[TV SPOILERS] Best five actors in the show

[East of the Wood]

Wow, this is actually really hard, just picking 5. My choices are those that impressed me in ALL of their scenes. In no particular order ('cause that would be impossible altogether):

Iain Glen

Kit Harington

The guy who plays Maester Aemon (dammit I should be able to remember his name)

Owen Teale

NCW

But I agree that this cast is phenomenal (I so spelt that wrong, sigh). Nina Gold is worth her weight in, well, Gold!

For the record, I'm not saying she's fat or anything :laugh:

[CryFenril]

I'm interested in the locations of the people who rate Dinklage's and Glen's performances. I'm British (Edinburgh) and i found Dinklage's accent to be beyond awful and into the sort of bad impersonation of an English accent you get on low rent sitcoms. It grated so much for me that i couldn't get past it and actually judge his performance.

Glen's delivery was also very distracting. He has a way of reading his lines that is so overblown and screams fantasy. 90% of his lines sound like he's doing the intro for an obscure RPG.

I was wondering if the people who like these guys are American and don't have their ears as tuned to the British accents in the same way that i probably wouldn't realise when someone mangles the Brooklyn or Texan accents.

I fall into the terribly untrained ears category - I wouldn't know a real British accent if I tripped over one. I did notice that his clipped words, his cadence, and his overall speech patterns were a good deal different from everyone else's - and I liked that because it came across to me as an affectation on Tyrion's part to display some sort of superior intellect.

As for Glen's overblown speech - well, yes, he did rather sound like he was dictating something for a video game, but again I thought it suited his character. Jorah was Dany's only real tie to "home", and as such he was as much storyteller as anything else. He sounded like a man telling bedtime tales to children a good deal of the time, and I thought it worked. He also toned it down a bit as the season progressed.

[Jayuk83]

I fall into the terribly untrained ears category - I wouldn't know a real British accent if I tripped over one. I did notice that his clipped words, his cadence, and his overall speech patterns were a good deal different from everyone else's - and I liked that because it came across to me as an affectation on Tyrion's part to display some sort of superior intellect.

As for Glen's overblown speech - well, yes, he did rather sound like he was dictating something for a video game, but again I thought it suited his character. Jorah was Dany's only real tie to "home", and as such he was as much storyteller as anything else. He sounded like a man telling bedtime tales to children a good deal of the time, and I thought it worked. He also toned it down a bit as the season progressed.

Yeah I think Reiver's criticism of Tyrion's accent was a bit over the top. I also noticed that it wasn't perfect (e.g, he used a short 'a' in words such as "castle" when he was doing an R.P accent), but generally it was okay, and I didn't feel it detracted from a fantastic performance.

[King_In_The_North]

In no particular order:

Peter Dinklage, Michelle Fairley (she didn't look like how I imagined Cat but she absolutely nailed the character. When I read Cat's chapters in the books I imagined Michelle Fairley and it's just perfect), Jason Momoa (managed to convey that whole 'badass barbarian chieftein' feel excellently), Maisie Williams (just awesome), Richard Madden

[seppuku]

Dance - the perfect Tywin, bald or no. His mannerisms in general are phenomenal.

Maisie- another obvious one. I can't see Arya as anyone else at this point. Her delivery is all around fantastic.

Dinklage - easily the best Tyrion you could ever hope to find, albeit a bit too pretty. People pedantically complain about the accent, which is silly.

Addey - Looked nothing like book Robert, mostly done non-serious stuff in the past.. and absolutely nailed the character to a T. Really brought it to life.

Glenn - I for one loved book Jorah, but in general people seem to prefer TV Jorah. I can see why, since he seems an attractive older man (uglier in book) with a deep soothing voice. Obviously he's doing something right. I'd like to see how he handles season 2 and the change in his character demeanor (more infatuated with Dany etc).

Honourable mentions to Lena Headey, Sean Bean, Peter Dinklage and Mark Addy,

Headey does not deserve to be on that list. She's very mediocre and wooden. Zero range. Worst casting in the series, by far.

