Four years ago, my friends and I were at Comic Con in the Dublin Convention Centre and while off on my own for a while I met Hafþór Björnsson in a corridor. For anyone who doesn’t know who he is, he has broken records as the strongest man in the world and portrays the intimidating Game of Thrones villain, The Mountain. As a fan of Game of Thrones I was completely taken aback by seeing him in person. His sheer height alone at 6ft7 is impressive but seeing The Mountain himself in front of me almost scared me. However I spoke to him and asked to take a picture with him and he was extremely nice to me as a fan.
I asked him if he had a table as most celebrities at comic con sit at tables while people pay to meet them yet he told me that he volunteered to just walk around and meet people as he didn’t want people to have to lose money just to speak to him. I respected that and we ended up talking for some time. I was wrapped up in the fact that I was even having a conversation with Björnsson whom I watched nearly every day in Game of Thrones. He spoke about his dogs for a good while and as a dog owner myself we kept the conversation going for another ten minutes. Eventually he had to go to the stage downstairs for an announcement that I can’t quite recall the purpose of and he gave me a hug goodbye which nearly crushed my ribs in all honesty. It was an experience with a celebrity I’ll never forget and it must be said that The Mountain has a heart of pure gold