“Game Of Thrones” Actor Hafthór Björnsson On Krazy Glue, Being The World’s Strongest Man & More
If you are a fan of Game Of Thrones, then you ought to be familiar with Hafthór Björnsson for his work as Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane. If you are a fan of Strongman-related competitions, then you probably known Björnsson as the current World’s Strongest Man, the first person to win the Arnold Strongman Classic, Europe’s Strongest Man and World’s Strongest Man in the same year.
Yet Hafthór Björnsson is currently in the midst of what may be his hardest challenges of all. On December 5th, Björnsson will be lifting a few “krazy” things that consumers are choosing through submissions on his and Krazy Glue’s social channels. Later in the month on December 15th, Björnsson will be competing with the goal of setting an all-time “total” record in powerlifting.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Hafthór Björnsson by phone, and highlights from that chat are below; Part 1 of our Q&A originally ran on Sportskeeda. The audio of our call will be posting later this month through my podcast, the Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz, via PureGrainAudio.
Hafthór Björnsson: Hey, Darren, how are you?
Fine, and yourself there?
Hafthór Björnsson: Yeah, I’m good, thank you. Thanks for taking your time to talk to me.
Well, thank you for having me. I first wanted to ask, with working with Krazy Glue, did that require any additional training for you or doing anything that you don’t normally do?
Hafthór Björnsson: Krazy Glue is known for its strength and I’m also known for my strength. Just one drop of Krazy Glue can hold 1,000 pounds, which is crazy. I am the world’s strongest man and I can hold just about 1,000 pounds. It’s quite impressive and then I’m very happy to be working with them for this project and I’m also very excited.
I have not had to do anything new that I’m not used to, obviously, because strength is one of the things that I am very good at and so is Krazy Glue.
I was watching your YouTube channel and I saw about two months ago you put up a video that you were doing a “light week.” I’m assuming that this is a heavy week for you?
Hafthór Björnsson: Yeah… I’m actually super-excited to talk to you and for anyone, if people want to watch the competition, I challenge them to head to Krazy Glue’s Facebook page watch live or if you find yourself in New York State on December 5th, come to 5th Avenue between 37th and 38th Street. Doors open at 6:15 PM Eastern Time and the Facebook Live begins at 6:45 PM Eastern Time. I challenge everyone to come there and see what’s going to go down that day. Man versus glue.
I read that on December 15th your goal is to set an all-time total record in powerlifting. Can you tell me a little more about that?
Hafthór Björnsson: Yeah, December 15th in Iceland I am hosting with my friends a powerlifting challenge. I have won everything I can win in Strongman. I’ve won all the big shows. I won Arnold Classic. I won the World’s Strongest Man competition. I won Europe’s Strongest Man. I won the title in Iceland… I won basically everything I can win, all the biggest, best shows in the world in Strongman I’ve won and all in the same year. This is quite impressive.
I wanted to challenge myself and go out of my comfortable zone and do something differently, something that I’m not used to doing. That was, for example, competing in powerlifting. I never compete in powerlifting. This is a huge challenge for myself.
I’m doing this mainly just to challenge myself to see how far I can push my body, but I’m also doing it for fun. I like training. I like getting into other things. I like to inspire other people, to show people not to be afraid, to show people that if you want to try something, just go for it. Do it. Yeah, right now I’m 30 years old. I want to challenge myself in every way possible.
When you are training, does music play an important role? Do you listen to specific music or artists when you are training?
Hafthór Björnsson: I have my playlist that I like to listen to. I do, yeah, but I don’t think that people should play music. You have to be able to train with or without music and you have to be able to train with any music. It doesn’t matter what it is because on the day when you’re competing, maybe you don’t have the power to choose the music.
I’ve read that you also have your own vodka. Is that true? Icelandic Mountain Vodka?
Hafthór Björnsson: Yes. I have my own Icelandic Mountain Vodka and gin. That’s sold worldwide as well.
Interesting. What can you tell me about other projects? For example, I read you did a Kickboxer movie. Can you tell me about other projects that you have going on at the moment?
Hafthór Björnsson: Right now I’m focusing on other things like working with Krazy Glue, which I’m super-excited to work with. You know they’re super-strong and actually just one drop can hold up 1,000 pounds. This is super-impressive because I’m the world’s strongest man and I can just hold up to 1,000 pounds. Yeah, like I said, I’m just focused on being the world’s strongest man, competing in the sports, and doing crazy things with crazy people like Krazy Glue.
About the Author
Darren Paltrowitz Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."
Related Posts
Flee- “HUNNIBUN” →
Web3 and Afro-Futurism Take Center Stage at Tribeca Film Festival →
Kayo Da Don Preps for ‘30 for 30’ Album Drop with “Upstate Drip” →
