Kristian Nairn

“I was a total metal-head as a teen. I still love it, too.”

“I really wasted a lot of time in my 20s.”

“My first musical dream was to be a guitar player, and believe me, it's still in there.”

“Most of the clubbing I did was gay clubbing.”

“'Game of Thrones' was a game-changer for Northern Ireland. There's going to be a massive gap when it goes.”

“People either think Hodor is a very easy character to play or a very difficult one; there's no in between. But it's a lot of fun having to completely switch personalities inside four seconds, with no words. That's a joy for an actor to get to show all that complex emotion in such a short space of time.”

“There's no one else like Hodor on 'Game of Thrones.' There's no other character with that warmth, humanity, and a little bit of comic relief.”

“I always say, the darker the scene, the more fun it is.”

“I never stopped DJing through the entire 'Game of Thrones' process. I never saw the need to stop because I do love it so much.”

“I was quite a shy person growing up, and drag was very much a shield for me to perform behind.”

“I did some musical theater and studied a little bit of acting as well.”

“I sorta worked out a few years ago that one of my favorite things to do in 'World of Warcraft' is look for things, to just spend the time flying around searching.”

“In all honesty, when you talk about 'the gay community,' you are talking about my community, haha.”

“I always have to have the new gadgets and stuff when they come out. I'm not really interested enough in learning how they work.”

“I think that's why 'Game of Thrones' is such a watercooler talking point: because there are these moments that are beautiful and terrible at the same time.”

“I haven't read more than two pages, but my mother is a George Martin super fan.”

“I had actually sent an audition tape for Simon Pegg's movie 'Hot Fuzz,' which came to nothing. Four years after the film released, out of nowhere, I got a call saying the producers of 'Game of Thrones' wanted me to play Hodor after they had seen that particular tape.”

“I have no difficulty with career duality!”

“I love saying 'Hodor!'”

“What I've always done is be positive and do what I do.”