Former Coronation Street cast member James Craven looked totally different on House of the Dragon.

The actor is known for playing Aaron Sandford on the ITV soap opera. The character was the partner of Summer Spellman (played by Harriet Bibby) and he left Weatherfield last year after raping his friend Amy Barlow (Elle Mulvaney).

More than a year since his departure from the show, James appeared in the opening episode of the Game of Thrones prequel’s second season, released Monday. He portrayed a member of the Stark family who joined the Night’s Watch.

Fans were surprised to see him in the episode, in which he looked different from his year-long stint on Corrie. His role on the HBO show is said to feature a ‘bowl-cut’ hairstyle and he sported an outfit unlike those worn by Aaron.

Reddit featured fans’ reactions to James’ appearance. One person commented this week: “Look’s like Aaron’s off to join the Night’s Watch.” Another added: “Good catch. It’s nice seeing the younger actors get work after leaving [Corrie].”

Another surprised viewer noted: “I knew I recognised him from something, it was bugging me!” Similarly, someone else said: “I noticed him but couldn’t place where I’d seen him.” A fifth person said in the thread: “I was SURE that was him.”

James Craven (right), pictured with former co-star Elle Mulvaney (left), is known for his role on Coronation Street

Aside from his role in the spin-off series, James has also popped up in Netflix comedy series Geek Girl following his departure from Corrie. He’s understood to have starred as Ollie in six episodes of the streaming platform’s show.

He isn’t the only actor from Corrie to appear on House of the Dragon though. Jamie Kenna, who had played Phill Whittaker, the ex-husband of Fiz Brown (Jennie McAlpine), has appeared as Ser Alfred Broome on the show.

There are other connections between the two shows too, including that former Corrie cast member Michael Condron, who played Griff Reynolds, had starred as Bowen Marsh in Game of Thrones. He was on the show from 2015 to 2016.

Whilst other former soap stars in House of the Dragon include former Emmerdale cast member Luke Tittensor, who played Daz Eden from 2003 until 2009. The actor now appears as Ser Arryk Cargyll on the HBO fantasy series.

This comes after James opened up about how “hard” the Amy abuse storyline was, telling the Daily Star: “I think the hard part for me when we go this story was to to sort of justify why he reacts in the way that he does because obviously me as James knows that it’s wrong. But to sort of find a way for the character to justify his actions was quite a hard thing.” He added: “The most important thing for me was to make sure Elle was comfortable at all times. You know if there wasn’t anything she wasn’t happy with that we changed that immediately.”