I played a White Walker on Game of Thrones

"I was bare-chested, wearing a mini-skirt. We had a zombie army - as you do - and a styrofoam rock for Sam to hide behind."

Ross Mullan is describing his very first scene on the set of Game of Thrones. And when it comes to attention-grabbing entrances in the fantasy show, they don't get more striking than riding out of the mist on a zombie horse, leading the army of the dead past a cowering Sam Tarly.

Over three eventful seasons the Canadian-born, UK-based actor portrayed the most prominent of the fearsome, mysterious White Walkers.

During which time he stole a baby, got stabbed in the back, and was brought back from the dead. All in a fictional sense, of course.

Rider on the storm

Mullan, along with the show's make-up and costume department, brought Game of Thrones viewers their first proper look at an instantly iconic foe.

The White Walker who appears at the end of season two, looks to the camera, and screams? That's Mullan.

The creature who confronts Sam and Gilly in the woods, and is defeated by Sam with a dragonglass blade? That's him too.

Even after this unfortunate on-screen death, Mullan found himself invited back to portray another White Walker, for a scene where he retrieves Craster's baby from the forest, and takes it to The Night's King.

When it comes to some of show's most frightening and talked-about moments, he's been front and centre.

Winter is here: Ross Mullan stepped into the icy shoes of this instantly-iconic nemesis (Photo: HBO/Sky)

Mullan has a particular fondness for his first appearance. One which sent internet forums and the general fandom abuzz.

"It's the reveal. The season finale. All these things came together to unveil the White Walker. He looks down the camera. He lets out that scream. It's spine-chilling."

His most memorable filming sequence, however, came from a particularly challenging shoot for season four.

"I was riding out of a storm made of soap and shredded paper, with my horse bucking beneath me. It was an incredible experience."

Getting the call

Mullan admits he hadn't heard of Game of Thrones when he was originally approached by the show's Oscar-nominated make-up expert Conor O'Sullivan, back in its early days.

The pair had previously worked together on 2010 blockbuster Clash of the Titans, where Mullan - increasingly something of a creature specialist - had played one of that movie's blind witches "under 40 pounds of prosthetics".

"Once you've done one big prosthetics job, and nearly died doing it, they think you can handle anything," he jokes.

Fortunately Game of Thrones proved to be a much more comfortable gig - and Mullan found himself drawn to the combination of mystery and shock value that the White Walker held.

It took five hours of careful application from a team of four people for the White Walker look to be created. But the actor was completely mesmerised.

"When they were putting on the make-up I realised how incredibly beautiful the work was. I was looking at myself in the mirror going, 'wow, this is wild!'"

Creating the character

When he auditioned for the part, Mullan was asked if he could sword-fight (definitely) and ride a horse (definitely not).

Five months of horse-riding training followed, with the rather appropriately named 'Devils Horsemen' stunt team, in order to prepare for the part.

But the really hard work started when the actor stepped onto set.

Ross Mullan brought menace and intensity to the White Walker that stalks Sam (Photo: HBO)

Mullan, who comes from a background in physical and musical threatre, notes there is a particular challenge in bringing a dialogue-free character to life purely through posture and movement.

"You don't have scripts and lines to work with. You try out different things, and are slowly being dictated to visually. It took four or five days to shoot a two-minute scene, because you're seeing how different approaches and variations work."