The Duttons have certainly made their fair share of enemies as they fight to protect their Yellowstone ranch and a good name in Taylor Sheridan's 1923. One of those foes is a rogue sheepherder by the name of Banner Creighton. Savvy television fans will no doubt recognize the actor who plays the Dutton foe and right-hand man of Donald Whitfield (Timothy Dalton) from several past projects on both the small screen and in movies.
Game of Thrones fans know him as Bronn, the charming and witty mercenary who is also a very skilled swordsman and ends up being the traveling companion of Jamie Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) in the HBO mega-hit that ran from 2010 to 2019. Film lovers will remember him as Berrada in John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum. The keenest observers will remember him in the role of Hector in one of the more popular episodes of the British science fiction horror series Black Mirror. But who is Jerome Flynn, and what other roles has he played beyond 1923?
Who Does Jerome Flynn Play in 'Game of Thrones'?
While watching 1923, you might be pleasantly reminded that Flynn's Game of Thrones character Bronn made an appearance in nine of the show's 10 seasons starting with its debut back in 2010. The swashbuckling skill sword and man of low birth and no title shows up first in Season 1 at an inn at The Crossroads, where he approaches Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) about giving him his room for the night in exchange for some gold. Unfortunately, Tyrion is captured by Catelyn Stark (Michelle Fairley) and Rodrik Cassel (Ron Donachie) before Bronn can make good on the deal. After Bronn becomes Tyrion's champion by combat and bodyguard by defeating Lysa's champion, Sir Vardis Egen during a duel in the Eyrie, and being knighted by King Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) later in Season 3, his story arc lands him next to Jamie, and the two form a friendship as Bronn serves as the protector of the once highly skilled, but now one-handed swordsman from the prestigious House Lannister of King's Landing.
Flynn brings a deft combination of believable physicality, humor, and a sheer realistic outlook bordering on amoralism to a character for almost the entirety of the show's 10-year run. It is quite a testament to Flynn and his likability in the role that he didn't become one of author George R.R. Martin's (or showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss') tangential character kill-offs for so long. For all his troubles and faithful service to the various members of the Lannister family, Bronn is made the Lord of Highgarden.
Who Does Jerome Flynn Play in 'Black Mirror'?
In 2016, in the third season of the prestigious and enthralling BBC dark series Black Mirror, Flynn appears in Episode 3 titled, "Shut Up and Dance." It's one of the more noteworthy and lauded entries into the acclaimed series, which sees Flynn's character Hector teaming up with Kenny (Alex Lawther) while the two have been saddled with an unfortunate and deadly task given to them by an anonymous online threat. The two have to carry out a series of bizarre tasks in order to prevent their deepest and darkest secrets from being brought to light by a mysterious blackmailer who only communicates through social media.
For Hector, if he doesn't hold up his end of the deal that has been delivered to him by Kenny, then his wife will be informed of his unscrupulous rendezvous with a sex worker at a local hotel. Flynn is terrific as a man at the end of his rope who must work with his fellow victim to thwart the dastardly online predator. It's another opportunity for the actor to show off his dramatic chops while also sharing some light-hearted moments along the way.
Who Does Jerome Flynn Play in 'John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum'?
In the third installment of the hugely successful Keanu Reeves sensation John Wick, Flynn takes on the role of Berrada. And if you were to ask his character in the film if there is indeed a fate worse than death, he would reply with a resounding, "Most definitely!" Portraying a Moroccan, Bond-like villain in the city of Casablanca, it's quite the departure for the English-born actor whose bread and butter has always lain within the realm of certain roles.
As Berrada, Flynn dives headfirst into the part while serving as Wick's associate Sofia's (Halle Berry) former boss and liaison to The Elder, the character Wick is seeking redemption from for the unauthorized assassination of High Table criminal Santino D'Antonio. Flynn more than holds his own as a gold coin-minting trafficker. Unfortunately, he does the thing that you just don't do around Wick or Sofia, and shoots her dog dead. Killing dogs around John Wick is a terrible idea, even if it isn't his. After taking a shot to his nether regions, Sofia delivers a kneecap shot instead of a merciful coup de gras, and Berrada is left a screaming, bloody mess.
There Are Elements of Jerome Flynn's Former Characters in '1923's Banner Creighton
There's no denying that Flynn makes a delicious villain in 1923, the prequel to Yellowstone. Banner Creighton and Jacob Dutton (Harrison Ford) butt heads early and often over the perceived transgression of Banner allowing his herd of sheep to feed on the grass on the Yellowstone Ranch property. It's against the law, but he doesn't heed Jacob's warning — and after a second crime, Dutton decides to string up Banner and his men on their horses to a tree with their hands tied behind their backs. If the horses decide to take off for any reason, then the men will be left to hang. Banner is the only one of five men to keep his horse underneath him long enough to hatch a plan to cut himself free. It's the opening salvo of a war that will be waged between the Dutton family and Banner's band of outlaws who have the financial backing of the ruthless gold miner, Donald Whitfield.
In the role, Flynn brings a marvelous Scottish accent to the part of an immigrant who is looking to cut corners to establish himself in the rugged and sometimes lawless Montana frontier during the early stages of the Great Depression, Prohibition, and unforgiving drought conditions. You see much of the same bravado and cruelty from Creighton as his Berrada character in John Wick, but there are also elements of the cavalier Bronn within the 1923 villain as well.