[fitheach]

I can't think of many actress' to play this role. It would help if she was from the U.K. or Ireland- or could do the accent. She'd have to be a big girl with pretty blue eyes- the rest of her face can be made homely in the makeup chair. So the actress doesn't have to be plain- but she does have to be big, strong looking and not too old for the role. I imagine Brienne as around 18 to 20 years of age. So no Peta Wilson please, she's great but not the right age for Brienne.


Katee Sackhoff (she might be the wrong age):

http://www.imdb.com/...37344/nm0755267

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0755267/


Michelle Ryan (have to dye her hair blond though). She's British so can do the accent ;-):

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0752740/


Zoe Bell is a stuntwoman and actress- was in Quinton Terrintino's Grindhouse as one of the characters about four women being stalked by a stuntman... And she did her own stunts. SO, she could really kick butt believably as Brienne...She's from New Zealand so I'm not sure how her accent will blend into the show.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1057928/

Here's a trailer for the webseries Zoe is in called 'Angel of Death':
http://www.imdb.com/...u/vi2249458457/

This post has been edited by fitheach: 22 March 2009 - 08:31 PM

[The OTHER other]

This will be hard to cast with a known actress unless they go with camera tricks etc. All these choices are I think too small and too pretty, yes with makeup they could look homely but it wouldn't be the same.

The only people I can think of are the former wrestler Chyna (I think she's too long retired) and perhaps "Xena", Lucy Lawless. She's big, she can clearly do action convincingly, makeup could get her plainer.

I think they are going to have to go with stunt people or something.

[Scafloc]

Uma Thurman could be Brienne. She kicks as!
She is tall and athletic. She just needs a little makeup to make her look younger and uglier

[Red Wedding Guest]

Scafloc, on May 7 2009, 10.01, said:

Uma Thurman could be Brienne. She kicks as!
She is tall and athletic. She just needs a little makeup to make her look younger and uglier

I always envisioned Brienne as an obscure rocker from the late 70s named Cindy Bullens...

...check out he cover of her album, "Desire Wire: and tell me if you don't think he would've made the PERFECT Brienne back int he day...

http://tcsoldnewmusicreview.blogspot.com/2...l-released.html
[img]http://tcsoldnewmusicreview.blogspot.com/2008/03/digitized-from-original-vinyl-released.html[/img]

Hopefully I did the link hingy correctly...

[The Anti-Targ]

Zoe Bell is quite short, like gymnast short, so while she can do all the actiony stuff they would need to do a lot of camera trickery to make her man-sized. Funny really, as a stunt woman she'd need to have a dude, or taller dudess to stand in for middle-long distant camera shots in fight scenes, while riding horses 'n' stuff.

Kiwi accent translates OK into lower-middle class brit (well enough for US audience at least), but not really for high class lady. And while Brienne isn't a high class lady in looks or behaviour her voice should still be upper class.

[fitheach]

The Anti-Targ, on Jun 3 2009, 05.08, said:

Zoe Bell is quite short, like gymnast short, so while she can do all the actiony stuff they would need to do a lot of camera trickery to make her man-sized. Funny really, as a stunt woman she'd need to have a dude, or taller dudess to stand in for middle-long distant camera shots in fight scenes, while riding horses 'n' stuff.

Kiwi accent translates OK into lower-middle class brit (well enough for US audience at least), but not really for high class lady. And while Brienne isn't a high class lady in looks or behaviour her voice should still be upper class.

Zoe Bell is 5'8... That's taller than average, not gymnast short at all- which is usually around 5'0.
I assumed she would do a Brit accent and not keep her NZ accent. Kind of like Peter Dinklage having to do a British accent instead of his American one.

Look at her info, her height is on it, click more on the date of birth line:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1057928/

And in this picture she's in a dress but has a classic male T shape:
http://www.imdb.com/...26752/nm1057928

This post has been edited by fitheach: 05 June 2009 - 10:50 PM

[Lampster]

Brienne is a tough one, because the idea I kept getting from Martin was that she would have to be someone with a mannish build (I guess they could alter her build with padding and other makeup effects) who could be mistaken as a man when seen from affar.

So she doesn't exactly have to be "homely" but more mannish, and I believe Martin specifically describes her as small breasted, so someone on the athletic side could be good.

I like the idea of Katie Sackhoff because she could easily be madeup more manly and tough (as in early BSG episodes). But I've also seen her with her hair grown out and makeup on and she looks really good, so she can make that transition. And she can do the action.

