Game of Thrones' The Mountain Actor Lifts Ed Sheeran Over His Head: 'He Asked for It'
Friends who lift together, stay together.
Game of Thrones actor Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, who played the colossus Ser Gregor Clegane (a.k.a. The Mountain) on the Emmy-winning HBO series, met up with Ed Sheeran over the weekend and showed off his impressive strength.
Both the actor, 30, and the musician, 28, shared the experience on their Instagram pages.
“When in Iceland,” Sheeran said in the caption for a photo of him posing while Björnsson, who won the 2018 World’s Strongest Man competition, holds him high above his head, tagging the actor. The “I Don’t Care” singer performed in Reykjavík on August 11 and 12.
“He asked for it. Luckily I didn’t drop him… He has to work tonight!!” wrote Björnsson in his caption, sharing a video of the whole process.
“Don’t drop him!” someone off-camera says in the video. But Björnsson easily lifts Sheeran, who spreads his arms in a “ta-da!”-like gesture as others in the room cheer and applaud.
The two laugh and shake hands after the Icelandic strongman sets him back on his feet.
Sheeran has another connection to Björnsson — he’s also acted (and sung!) on Game of Thrones. The singer played a Lannister soldier in an episode in the series’ seventh season in a scene with Arya Stark actress Maisie Williams.
He asked for it. Luckily I didn’t drop him... He has to work tonight!! 🤪 @teddysphotos
A post shared by Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (@thorbjornsson) on Aug 11, 2019 at 1:08pm PDT
Apparently, Sheeran isn’t the only fan of Björnsson’s to request a display of his strength.
“I get a lot of requests fans asking if I want to squeeze their eyes,” Björnsson told Entertainment Weekly in a 2017 interview.
“That’s very popular. Or pick them up over head,” he added. “But the most popular to squeeze their eyes out.”
When in Iceland @thorbjornsson
A post shared by Ed Sheeran (@teddysphotos) on Aug 11, 2019 at 1:02pm PDT
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Björnsson explained that if he does acquiesce to lift up a fan, he usually only does so for women.
“I have had to say no, because if I’m going to lift one person, then so many others are going to ask to be lifted too,” he said. “If it’s just one person, okay, but it’s crowded then I know others are going to ask. You have to try to be fair to everyone you know.”