[Jem]

I've been giving it some thought, and I am a bit surprised that my top five were all male. Not that the women and girls gave bad performances - to a greater or lesser degree I thought the entire cast was pretty good - but for the following reasons, here is my top five:

5

Jason Momoa (Drogo) - In the book I couldn't really 'see' Khal Drogo, I just didn't get him. I never got past my fear of him - he seemed to strange and savage and I couldn't understand why Dany seemed to fall in love with him. Book Drogo, to me, was just a man-shaped hole - a bit of a blank. Jason Momoa, I thought, was wonderful in the role. His physical performance - not just the He-man fighty bits - but the subtlety and eloquence of his face and eyes was extraordinary in conveying his character. Plus he had to learn an entirely new, made up language. That would take a bit of time and dedication

4

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime) - It was as if Jaime had leapt off the page and into the flesh and blood form of NCW. Great look, great attitude: nailed it.

3

Jack Gleeson (Joffery) - Couldn't you just wring his neck? Smirking, vicious little bastard.

2

Harry Lloyd (Viserys) - I couldn't wait to see what Harry Lloyd would do next! Frightening, vulnerable, crazy, Lloyd bought such depth to his character. A really exciting performance.

1

Mark Addy (Robert) - I am the first to admit that, initially, I didn't like the casting of Mark Addy in this role. I had only seen him perform in comedic roles, so I didn't take him very seriously. Plus I thought he was too short and that his hair wasn't dark enough. Boy was I wrong! I loved hearing GRRM's words come out of Mark Addy's mouth, he did the role and the text so much justice.

[Black Betha]

5. Iain Glen as Jorah Mormont

That guy has incredible charisma, and I really like his nuanced acting! Bringing Jorah alive big time. (Well I also might be biased because I started to like him because I find it hilarious that he resembles my dad a little. :D)

4. Michelle Fairley as Catelyn Stark

I was sad to discover Jennifer Ehle is not playing Catelyn after all, but Michelle Fairley has done awesome job. I like how she's beautiful but not in the traditional Hollywood way, and I absolutely love her voice.

3. Mark Addy as Robert Baratheon

Another gorgeous voice, and Addy managed to bring both the good and the bad sides of Robert beautifully to the forefront. Very nice.

2. Jack Gleeson as Joffrey Baratheon

I was wavering in the beginning but now I know why the chose him: he can be SO evil. it's breathtaking. I hope he doesn't get too depressed by all the Joffrey-hate because it's just proof that he's an awesome actor.

1. Charles Dance as Twyin Lannister

He 1) totally owns all the scenes he is in and 2) made me love Tywin whom I previously hated. Well done sir!

Honourable mentions to the rest of the child actors and actresses (they are all very good), to Conleth Hill as Varys, Emilia Clarke as Dany, Harry Lloyd as Viserys, Natalia Tena as Osha, Donald Sumpter as Maester Luwin and John Bradley as Samwell Tarly.

The stars Bean, Dinklage and Headey are all of course very good but I don't see them really outdoing themselves the same way as the people I mentioned. All in all, the cast is just brilliant, there is not a single weak link. I love it. Thanks Nina Gold & co! SO much looking forward to season 2.

[Ashara]

I cannot pick best five! I can't even pick worse five, because the only actors I didn't like in their roles were Renly and Loras, and that's only because they just didn't live up to my hyped up expectations of male handsomness, and I didn't like Osha's interpretation. The rest of the cast continued to blow me away how spot on they were! Baelish, Cersei, Robb, Ned, Arya, Dany, Viserys, everyone, absolutely everyone, even Lysa who lost about 100 lbs, but heck, who cares!

[Lord Tywin]

5I'll never be able to read Tyrion's chapters again without seeing Dinklage - and that is a good thing. He brings the man to life for me.

Agreed. In my re-read of ACOK, Dinklage has stolen my previous half-formed image of Tyrion. The lines as written in the book correspond perfectly with Dinklage's portrayal. What a great casting decision.

