Actor Kristian Nairn, who plays Bran Stark's hulking protector, Hodor, in Game of Thrones, has never made a secret of his sexuality. He's been looking for an opening to publicly announce he's gay, and now he's finally found one.

In a chat with Game of Thrones fansite Winter Is Coming, Nairn took a question about his huge fan following in the gay community—and with bears in particular—and ran with it:

Well, in all honesty, when you talk about "the gay community," you are talking about MY community, haha. I AM aware of it yeah, and I think it's really lovely. There's not a day that I don't get a few messages, but 99% or more are super sweet and nothing smutty at all! Again, it's a privilege, and I really mean that. I've never hidden my sexuality from anyone, my whole life in fact, and I've been waiting for someone to ask about it in an interview, cos it's not something you just blurt out. I've tried to lead the questions a few times, to no avail!

He went on to say, "It's a very small part of who I am on the whole, but nonetheless, in this day and age, it's important to stand up and be counted."

Other things you may not have known about Hodor: He's a DJ (Nairn describes his style as "Chunky, deep, dark, always with attitude"), he plays World of Warcraft, and he has face tattoos that are covered by a scar on Game of Thrones.

Oh, and if you want a piggyback ride from him, that'll be $150,000. Hodor got to get paid.

[Photo Credit: Carrie Davenport/IMDB]