"Game of Thrones" actor Lino Facioli — who played Lysa Arryn's long-breastfed son Robin Arryn, Lord of the Vale, on the HBO series — cannot believe the attention he's received since the finale, when fans got to see him all grown up.
He's made headlines over the last few days for his glow-up as fans declared him the show's "Neville Longbottom" — slang for a young child actor who grew up to be hunky and good-looking, just like "Harry Potter" film franchise star Matthew Lewis, who played awkward, chubby young Neville onscreen then as an adult revealed he had washboard abs and a stop-you-dead smolder.
Lino appeared on "TMZ Live" on May 21 to talk about all the attention he's received since the finale aired on May 19.
"It's insane. Honestly, I can't really get my head around what's happening. It feels surreal, really," Lino said.
He revealed that his social media following has grown significantly since the finale — and, TMZ reports, so have his work offers and the number of DMs he's getting.
"You know when people say it's like an overnight change? This really was an overnight change," Lino told TMZ. "It was like one day I went to bed, just that weird kid from 'Game of Thrones' who no one really knew. I had like, 5,000 followers or something.
"And in one night — I completely forgot that the [finale] episode was going to air, by the way — and I woke up the next day and my phone was just nonstop notifications," he explained. "Everyone telling me… all these things coming up, and I'm like what the hell?!"
As of midday on May 22, he had more than 55,000 Instagram followers, a number that's still growing.
After the finale, Lino took to Twitter to marvel that he'd woken up to headlines like this one from TV Guide: "Hot Robin Arryn Totally Neville Longbottomed Us in the Game of Thrones Finale." Noted Lino, "Definitely didn't expect my morning to start off like this."
He also took to Instagram to honor the show that put him on the map. "9 years ago I had the honour of being invited to work in this incredible series. It's been a wonderful adventure and I'm so, so thankful for having been able to be a part of it! #gameofthrones #Got #RobinArryn #throwbackmonday #tbt," he captioned a slideshow showing his character's evolution from young boy on Season 1 to hot man on the Season 8 finale.
Lino also told TMZ that he feels bad for the show's producers because of all the backlash they've been getting in the wake of the finale. "I mean, I think the producers have had a tough job to do… they're having to live up to all the expectations of the series and it's a tough job — I wouldn't have liked to have been in their shoes, the level of pressure on this kind of thing," he told TMZ.
"And I've enjoyed it so far but I can understand why a lot of people are not so happy," he added.