Few actors manage to build a career marked by characters as ambiguous and magnetic as Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. The Danish actor, born in 1970, achieved worldwide fame playing Jaime Lannister in Game of Thrones — a role that moved between the repulsive and the admirable, the criminal and the heroic. Now, in 2025, he returns to historical epic in the skin of William the Conqueror, in the BBC drama King and Conqueror. The comparison between the two characters is inevitable — not only because of the armor and sword, but because of the human contradictions they both embody.

The Actor and His Career

Coster-Waldau began his career in Danish theater, making his debut in 1992 at the Betty Nansen Theatre in Hamlet. From the start, he revealed himself as an actor capable of combining physical presence with dramatic subtlety. His path to Hollywood opened after appearing in two Ridley Scott films: Black Hawk Down (2001) and Kingdom of Heaven (2005), productions that paved the way for bigger opportunities, until Game of Thrones made him a global name.

After eight seasons as Jaime Lannister, Coster-Waldau sought to diversify: he starred in the comedy The Other Woman and, in 2022, in Against the Ice, a survival film he also co-wrote and produced. More recently, he has embarked on documentary projects such as An Optimist’s Guide to the Planet, traveling the world in search of solutions to environmental crises. This multifaceted approach reveals an actor conscious of his image, but also interested in using his visibility beyond fiction.

Jaime Lannister: The Humanized Villain

In the mythology of Game of Thrones, Jaime Lannister begins as a villain: the arrogant knight, incestuous lover of his own sister, responsible for pushing Bran Stark from the tower. But throughout the series, Coster-Waldau transformed him into one of the most complex figures in Westeros. The “Kingslayer” was also a man trapped by duty, love, and personal tragedy. His partial redemption never made him a hero, but revealed that even the gravest sins coexist with gestures of honor and loyalty.

That arc was shaped largely by the actor’s interpretation. Coster-Waldau always stated he never saw Jaime as a classic villain, but as a conflicted man, capable of being both cruel and vulnerable in equal measure.

William the Conqueror: Ambition and Contradiction

In the new BBC epic, Coster-Waldau embodies William, Duke of Normandy, who in 1066 invaded England and forever changed the course of European history. William the of King and Conqueror is not the unshakable myth of Norman chronicles, but a man full of contradictions: proud and impetuous, yet also vulnerable, reliant on the strength of his wife Matilda (played by Clémence Poésy).

Like Jaime, William is portrayed as someone resisting the simplistic vision of villain or hero. He is not merely the “victor of Hastings,” but a man capable of brutal decisions born of pride, jealousy, or pain — as he recalls in his own words, “thousands died because of his hurt feelings.”

The Parallels Between Jaime and William

The bond between Jaime Lannister and William the Conqueror goes beyond sword and throne. Both are figures — historical or fictional — that defy rigid categories of “good” and “evil.”

• Ambition and Pride: Jaime, by killing King Aerys, acted out of both honor and survival, yet bore the stigma of treason forever. William, by demanding the promised crown, unleashed a bloody war fueled by pride and legitimacy.
• The Weight of Love: Jaime is humanized by his love for Cersei, however taboo. William is humanized by his bond with Matilda, a partnership of power and affection that makes him more three-dimensional.
• Symbols of Power: Curiously, both are represented by lions — Jaime, the Lion of Lannister; William, the double lion of Normandy. A coincidence that reinforces the overlap between myth and history, and one Game of Thrones fan will instantly catch.
• Humanized by Vulnerability: In both cases, Coster-Waldau insists on moments of tenderness. Brutality is balanced by small gestures of care.

William the Conqueror in History and Historiography

The truth is, when we talk about Jaime Lannister, the “real” William was actually an inspiration for another Game of Thrones character — one who is Jaime’s inverted mirror: none other than Jon Snow.

William the Conqueror was born in Falaise, Normandy, the illegitimate son of Robert the Magnificent. His bastard origin was a stigma he carried all his life, marking him as deeply as the scars of battle. From a young age, he had to consolidate power against nobles who despised a leader of “impure blood.” The boy called the Bastard became the relentless duke and, later, king of England.

This narrative already echoes Jaime Lannister: the weight of an infamous label, the struggle to prove himself, the desire to be recognized not for stigma but for accomplishments. And, of course, it carries a touch of Jon Snow.

The Sources and the Bias of the Victors

Much of what we know about William comes from sources like the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the writings of William of Poitiers (his biographer), and the Bayeux Tapestry. But, as Coster-Waldau himself points out, medieval historiography was partial: the victors wrote the narrative. The tapestry, for instance, depicts Harold as a perjurer and William as God’s chosen hero.

Fans of George R. R. Martin’s school of storytelling will recognize his maxim from Game of Thrones: “history is written by the victors.” Jaime, branded “Kingslayer” for centuries, only later revealed his side of the story — too late to change public perception. William, in turn, was immortalized as “the Conqueror,” though for defeated Anglo-Saxons he was also “the Usurper.”

Cruel King or Modernizer?

Historians disagree: was William a bloodthirsty tyrant or a modernizer? He introduced Norman feudalism, built castles, strengthened the Church, and produced the Domesday Book, a pioneering administrative survey. At the same time, he ordered atrocities such as the Harrowing of the North, when entire lands were devastated to suppress rebellion.

This contrast mirrors Jaime: a knight capable of acts of honor (saving millions by killing the Mad King) and of brutality (pushing a child from a tower). Both live between the glory of creation and the shadow of destruction.

Between History and Fantasy

With the premiere of King and Conqueror, the parallel between Jaime Lannister and William the Conqueror is not just marketing or a visual curiosity. It reveals how fiction and history converge in what fascinates us most: larger-than-life figures, at once heroic and condemnable.

William built medieval England, but left rivers of blood in its wake. Jaime was a knight of legend, but also a criminal. In both, humanity emerges from paradox.

And that is where Nikolaj Coster-Waldau’s work stands out. Instead of embodying caricatures of “villain” or “hero,” he has specialized in showing that every conqueror is also a prisoner of his own image.