Here’s why Game Of Thrones fans mistakenly think Joshua Jackson had a role on the hit HBO show. Canadian-American actor Joshua Jackson is best known for his breakout role on teen drama Dawson’s Creek in which he played lovable joker and fan-favorite Pacey Witter on all six seasons of the show. After Dawson’s Creek, Jackson found success playing FBI consultant Peter Bishop on the J.J. Abrams sci-fi series Fringe and Cole Lockhart on the Golden Globe-winning Showtime drama The Affair. More recently, he had roles in the miniseries When They See Us and Little Fires Everywhere.
Back in 2016, Game Of Thrones fans thought that Joshua Jackson had nabbed himself a part on the HBO mega hit when the character of Euron Greyjoy made his first appearance in the sixth season. A wayward and cruel pirate of ironborn descent, Euron made a memorable debut in “Home” when he committed fratricide by killing his brother Balon (Patrick Malahide). Soon after, Euron claimed his right to the Salt Throne and became King of the Iron Islands, usurping his niece Yara (Gemma Whelan) in the process, and later set about wooing Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey).
While Euron Greyjoy’s run on Game Of Thrones lasted for three seasons, he only appeared in a total of nine episodes before he was crushed to death in the rubble of the Red Keep during the Battle of King’s Landing in the show’s penultimate episode “The Bells.” Perhaps that relatively short run contributed to the confusion because Euron Greyjoy is in fact not played by Joshua Jackson but his lookalike Pilou Asbæk.
Joshua Jackson doppelganger Pilou Asbæk is a Danish actor who prior to Game Of Thrones was best known for his role as spin doctor Kasper Juul on the Danish political drama Borgen. He also appeared in the historical Danish war drama 1864, played Pontius Pilate in Timur Bekmambetov's box office bomb remake of Ben-Hur, alongside roles opposite Scarlett Johansson in both Lucy and Ghost In The Shell.
It’s not too surprising Game Of Thrones viewers confused Asbæk for Joshua Jackson given how alike the two actors look. In fact, the similarities between the two are so striking Jackson even joked he’d been cast in Game Of Thrones on his Instagram when news broke that Asbæk had joined the series. If a film or TV show ever needs a pair of actors to play twins, then Asbæk and Jackson could definitely meet the requirements.