However, I would like to see an actress "discovered" for this role. This role could be a real career maker for an actress who doesn't have the perfect look that casting directors usually favor.

A name I haven't seen put forward yet is "Mellie" from "Dollhouse" Miracle Laurie. She may be a little too busty for Brienne! But she's 5'9" and seems to have the acting chops for this type of role.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2829954/

http://www.fox.com/d...ers/#bio:mellie

These are pub photos, which means they are approved by Miracle and her management people, so she's looking her best, but if you watch the show, they play up her "average" looks.

But imagine being a budding young actress, getting a call to audition for the hot new series on HBO, and you find out they want you to play Brienne! What a shot to your ego. Kind of like when Margaret Hamilton found out they wanted her to play the Wicked Witch in Wizard of Oz!

[Kinski]

My top choices

1. Mariah Gale (write-in) Probably one of the most promising actresses in England at moment.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2766030/
http://www.scottwish...pics/291008.jpg
http://www.bbc.co.uk...mariah_gale.jpg
http://broadwayworld...pic/prev221.jpg

2. Beatrice Dalle (write-in): Talented actress from France.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001095/
http://www.spietati.it/in-primo-piano/Vene...trice-dalle.jpg

I don't see the problem with some of the suggested actresses having the wrong eye color, being to short or having too big breasts. Al this things can be fixed. The breasts could be tucked in by bandages, if she has the wrong eye color she can wear contacts, the length problem can be resolved with camera angles. The important things are that she isn't too good looking and that she is a good actress.

This post has been edited by Kinski: 14 July 2009 - 09:09 PM

[lady narcissa]

I know she is too old to play Brienne but when I was reading the books I kept on picturing Tilda Swinton as Brienne. Not as she looks in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe but as she looked in Orlando back in 1992.

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0000...08.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

She does the masculine look so well.

I know Brienne has straw colored hair...well I didn't when I was reading the books because she kept on seeming like a red head to me. Probably why I kept on picturing Tilda when I read about her.

[fitheach]

Kinski, on Jul 6 2009, 22.58, said:

My top choices

1. Mariah Gale (write-in) Probably one of the most promising actresses in England at moment.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2766030/
http://www.telegraph...ale_782960i.jpg
http://www.bbc.co.uk...mariah_gale.jpg
http://broadwayworld...pic/prev221.jpg

2. Beatrice Dalle (write-in): Talented France actress.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001095/
http://www.fotografiaeuropea.it/2008/media...atriceDalle.jpg
http://www.spietati.it/in-primo-piano/Vene...trice-dalle.jpg

I don't see the problem with some of the suggested actresses having the wrong eye color, the wrong length or too big breasts. Al this things can be fixed. The breasts could be tucked in by bandages, if she has the wrong eye color she can wear contacts, the length problem can be resolved with camera angles. The important things are that she isn't too good looking and that she is a good actress.

Unfortunately Beatrice Dalle is too mature to play Brienne. Dalle is in her 40's and I imagine Brienne to be in her 20's. Mariah Gale- though 30, may be a contender.

This post has been edited by fitheach: 13 July 2009 - 05:47 PM

[Kinski]

fitheach, on Jul 13 2009, 23.45, said:

Unfortunately Beatrice Dalle is too mature to play Brienne. Dalle is in her 40's and I imagine Brienne to be in her 20's. Mariah Gale- though 30, may be a contender.

As has been mentioned, Brienne will be very hard role to cast: its hard enough ta find a tall, strong looking, masculine actress, but even harder if she has to be in her 20's, so even though Beatrice is to old I think she still is one of the better choices for Brianne. But Mariah Gale is my number 1 contender for the role at the moment and she hasn't started to show signs of age yet. You have to consider the fact that Brienne is a masculine women and therefor she probably looks old for her age. I mean a feminine women in her 20's would look younger then a masculine women in her 20's.

This post has been edited by Kinski: 14 July 2009 - 04:18 PM

[Ser_not_appearing_yet]

fitheach, on Jul 13 2009, 23.45, said:

Unfortunately Beatrice Dalle is too mature to play Brienne. Dalle is in her 40's and I imagine Brienne to be in her 20's. Mariah Gale- though 30, may be a contender.

Not only that, but Beatrice Dalle is HOT (even in her 40s). Brienne is not only mannish, but ugly. Please dont turn her into Xena or something.

[HyperVolk]

If you google "ugly young actress" nothing comes up. What does that say about society...

