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World of Sport

30th Jul 2024

Irish swimmer Daniel Wiffen appeared in Game of Thrones’ most controversial episode

Simon Kelly

His siblings also got in on the act.

Irish swimmer Daniel Wiffen may have his eyes on a gold medal tonight for Ireland at the Paris Olympics, however it’s not the first time he’ll appear on peak TV.

The 23-year-old Olympian actually had a cameo appearance in a very famous episode of the hit TV show Game of Thrones.

Long before his Olympic dreams were realised, the County Down man, along with his twin brother, were extras in the infamous Red Wedding episode of the HBO behemoth.

Daniel Wiffen appeared in Game of Thrones’ most controversial episode

Speaking to Olympics.com, Wiffen said: “I didn’t really know about Game of Thrones when I was younger.

“My parents wouldn’t really let me watch it, but I guess my dad watched it all the time, and then my sister got a really good role in Game of Thrones – she was one of the Frey daughters [Neyela Frey, granddaughter of Lord Walder Frey].

“So she came in and did her bit and then we came in for the Red Wedding, in the background – which was pretty cool.”

Named The Rains of Castamere, the episode has gone down as one of the most controversial in television history, killing off a host of the main cast at the time.

In a video on the twin’s YouTube channel, Wiffen went into further detail on his experience on the show, saying: “Our scene, we were in the Frey Hall and we were basically just sitting on the steps below when the Starks came in.”

One of the twins in an episode of Game of Thrones (Wiffen Twins on YouTube / HBO)

The twins revealed they got to eat with the main cast as they were child actors, and they were able to explore the sets of Kings Landing and the Red Keep in the Belfast studios.

In the 2022 interview, Wiffen hadn’t given up on his acting goals, saying he would love to be a part of the currently airing spinoff series House of the Dragon.

“If I got offered that I’d probably make some time to get into it.”

Two seasons in and an Olympic Gold medal on the line, we’re sure the acting gig has cooled off for now, but there’s still plenty of time to jump back in for Wiffen.

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