Sussex councillor Sam Coleman stars in Game of Thrones

Sam Coleman, the Bexhill Sidley councillor at Rother District Council, played the younger version of Hodor in the sixth series of the hit show.

The actor turned councillor told The Argus Podcast that he had just finished binge watching the show when his agent broke the news.

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“A friend of mine recommended it to me as she knew I loved medieval, fantasy stuff,” he said. “But I hadn’t got into when it was first on as I knew it would take over my life.

“I knew I’d forsake all revision of exams in favour of binge watching this captivating fantasy show about dragons. But I gave in to the temptations and binged series one to four or five.

“And then as I was finishing my binge watch, my agent rang and said I had an audition for season six of Game of Thrones.”

Sam Coleman, the Bexhill Sidley councillor at Rother District Council, played young Hodor in Game of Thrones

Sam, who also stars in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre prequel Leatherface, said it wasn’t until he watched the series in which he features that he appreciated the significance of it all.

“It’s very bizarre. Especially because when filming the scene, it’s a very technical process, it’s not a very emotional process,” he said. “There aren’t beautiful violins playing in the background.

“The emotion of it didn’t trigger with me until I was watching it with my family and friends for the first time on TV.

“Some of them were crying, and I was almost crying because not from my performance, but from the music and the fact that Hodor is dying.

“It’s very strange for me when people come up to me and say, ‘you made me cry’. But it’s very touching and humbling. That is what acting is all about – it’s about connecting with people.”

The 25-year-old, who moved to Sussex at the age of 12, began acting after joining a local theatre group.

“I was planning on going to drama school,” he said. “But it was around the time that I was auditioning for drama schools that I landed Game of Thrones and Leatherface.

“It’s a bit bananas. Although I’m not famous, there are people who if I say what I did, they go ‘oh my god it’s you’.

“I live an everyday normal life and any time people ask what I do for a job I wince a little bit because I know their upcoming reaction, which is either ‘oh my god you made me cry’ or ‘sorry, I’ve never seen Game of Thrones’.”

The full episode of The Argus Podcast featuring Sam is available now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.