Game of Thrones prequel casts Poldark star Josh Whitehouse as male lead

He'll join Naomi Watts for the series set thousands of years before the 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series

HBO's Game of Thrones prequel, The Long Night, has found its male lead in the form of British actor Josh Whitehouse.

The 28-year-old actor and Burberry model is best known for playing Hugh Armitage in BBC series Poldark. He'll join Naomi Watts who was recently announced to star as “a charismatic socialite hiding a dark secret” in the new series’s pilot, which is set to begin shooting next year. Details of their characters' resepctive backstories are yet to be revealed.

Whitehouse will next be seen in David Lynch-produced film The Happy Worker and Valley Girl, a musical retelling of the cult classic starring Nicolas Cage.

Screenwriter Jane Goldman, who co-wrote Kick-Ass with Matthew Vaughn, is behind the prequel, which takes place thousands of years before the events told in Game of Thrones. She’ll work closely with Martin whose bestselling novels, published as part of the series A Song of Ice and Fire, were adapted into the most successful TV show in HBO history.

The cable network currently has five Thrones-related projects in the works with Martin confirming others are currently in “active development”.

Game of Thrones, which aired for the first time in 2011, will conclude with its eighth season in 2019.

Maisie Williams recently revealed a huge detail about her "perfect" final scene as Arya Stark.

✕

Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events