Kristian Nairn

A giant of a man at almost seven feet in height, Kristian Nairn was equally at home mixing music, acting on television and producing electronic music for a host of hip Irish acts. In his native Ireland he was well known as a DJ of incomparable skill who would sometimes guest on stage with such acts as Scissor Sisters and Daddy's Little Princess. He found a home for over ten years as the resident disc jockey for one of the hottest Dublin nightclubs, Kremlin, in the early part of the 2000s. But he would take a break from his first love, music, when he was cast as the quiet giant Hodor on HBO's groundbreaking television series "Game of Thrones" (2011 - ). Nairn was no stranger to the fantasy world that the series creator George R. R. Martin came from or the online gaming that was so closely connected to it. Nairn had established himself as a key player in the online role game World of Warcraft before he took on the role of Hodor. But the role, which quickly became a fan favorite, was to cement his place in fantasy history. He had an opportunity to mix his two worlds, the fantasy world of "Game of Thrones" and the musical world of electronic DJing, during his character's hiatus from the show's season five. While most actors would take advantage of a year away from one of the most popular television shows on cable TV to land a new role, Nairn used 2014 to develop a travelling Rave that used "Game of Thrones" as a theme and featured all his favorite electronic music. It became the buzz of the internet when he announced its initial tour of Australia in the fall of 2014. That same year, Nairn appeared in the documentary "Treasure Trapped" (2014). The death of Hodor during the sixth season of "Game of Thrones" became one of the show's most-talked about moments, perhaps surpassing even the resurrection of Jon Snow earlier in the season.