If you've seen Nikolaj Coster-Waldau anything, it's probably as swordsman and royal Jaime Lannister in the classic fantasy show Game of Thrones. However if you've watched one of Netflix's top 10 movies recently, you may have seen Coster-Waldau in something else without realising.
That movie is Shot Caller, which is currently the sixth most-watched movie on Netflix UK at the time of writing. Its presence on the list is a surprise given how little the line-up has changed in the last week.
Shot Caller stars Coster-Waldau as Jacob Harlon, a stockbroker who is sent to prison after drunkenly hitting and killing a friend with his car. In jail, Harlon finds himself having to adapt to the violent life of gang warfares and dodgy dealings, a role he finds himself incredibly successful in.
Also in Shot Caller are Jon Bernthal, Lake Bell, Holt McCallany and Omari Hardwick. The movie was released in 2017 and it's already been on Netflix for several years, though it was removed in early 2023 and only re-added on Monday, April 15 of this year.
The movie was fairly well-reviewed as a decent crime thriller, so if you're a fan of the genre, maybe it's worth streaming Shot Caller to keep it in Netflix's top 10 movie ranking.
While many of its stars are used to playing tough criminal figures, particularly Bernthal, Coster-Waldau sees a total transformation in this role from Jaime Lannister. That's actually him in the picture at the top of this article and his long slick-backed hair, handlebar moustache, tattooed torso and vest-top fashion style are a total departure from everything about the Game of Thrones character.
For a reminder, you can see Jaime Lannister and sister Cersei from the show below:
The characters are quite distinct too. In Shot Caller, Harlon may descend into the depths of a criminal web, but he's doing it for good reasons: to protect his family. Lannister is the opposite, leading the righteous Kingsguard, but his motivations are anything but clean. And let's not even get started on his views on family!
Coster-Waldau has actually played a wide range of characters outside of his Game of Thrones role. He's played a Danish explorer in Against the Ice, Egyptian deity in Gods of Egpt, post-apocalyptic sergeant in Oblivion and pizza delivery man in The Flash.
He's also set to star as William the Conqueror in an upcoming BBC and CBS period drama alongside James Norton, Clémence Poésy and Eddie Marsan.
