Dame Diana Rigg and Tara Fitzgerald To Join Game of Thrones

HBO‘s fantasy drama Game of Thrones will expand its cast by 14 for the third season with the likes of Diana Rigg, Tara Fitzgerald, Mackenzie Crook, Tobaias Menzies and Anton Lesser joining the cast.

The new additions to the cast were revealed at Comic Con, in San Diego, on Friday and some of those joining have previously been linked to roles in the series – Clive Russell and Mackenzie Crook for example. The premier date for the third season of Game of Thrones has also been confirmed; March 31st 2013.

Heading the raft of new additions is Dame Diana Rigg who will play Lady Olenna Tyrell, also known as the Queen of Thorns. Diana Rigg is probably still best remembered for her role of Emma Peel in the 1960s spy/thriller series The Avengers opposite Patrick Macnee. The actress also played Bond girl Tracey Di Vicenzo in the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service which was George Lazenby’s only performance in the title role. It was recently announced that Diana Rigg is to guest star in the forthcoming seventh season of Doctor Who alongside her actress daughter Rachael Stirling.

MacKenzie Crook will play Orell, a wildling raider who is a “skinchanger”. Crook will be known to audiences for his role in the UK version of The Office and the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films as well as roles in Skins, Demons, Merlin and Little Dorrit. Tara Fitzgerald will play Selyse Baratheon, the wife of Stannis Baratheon. Tara Fitzgerald most recently played Dr. Eve Lockhart in BBC One‘s cold-case drama Waking the Dead appearing in more than 30 episodes and continued the role in the short-lived spin-off The Body Farm.

Other additions to the third season include Nathalie Emannuel (Hollyoaks), Ellie Kendrick (Upstairs Downstairs/Diary of Anne Frank), Clive Russell (Jam & Jerusalem/Coronation Street), Paul Kaye (Two Thousand Acres of Sky), Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Doctor Who/Nanny McPhee), Kelly Ingram, Richard Dormer (Solider, Solider), Kristofer Hivju (The Thing), Philip McGinley (Coronation Street), Tobias Menzies (Rome/Eternal Law) and Anton Lesser (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides/Little Dorrit).

To find out which characters the new additions will be playing click here >>