EW has the scoop: British actress Rose Leslie is playing the role of Ygritte, a red-haired wildling spear wife who’ll meet Jon Snow when he joins Lord Mormont in ranging north beyond the Wall. Ygritte is one of the last major roles to be officially announced, we believe.
Leslie is a graduate of LAMDA, and may be recognized by fans of the hit British mini-series Downton Abbey due to her role as Gwen, one of the housemaids, in the first series. The coincidence of her involvement in that show leaves us hopeful that next season (*knock on wood*) Dame Maggie Smith might be wooed over from the show to play the Queen of Thorns…
A fine photo of the actress in her role as May in Nell Leyshon’s Bedlam which we think might give a nice sense of how she might look with wilder, more unkempt hair, which we’d expect for Ygritte. Ygritte’s red hair is considered lucky among the wildlings, who say it’s “kissed by fire.”