Game Of Thrones: 20 Greatest Performances

12. Diana Rigg - Olenna Tyrell

Cersei game of thrones
HBO

It's hard to articulate just how fantastic this character is. She's the absolute comedic MVP of Game of Thrones and the true queen of shade, zingers and hilarious one-liners.

As Olenna Tyrell, the late, great Dame Diana Rigg gave a flawless performance and was a complete hoot every moment she was on-screen, making Olenna one of the show's most purely lovable characters. Even though a fair few of the scenes this character appeared in were pretty dark, she filled every one of them with joy and laughter.

It was a great performance on a dramatic level too. Rigg portrayed the character as an intellectually powerful yet wonderfully poignant figure and it was just a sublime turn all around, meaning her exit in season seven was extremely difficult to bear. Still, at least the writers had the decency to give her the most badass death scene in Game of Thrones history, which was sure as hell what she deserved.

Contributor

Film Studies graduate, aspiring screenwriter and all-around nerd who, despite being a pretentious cinephile who loves art-house movies, also loves modern blockbusters and would rather watch superhero movies than classic Hollywood films. Once met Tommy Wiseau.