Iwan Rheon: ‘There’s a part of me that was left behind when I moved away from Wales’

Exclusive: Welsh actor and musician discusses his heritage, influences and TV career ahead of the release of his first album in 10 years

(Kate Stuart Photography)

Iwan Rheon says he is able to access a “younger, more innocent” side to himself while singing in his native Welsh, as he prepares to release his first album in a decade.

The Cardiff-raised actor and musician is known to millions as the star of hit shows including Misfits, Game of Thrones – in which he played the sadistic Ramsay Bolton – and most recently the blockbuster Prime Video series Those About to Die.

He sings in his first language, Welsh, on the album, as well as in English, and reflected on how music is ingrained in his country’s culture.

“The way that we’re brought up, especially in the Welsh-language schools, there’s a lot of singing…” he told The Independent’s Good Vibrations podcast. “It’s a huge part of it, so you have an experience of performance without even realising you’re doing it.”

Listen to the full episode here.

He later added: “Speaking in Welsh… it’s almost like there’s a part of me that was left behind when I moved to London. I think the Welsh has had access to that, a sort of much more innocent, younger kind of vibe… So sometimes when you’re [speaking Welsh] you’ve got access to that a little bit more.”

Fans might be surprised to know that Rheon started out playing in local bands in Cardiff before moving to London aged 19, to study drama, where he was eventually cast in the 2008 musical Spring Awakening.

Rheon (right) as Ramsay Bolton with Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark in ‘Game of Thrones’ (HBO)

This was followed by roles in the Bafta-winning E4 show Misfits – about a group of young offenders who find themselves with supernatural powers – HBO’s Game of Thrones, BBC One’s Our Girl, Sky Atlantic’s drama series Riviera, and the BBC One Welsh television film Men Up.

He released his debut album, Dinard, in 2015. Ten years later, he’s poised to release the follow-up, I Just Wish I’d Never Gone to Space, a collection of personal songs spanning folk, indie and rock influences, with nods to artists such as Bon Iver, Tom Yorke and Sault.

Having established a successful career in TV and film, he felt free from pressure to go in a certain direction with his music: “ I'm not trying to write for any particular reason… I don’t have any pressure to do that,” he explained.

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“It’s whatever comes out, [which is] really nice – there’s no label going, ‘Oh you need a single.’ I'm very fortunate in that sense that I can just do whatever I want [with the music].”

Rheon said that he’d found that with age, the idea of “emotions and falling in love” became more nuanced: “[There’s] the fear from what you’ve learnt in the past, and then, ‘Is that gonna happen again?’ And what you’ve learnt about yourself from the last relationships and stuff like that.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Rheon admitted he was heartbroken when he realised he didn’t have any scenes with his hero, fellow Welsh actor Sir Anthony Hopkins, in the 2024 series Those About to Die, and that he had even asked the director if scenes could be added, to no avail.

Asked if he felt more drawn to “weirdos” and “dark characters”, he revealed that he was keen to try his hand at more comedy: “I think I could play the naive clown a bit more. I think everyone’s missing a trick.”

‘I’m not trying to write for any particular reason... I don’t have any pressure to do that’ (Kate Stuart Photography)

Iwan Rheon’s new album I Just Wish I’d Never Gone to Space is out on 3 July. Listen to Roisin O’Connor’s Good Vibrations wherever you get your podcasts.