Former Queen’s student featured in an episode of Game of Thrones

Steve Love’s YouTube impressions catch the attention of producers for the hit HBO series

Supplied via Jimmy Kimmel

In 60 seconds of fame, former Queen’s student and comedian, Steve Love, gets a finger in his backside, then beheaded, for the eighth episode of the most recent season of Game of Thrones.

To him, it was the greatest day of his life.

On June 12, Love, who started at Queen’s in 2011, was the subject of a gruesome on-screen beheading at the 8-minute mark of the hit HBO series’ episode, “No One”.

It wasn’t until just before he boarded a connecting flight to Belfast, in Northern Ireland where the episode was being filmed, that the reality of the situation sunk in.

An immigration officer asked Love what kind of acting work he’d be doing during his stay. When Love replied, “Game of Thrones,” he said it finally hit him that he was going to be a part of what he called “the biggest show in the universe.”

Love plays a young soldier who is a part of a group of outlaws and rebels called the “brotherhood without banners”. He described his appearance as “brief”, before his character’s graphic murder.

The day after the episode aired, Love took to Twitter to express his joy.

Yes, I was on @GameOfThrones and it was the greatest experience of my life. pic.twitter.com/CiOx1nt6bQ

— Steve Love (@DrSteveLove) June 13, 2016

The show’s producers and creators, Dan Weiss and David Benioff, invited Love to be on the show after his YouTube videos impersonating various Game of Thrones characters went viral.

According to Love, he’s been practicing his impressions since grade seven. He began by impersonating Stewie Griffin from Family Guy, and his repertoire just seemed to grow from there.

In 2012, Love says he “got tired of failing at Queen’s”, so he began his YouTube channel, “DrSteveLove”, on which he posted videos impersonating various TV and movie characters.

One of his early videos titled “Drunk Impressions”, was filmed in the living room of his student house on Brock Street. The video went on to accumulate over 600,000 views.

Love went on to record and post his impressions of characters from Game of Thrones, and these videos saw even more success, the most popular of which hit over 1.5 million views.

One such video eventually caught the attention of talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, who reached out to Love and asked him to appear on his late night show.

“The Kimmel appearance was huge,” Love said, after the fact. “It was the only time I’ve been genuinely nervous about a performance in my life.”

Love was featured in a segment of the late night show that aired on June 10, 2015, featuring Kit Harington, the actor who plays Jon Snow on Game of Thrones.

Harington watched and listened as Love and two other contestants did their best impersonations of his character over video call.

It wasn’t long after his appearance on Kimmel that Love received a fate-changing email.

On the way up to his cottage one day, a message arrived from Dan Weiss and David Benioff inviting Love to take part in the production.

“Needless to say, I started drinking copiously, making toasts to their health at every gulp. It was a good weekend,” Love said.

As for upcoming projects, Love says there’s nothing big to speak of, but he is hoping to collaborate with fellow YouTube impressionist Scheiffer Bates, who appeared on the Kimmel show alongside Love.

Love is also scheduled to compete in the Yuk Yuk’s Ottawa Summer Comedy Competition on Tuesday, July 26.

“You don’t see many ‘impression guys’ that make it to the big time,” Love told The Journal. 

“If I can parlay this weird little talent into making a comfortable living doing what I love, I’ll be beyond happy.”

Tags

Alumni, Game of Thrones, Jimmy Kimmel, Steve Love

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