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Dean Jagger made his sweary debut in Westeros last week as the towering Smalljon Umber.

And for the Dewsbury-born and Ossett-raised actor, it was a TV dream come true.

Huddersfield already boasts a Thrones star, Lena Headey (who plays matriarch Cersei Lannister), and now West Yorkshire can claim another star from the show.

Dean had been keen to land a part on the smash-hit HBO drama since he started watching the series — and now he's entered the wild world of Westeros.

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His curt dealings with Ramsay Snow and the delivery of two 'special gifts' had fans up in arms, with theories aplenty about what his character would do next.

But the 37-year-old was understandably tight-lipped, saying that viewers would 'see his character again' but revealing no further details.

But who is Dean Jagger — and how did he land a role in one of the biggest TV shows in the world?

Name: Dean Jagger, named after the 1950s American actor of the same name.

Age: 37.

Background: Born at Dewsbury Hospital, brought up in Ossett, near Wakefield.

How did you get the role?

"My agents were tracking Game of Thrones for me, waiting for the right character to come along."

Dean secured the role of Smalljon Umber, Lord of Last Hearth and head of House Umber in the drama.

"I couldn't tell anybody," he said. "I had to doubly secure my email and everything arriving from HBO, it was the most super-secret process I've been through in my life."

What's it like being in Game of Thrones?

"It's been absolutely amazing," he said. "I was a fan of the show before I got the job so it's been quite surreal. I've made a lot of good friends there.

"It's quite different, that actual size of it, the scale of the grandiose sets."

Dean filmed for season six from August to October last year, but can't reveal the details of his storyline.

"I'm completely locked down," he said. "You are going to see me again but I can't say more than that.

"My experience was very surreal because I have watched the show for years now and when you step into the sets from TV it become quite surreal. It was really rewarding to meet the cast."

What do you make of your character, Smalljon Umber?

(Image: HELEN SLOAN / HBO)

"He's got no filter," Dean said. "When you do a role like that you can have a bit of fun. He's really unpredictable and he's a savage.

"He's a very powerful character so it sang to me when I found out who he was and what his story was."

Dean spent around an hour in make-up every day of filming to create Smalljon's gruff, bearded look.

"They have some of the best make up people in the business," he said.

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What have your family and friends made of it all?

"When I booked Game of Thrones my mum watched it from the beginning, from series one. I had my head in my hands, she saw so much raw stuff," Dean said. "I do tease her. To this day she doesn't know what's going to happen, it's quite funny. She's a proud mum.

"My friends were completely psyched about it. It was one of my friends, Jackson, that introduced me to Game of Thrones. My friends are super excited."

What else do you have in the pipeline?

"My brother Ben is a film director, I've just finished a film with him called Corbin Nash. I'm super excited about it. It's got some great actors in it, like Corey Feldman, Malcolm McDowell and Fernanda Romero. It's a supernatural action thriller and it's going to be great."

In Corbin Nash, Dean plays a detective who travels from New York to Los Angeles to crack some mysterious missing persons cases.

"I'm just a humble northern lad and there's a lot of stuff I want to achieve. I'm a very driven person and I'm always thinking about my career and what I can create."

After filming for Game of Thrones, Dean travelled to Vancouver to film Scorched Earth, directed by Peter Howitt of Sliding Doors and Johnny English fame.

How did you get into acting?

"Throughout school I always loved acting, I spent a lot of time day dreaming about being an actor. When I left school I did semi-professional theatre."

But before Dean was an actor, he was a professional skater, taking part in the X-Games and the Walt Disney Skating Challenge.

He said: "I started skating and that took off quite quickly for me and my brother. We were professional by 17, 18. But I always pursued acting. It's just being an actor is such a lengthy process. A lot of people don't stick around that long.

"I did a lot of professional skating in my early to mid-twenties, then I stopped doing that and got a bit of perspective and started thinking about acting again.

"My brother Ben at the time started doing some work in the US — our paths merged. We have done a film together and we're really proud of it."

Game of Thrones airs Mondays at 9pm on Sky Atlantic.