Iwan Rheon was born in Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, Wales, but his family relocated to Cardiff when he was about five years old. When he was 17, Rheon began acting in dramatic productions at his school, and went on to study at the famed London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Also at the age of 17 Rheon was cast in the long-running Welsh language soap opera "Pobol Y Cwn" (BBC Wales 1974- ). He played the role of Macsen White, but left the show after a brief period to pursue his academic training. His first notable role on stage was in 2008, when he was in a production of "Eight Miles High" at the Royal Court in Liverpool. That same year he was cast as the morose Moritz Stiefel in the London production of "Spring Awakening", a rock musical about adolescent lust and love. In 2009, after closing his role in "Spring Awakening", Rheon joined the cast of science-fiction drama "Misfits" (E4 2009-2013) where he remained in the role of Simon Bellamy until 2011, when he announced he was leaving the show. In 2012 Rheon was cast in the crime heist film "Wasteland." In 2013 Rheon was cast in the film "The Liberator," and that same year joined the cast of acclaimed series "Game of Thrones" (HBO 2011- ) as Ramsay Snow, bastard son of Lord Bolton who is later given his father's name.