Iain Alan Sutherland Glen, born on June 24, 1961, in Edinburgh, Scotland, is a distinguished actor whose commanding presence and versatility have made him a familiar face across both stage and screen for over four decades. He is best known to global audiences for his portrayal of the loyal and tormented Ser Jorah Mormont in the HBO fantasy epic Game of Thrones, a role that earned him widespread acclaim and a devoted fan following from 2011 to 2019. Glen’s career, however, stretches far beyond Westeros, encompassing award-winning performances in independent cinema, blockbuster franchises, and critically lauded theatre productions.

Glen’s journey into acting began after he studied at the University of Aberdeen and later trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. He made his professional stage debut in the early 1980s and quickly established himself as a formidable classical actor. His early film breakthrough came in 1990 with two strikingly different roles: he played the explorer John Hanning Speke in Mountains of the Moon and delivered a raw, powerful performance as the real-life prisoner Larry Winters in Silent Scream. For the latter, Glen won the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the Berlin International Film Festival, a prestigious honor that solidified his reputation as a serious dramatic talent. That same decade, he expanded his range by taking on the title roles in major Shakespearean productions, including Hamlet, Macbeth, and Henry V, on the London stage.

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Glen balanced his stage work with an increasingly diverse filmography. He appeared as Manfred Powell in the action-adventure Lara Croft: Tomb Raider alongside Angelina Jolie in 2001 and delivered a poignant performance as Brother John in the 2003 drama Song for a Raggy Boy. He also took on the role of Dr. Alexander Isaacs and the Tyrant in the Resident Evil film series, appearing in three installments between 2004 and 2016. On television, he portrayed Sir Richard Carlisle in the beloved period drama Downton Abbey in 2011 and later took the title role in the crime series Jack Taylor from 2010 to 2016. His stage work continued to earn accolades, receiving three Laurence Olivier Award nominations for his performances in the musical Martin Guerre, the West End production of The Blue Room, and the 2006 revival of The Crucible, where he played John Proctor.

In the 2010s, Game of Thrones became the defining role of Glen’s career, with his character Jorah Mormont’s unrequited love for Daenerys Targaryen and his battle with greyscale becoming central to the series’ emotional core. Following the show’s conclusion, Glen continued to take on high-profile genre roles, including voicing and portraying Bruce Wayne in the DC series Titans from 2019 to 2021. He also appeared in the critically acclaimed 2015 war drama Eye in the Sky and has since starred in the sci-fi series Silo as Dr. Pete Nichols from 2023 to 2025, and in the supernatural thriller The Rig as Magnus MacMillan beginning in 2023. Glen remains an active and sought-after actor, seamlessly moving between television, film, and the stage, and his enduring career stands as a testament to his skill, dedication, and range as a performer.