[Ser_not_appearing_yet]

I know i know. But one can always hope. :thumbsdown:

[murphy]

What about Robin Weigert (sp?) who played Calamity Jane in Deadwood?


http://www.imdb.com/...37504/nm0917848

[Kinski]

Ser_not_appearing_yet, on Jul 14 2009, 19.13, said:

Not only that, but Beatrice Dalle is HOT (even in her 40s). Brienne is not only mannish, but ugly. Please dont turn her into Xena or something.

I think Beatrice Dalle is one of those people that can transform her face, she can be ugly and beautiful.
She is quite stunning in is this picture http://www.bloodygoodhorror.com/bgh/files/...rice_dalle4.jpg
But I don't think you can call her beautiful in this one. http://www.fotografiaeuropea.it/2008/media...atriceDalle.jpg
She is very good at doing those kind of transformations from ugly to beautiful in her movies, she was hot in Betty Blue, but look at her in the horror movie Inside (and that wasn't because of makeup, that's called acting skills). We also have to keep in mind what they can do with makeup, look at Charlize Theron in Monster.

This post has been edited by Kinski: 14 July 2009 - 04:55 PM

[Ser_not_appearing_yet]

Kinski, on Jul 14 2009, 22.34, said:

I think Beatrice Dalle is one of those people that can transform her face, she can be ugly and beautiful.
She is quite stunning in is this picture http://www.bloodygoodhorror.com/bgh/files/...rice_dalle4.jpg
But I don't think you can call her beautiful in this one. http://www.fotografiaeuropea.it/2008/media...atriceDalle.jpg
She is very good at doing those kind of transformations from ugly to beautiful in her movies, she was hot in Betty Blue, but look at her in the horror movie Inside (and that wasn't because of makeup, that's called acting skills). We also have to keep in mind what they can do with makeup, look at Charlize Theron in Monster.

Maybe we have different ideas of ugly, but that second picture is beautiful as well imo. Certainly NOT mannish. Just, in no way does she resemble Brienne in my minds eye. She could be the greatest actress on the planet and i would hate her in the role of Brienne.

[Kinski]

murphy, on Jul 14 2009, 21.04, said:

What about Robin Weigert (sp?) who played Calamity Jane in Deadwood?


http://www.imdb.com/...37504/nm0917848

She could work if she is good with accents. I don't think we want Brienne talking like she did on Deadwood.

This post has been edited by Kinski: 14 July 2009 - 08:59 PM

[Kinski]

Ser_not_appearing_yet, on Jul 14 2009, 23.09, said:

Maybe we have different ideas of ugly, but that second picture is beautiful as well imo. Certainly NOT mannish. Just, in no way does she resemble Brienne in my minds eye. She could be the greatest actress on the planet and i would hate her in the role of Brienne.

I'm not going to try to change your mind or anything, but let me just ask you one question. If they hired an actress for Brienne that doesn't match the physical description of character, instead they transform her to look the part with makeup would that bother you? As I mentioned before, they did it with Charlize Theron in Monster, so it is possible to do the same thing with the actress that ends up playing Brienne.

[fitheach]

Kinski, on Jul 14 2009, 17.34, said:

I think Beatrice Dalle is one of those people that can transform her face, she can be ugly and beautiful.
She is quite stunning in is this picture http://www.bloodygoodhorror.com/bgh/files/...rice_dalle4.jpg
But I don't think you can call her beautiful in this one. http://www.fotografiaeuropea.it/2008/media...atriceDalle.jpg
She is very good at doing those kind of transformations from ugly to beautiful in her movies, she was hot in Betty Blue, but look at her in the horror movie Inside (and that wasn't because of makeup, that's called acting skills). We also have to keep in mind what they can do with makeup, look at Charlize Theron in Monster.

Beatrice Dalle also has very large breasts (not Brienne)- I saw Betty Blue, Dalle is not mannish physically at all and I think it would be difficult to make her so. I agree with the Charlize Theron/Monster example. You can have a beautiful actress as an ugly character, but you need to have some of the physicality. Theron is a tall, broad shouldered small breasted woman who gained about 20 to 30 lbs for the roll. Then they added the make up and fake teeth to create the character- but she still had the physical basics.

Dalle has talent- I get that your a fan, but I don't see her as Brienne at all. Also, most likely Brienne will have a British or Irish accent.

This post has been edited by fitheach: 14 July 2009 - 09:26 PM