The Zimbabwean Actor In Game Of Thrones
Among the actors of the massively popular TV Series Game of Thrones, is a Zimbabwean actor that not many Zimbabweans may actually know about.
His name is Lucian Msamati and he features in Game of Thrones, he plays the character of Salladhor Saan, a pirate and owner of a fleet of ships.
The name Msamati might not be a familiar one in Zimbabwe though. That’s because even though he was brought up in Zimbabwe (did his primary, highs-chool and university education in the country) he was actually born in the UK and both his parents are Tanzanian.
Msimati did his early education at Avondale Primary School and later went to Prince Edward for his High School. He then proceeded to the University of Zimbabwe from 1995 to 1997 where he studied for a BA Honours Degree in French and Portuguese. He left Zimbabwe for the UK in 2001.
Msamati said about the decision “I had always maintained, and always knew that in order to make it in this profession I would have to leave Zimbabwe eventually.”
Msamati and his school friends a theatre company that went on to become of the most acclaimed in Zimbabwe – Over the Edge Theatre Company. The company was later joined by Zimbabwean Hollywood star Chipo Chung and others.
In Game of Thrones, Salladhor is a pirate lord who is hired to help one of the contenders for the Throne, Stannis Baratheon, fight to be king. They, however, end up losing the battle. Salladhor is in a total of 6 episodes in season 2, 3 and 4.
Msamati is not the only one with some Zimbabwe history. There’s also Liam Cunningham who plays the role of the Davos Seaworth who appears from the second season up to the last episode that aired earlier this week. Cunningham spent some time in Zimbabwe in the 80s but it was only for 3 years. During that time he did maintenance for electrical equipment at a safari park and also trained electricians.
Interestingly, in Game of Thrones, the two characters are actually friends and often appeared together.
Here are Salladhor some scenes:
Photographs: HBO
