Many viewers of the Game of Thrones spin-off series are eager to learn more about the child star.
A Knight of the Seven KiBefore appearing in the Game of Thrones spin-off, the young actor began his career on ITV soap Emmerdale, taking on two separate roles. He first played Jimmy King’s son, Carl Holliday, from January to May 2016, before later portraying Lucas Taylor between 2019 and 2021.
ngdoms premiered this week.
The drama follows the trials and tribulations of hedge knight Ser Duncan the Tall (played by Peter Claffey), who dreams of becoming the greatest knight in Westeros, alongside his young squire Egg, portrayed by Dexter Sol Ansell.
Viewers of the Game of Thrones spin-off are eager to learn more about the show’s two leading stars, with particular interest in child actor Ansell.
Inside the life of Dexter Sol Ansell – from Emmerdale role to famous parents
Rising star Ansell was born on September 16, 2014, in Leeds, Yorkshire. Now aged 11, he would have been just 10 years old while filming the first season of the HBO fantasy series.
While A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is not Ansell’s first acting role, it is by far his most high-profile to date and is expected to launch him firmly into the spotlight.
Before appearing in the Game of Thrones spin-off, the young actor began his career on ITV soap Emmerdale, taking on two separate roles. He first played Jimmy King’s son, Carl Holliday, from January to May 2016, before later portraying Lucas Taylor between 2019 and 2021.
He later secured a role in Sky’s sci-fi thriller The Midwich Cuckoos before going on to star in the feel-good festive film Christmas on Mistletoe Farm.
Following this, Ansell appeared in The Moor, an episode of Hullraisers, and took on a major role as a young Coriolanus Snow in the Hollywood blockbuster The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, starring alongside Viola Davis and Rachel Zegler.
He has also featured in Robin and the Hoods, which starred Harry Potter actor Mark Williams, James Bond star Naomie Harris, and Game of Thrones alum Gwendoline Christie. Notably, Christie’s Game of Thrones character Brienne of Tarth is confirmed to be a descendant of Ser Duncan the Tall in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
Most recently, Ansell appeared in the film Here with Tom Hanks, Robin Wright and Paul Bettany.
The young actor is now busy filming season two of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, after HBO renewed the series before the first episode had even aired. He is also set to appear in the upcoming film 500 Miles, starring Bill Nighy, Roman Griffin Davis, Michael Socha, Clare Dunne and Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams.
Alongside his rising acting career, Ansell also comes from a well-known family. His mother, Debbie Ansell, previously presented the British game show Quizmania, while his father, Jonathan Ansell, is a member of operatic pop group G4, who rose to fame on The X Factor. He also has an older sister, Siena Ansell.
Reflecting on shaving his head to play the bald character Egg, Ansell admitted: “It was unbelievable. I was quite nervous about shaving my hair because I kept thinking, ‘What if I don’t have a nicely shaped head?’ I wasn’t sure how I’d feel.”
Teasing his role in an HBO video, the young star described Egg as “very cheeky.” He explained that Egg desperately wants to become a squire but hesitates when he first meets Dunk, thinking it might be his only chance to serve a knight.
He added: “Egg also looks at Dunk and thinks, ‘Your belt’s made of rope — you don’t look like a very good knight.’ All the other knights are 10 times bigger than Egg. They’re huge, strong men, and he’s just a little kid. But Egg realises you don’t need to be strong, as long as you’re there to help your knight.”
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