Meet Finn Bennett, the Actor Who Plays Prince Aerion Targaryen in 'A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms'

The Game of Thrones universe is expanding with A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, a new adaptation from George R.R. Martin’s canon. The HBO series is another prequel set in the fictional Westeros, based on Martin’s novella series Tales of Dunk and Egg that follow Ser Duncan “Dunk” the Tall (Peter Claffey), future Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, and his squire “Egg” (Dexter Sol Ansell), who would later become King Aegon V Targaryen.

Egg’s explosive brother, Prince Aerion Targaryen, aptly nicknamed Aerion the Monstrous and played by Finn Bennett, becomes an obstacle in Dunk’s path as the two duke it out as the embodiments of good and evil. But despite stepping into the franchise as this show’s villain, Bennett didn’t watch the original series until the pandemic. “Lockdown was obviously really miserable, but at least I had Game of Thrones,” he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2025. “One of the great things about the show—and where a lot of fantasy shows faltered—is that it’s so political in looking at a kind of War of the Roses setup between these great and noble houses.”

While the actor initially thought he had “flubbed” his A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms audition, he stepped into the role right after shooting the 2025 A24 war film Warfare. Ahead, get to know Finn Bennett, the actor who is giving us Joffrey-levels of evil in the latest Game of Thrones offshoot.

Finn Bennett started acting with his sister when they were young.

Born in Hackney, London, in 1999, Bennett wasn’t raised around the arts. His father, Ronan Bennett, is a novelist and screenwriter of Irish descent, and his late mother, Georgina Henry, was a journalist, making him the first person in his family to pursue this exact line of work. Still, he didn’t always know he wanted to be an actor; as a child, he contemplated joining the circus or becoming a marine biologist.

Despite their creative pursuits, Bennett’s parents didn’t push an artistic career on him, but rather exposed their children to acting as a form of therapy. “When my sister and I were younger, she was going through a difficult time…On a friend's recommendation, my parents sent us both to a stage school on Saturday, which was an hour of music, an hour of dancing, and an hour of drama, and the hour of drama became my favourite hour of the week,” he told 5 Eleven Mag in 2024. At 10, he realized he had found his calling and was soon performing at their local Her Majesty’s Theatre, and made his television debut in 2010 on Foyle’s War.

Though he started in stage productions, Bennett has admitted that he prefers screen acting. “I like rules about the screen, and I enjoy working in a tight environment. That's not to say I wouldn't ever want to do theatre again…But I like something about the rules of film. I love a set. I love how many people it takes to make a movie or a TV show, and you become this big troupe, and that's exciting,” he said.

Finn Bennett’s role in 'A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms' was his introduction to horseback riding.

To truly become a Westerosi knight, Bennett had to learn horseback riding and sword fighting. He told WWD that he was surprised by the weight of the swords and that riding a horse was his favorite activity, which he plans to continue doing in his personal life.

Physical activities weren’t the only things Bennett did to prepare for this role. He also leaned on music, telling GQ Australia that Limp Bizkit, Korn, and Rage Against the Machine were the soundtrack for getting into Aerion Targaryen’s head on set. He dubbed Limp Bizkit’s “Break Stuff” as “Aerion’s theme song”—an apt title for the prince’s demeanor.

Finn Bennett received the prestigious 2025 Cannes Trophée Chopard award.

Bennett joined the ranks of Gael García Bernal, James McAvoy, and John Boyega when he was identified as an emerging young actor at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. “I didn’t really believe it at first,” he told WWD about being chosen as 2025’s Trophée Chopard recipient. “I looked up the previous recipients, and there are some really amazing people on there—not just well-known, but brilliant actors who do the kind of projects I want to do.”

Angelina Jolie was the award presenter, and Bennett used his speech to thank his agent of over a decade. “Your agent is reading all those scripts, selecting you for projects, fighting for you,” he noted in the speech. “Now that we’ve moved into more American projects, she’s on the phone at midnight—I’m not. I just get to reap the rewards.”

Leading up to the award, Bennett starred in two high-profile television shows: HBO’s True Detective: Night Country and Netflix’s Black Doves. Starring opposite Jodie Foster in True Detective: Night Country as Officer Peter Prior was a career highlight for Bennett. “That role could have just been a plot device,” he said. “But [showrunner] Issa López gave him this massive journey. He really affected me.”

He also starred in the A24 film Warfare alongside D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Kit Connor, Joseph Quinn, and Charles Melton—a group of actors he told The Hollywood Reporter he’s still in touch with every day.

Next, he’ll appear in another buzzy A24 film: The Backrooms, a horror movie from 20-year-old YouTuber-turned-filmmaker Kane Parsons that’s set for release later this year.