thrones’ Actor Out To Defend His ‘World’s Strongest Man’ Title

Neither rain, nor snow, nor a plunge off a tall castle into a fiery grave can stop Hafthor Julius Bjornsson, aka “The Mountain” from Game of Thrones.

The 6’9 inch, 441-pound actor is back from the grave and in Florida, out to defend his title as World’s Strongest Man. The finals are today. Bjornsson, a native of Iceland, won the title for the first time last year in the Philippines.

“You have to be willing to work 365 days a year and be absolutely obsessed with what you want to achieve and if you’re willing to go that far then you’re able to be the World’s Strongest Man,” Bjornsson, 30, said to the New York Post. “I’m happy I was part of the show. It opened up a lot of other opportunities for me and I’m just grateful for that. I’m doing more acting, but I’m also focusing on strongman. Obviously, my goal is to be back-to-back champion.”

Bjornsson trained during his GoT run, finding time despite the rigors of acting that saw him spend seven hours in makeup for his final battle with his brother Sandor Clegane in the final episode. During that combat scene, we got our first look at the face of the zombie-fied Mountain for the first time.

“The days could be very long and tiring,” Bjornsson said. “Training while your body needs rest can be even worse.”