Veteran British actor Jim Broadbent has joined the cast of ‘Game of Thrones’ for its seventh series, in what is described as a “significant” role.

The 67 year old actor, renowned for dozens of award-winning roles in movies, on television and the stage, is to play a major part in the seventh and penultimate series of HBO’s ever-popular fantasy drama when it returns in the summer of 2017, according to Entertainment Weekly.

Jim BroadbentJim Broadbent is to play a "significant" role in 'Game of Thrones' series 7

Details of his character have not been revealed other than a show spokesperson dropping the word “significant”, as the showrunners are notoriously risk-averse when it comes to potential plot spoilers, meaning that ‘GoT’ fans now have a great deal to speculate over.

Broadbent’s illustrious career has spanned four decades won an Oscar in 2001 for Best Supporting Actor in Iris, and a BAFTA award for Best Supporting Actor the same year for Moulin Rouge. He also won a TV BAFTA for ‘Longford’ in 2006.

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He has also put in memorable and diverse performances in this year’s ‘War and Peace’ for the BBC, as well as The Iron Lady, Hot Fuzz, Bridget Jones’s Diary and Time Bandits.

Many ‘GoT’ fans of a younger generation will know him as Hogwarts potion master Professor Horace Slughorn from the Harry Potter movies.

The seven episodes that make up the seventh series of ‘Game of Thrones’ are set to be filmed this winter, meaning that release has been delayed until the end of summer next year, instead of its traditional April release date.

The show won a record-breaking dozen Emmys last year, and has been nominated for a further 23 awards in this year’s ceremony for its sixth season.

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