Game of Thrones’ Mag The Mighty Actor, Neil Fingleton, Dead at 36
Actor Neil Fingleton, who took on the role of Mag the Mighty for Game of Thrones, has passed away at the age of 36, per reports.
It appears as though 2017 will be no kinder when it comes to deaths of actors and celebrities than 2016 was. (And, let’s face it, 2016 was not kind.) Game of Thrones won’t remain untouched, either. According to reports from The Guardian, Neil Fingleton — Mag the Mighty — has died at the age of 36.
The Guardian notes that at a height of 7’7″, Fingleton was also the U.K.’s tallest man and that he actually started out by playing basketball in the United States. However, he moved into acting and snagged a role on Game of Thrones.
If you’ll recall, Mag the Mighty appears in season 4, during “The Watchers on the Wall,” as noted by the Game of Thrones wiki. It’s one episode, but he does go up against Grenn in the tunnels in an attempt to break through for the wildlings. Of course, it’s not the biggest role — he dies in the same episode — but it was important in establishing that the giants still had a culture and that Wun Wun wasn’t the only one left north of the Wall.
Fingleton, per IMDb, also had roles in X-Men: First Class as a bodyguard, and actually worked on Avengers: Age of Ultron as a stunt performer and in motion capture for who else but Ultron himself. Additionally, he appeared in Doctor Who and 47 Ronin.
The Guardian reports that he died Saturday of heart failure.
It’s never easy to lose anyone, even though they may have only played a small part in a show or movie. Every actor helps contribute to making a TV series or a movie better, whether by helping a villain come to life or by charging some members of the Night’s Watch during a climatic episode.
Our thoughts are with his family and friends.