Getty Kristofer Hivju, who plays Tormund Giantsbane on HBO’s Game of Thrones, will be back again to help battle the Army of the Dead when the final season premieres this Sunday, April 14.
Kristofer Hivju, who plays the bearded wildling Tormund Giantsbane on HBO’s Game of Thrones, will be back again to help battle the Army of the Dead when the eighth and final season premieres this Sunday, April 14.
With the season premiere right around the corner, fans of the Hivju may find themselves wondering about his personal life. The Norwegian actor stands at 6’0″ tall, or 182.88 cm, and was born on December 7, 1978, making him 40-years-old.
Here’s what you need to know about Hivju:
He Comes From a Large Family of Actors
Hivju is a second-generation Norwegian actor; his parents, Lieselotte Holmene and Erik Hivju, were both actors as well, according to IMDb. His father appeared with him in the short film “Flax,” where Hivju shared screenwriting credit with director Bård Ivar Engelsås. He comes from a family of actors – his grandparents were also actors, and his cousin Isabelle Nanty is a French actress. He was born in Oslo, Norway, started acting in 2001, and is a spokesperson for the Wyndham Hotel chains.
Hivju made his American film debut in Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.’s 2011 prequel of John Carpenter’s “The Thing.” He also featured in M. Night Shyamalan’s “After Earth” in 2013, and “The Fate of the Furious” in 2017, among many other films.
He is Happily Married & Has Two Daughters
Hivju has been happily married to wife Gry Molvær Hivju since 2015, and often posts pictures of the two of them together on his Instagram account. He recently posted a picture of himself straightening out her dress on the red carpet during the Game of Thrones premiere, writing “A man has to do what a man has to do. What I do for my queen.” The couple share two daughters and live in Trondheim, Norway, although he also has a home in Los Angeles.
He is known for taking his family on sets of the shows and films he works on, and recently brought his wife and daughters on the set of “Fast and Furious 8: Fate of the Furious,” a movie he played alongside his GoT co-star Nathalie Emmanuel in 2017.
It Only Takes 4 Months & 17 Days to Grow His Beard
As most fans of Game of Thrones know, Tormund Giantsbane has a majestic ginger beard, and since a photo of a beardless Hivju went viral back in 2017, fans have wondered just how long it actually takes him to grow one. In an interview with Elle, Hivju claimed he is a “fast grower” when it comes to his facial hair, and that he didn’t actually have his beard when he auditioned for his role as Tormund.
“I didn’t have it when I auditioned—I had a small one, just some stubs,” he told Elle. “For some reason, the shoot was delayed. The hair department had created a beard for me, but when I came to set, it was full grown and red and ready to go. This is four months and 17 days of beard. Yes, I’m a fast grower.”
Hivju also says that if the right part comes along after Game of Thrones ends, he would consider shaving it off, but otherwise he is keeping the beard, telling Elle it’s easier than shaving. “What’s more natural, to take a razor blade and cut yourself in the face every day or just do nothing?”
Tune in Sunday, April 14 at 9/8c to catch the eighth and final season premiere of Game of Thrones, only on HBO.
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