[Cop out]

1. Tywin- unbelievable how well he portrays this character.

2. Arya- a very original interesting character is made even more so by Maisie.

3. Dany-especially in the last few episodes.

4. Catelyn-very believable character.

5. Tyrion-he does everything so well; good at comedy, but in the latter episodes also showed grief and fear.

[Olenna]

My favorite actors were the ones who brought something extra and unexpected to the table that gave their role more layers.

5. Lena Headey as Cersei. I know she wasn't to everyone's taste, but for me she brought an intelligence and complexity to the role that seemed lacking in the books, where she often comes across as a psycho, evil, dumb bitch. Show Cersei is shrewd, understated, and not completely unsympathetic.

4. Jason Momoa as Drogo. When I first saw him my reaction was "Too much eyeliner! Too well coiffed!" But he nailed it, making the character come to life in a way that never really happened in the books, where Drogo is a strong & silent cipher. This Drogo was sexy and gentle as well as savage and he made his few lines in English amazingly eloquent ("No. --No. --No." "Crown for king.")

3. Emilia Clarke as Dany. She brought an incredible stillness to her opening scenes, where she doesn't say much but conveys a lot of depth with her facial expressions. Her acting showed maybe the most range of anybody over the course of the season. She was the breakout surprise female star of the season for me, because Dany was the easiest character to screw up--another actress could have come across as a generic blond hottie with little "presence," or else as a rampaging social justice crusader. Clarke captured the vulnerability, the quiet determination, the passion, and the charisma.

2. Iain Glen as Jorah. No he's not Book Jorah, but he's divine. There are very few actors out there who could make a nice/unglamorous/competent but not extraordinary character this riveting. Like all good character actors, he truly inhabited the part of a loyal knight, and you could almost see Jorah's hard life etched into his face. Wonderful, understated performance.

1. Peter Dinklage. This is a no-brainer. He stole every scene he was in, oozed contempt for the lesser minds around him, radiated charisma and humor. He actually made Tyrion hot.

[MindLikeWarp]

1. Arya - clearly the best.

2. Tyrion

3. Tywin

4. Joffrey

5. Drogo

[Maginor]

Alec Guinness is killing it as Jorah Mormont.

I know!! That was what I thought when I first saw him too.

[Aegonmyface]

Me three- I think that's why I like him so much

I was like "yay! Obi-Wan is back!"

Or better yet, "yay! Prince Feisal is back!"

[The Marquis de Leech]

5. John Bradley as Sam Tarly.

4. Charles Dance as Tywin.

3. Jack Gleeson as Joffey.

2. Mark Addy as Robert.

1. Harry Lloyd as Viserys.

Agree with the distracting nature of Tyrion's accent. Dinklage has done a good job overall though.

[Le_Saboteur]

5) Harry Lloyd as Viserys. I looked forward to every scene with him. He was just so crazy, but it didn't seem stupid- he fit Viserys very well.

4) Emilia Clarke as Dany. Most improved over the course of the series, I think. I was not convinced in the first few episodes, but by the half-way point I adored her (and I have NEVER liked Dany as a character). Her last moment with Drogo floored me. She is only going to get stronger as an actress.

3) Mark Addy as Robert. 'Start the bloody joust before I piss meself'. His belligerent drunkenness was GLORIOUS. I never anticipated this from him, he was a great choice.

2) Michelle Fairley as Catelyn. I'll admit this is probably swayed by Cat being one of my favourite characters, but I thought she did a great job. I did think she could have been so much better if they'd given her the full range that the character had in the books (although I can understand having a warm, emotional mother to play against the very cold and shrewd Lena Headey as Cersei). Every part of her performance felt real, and she made Ned and Robb so much... better.

1) Charles Dance as Tywin. The most faithful book-to-screen casting, in my opinion. He oozes power in every scene. Amazing.

It was very hard not to just keep going with this list. This honestly changes with each episode. I really do love the vast majority of the cast.

[Rinso]

1) Harry Lloyd as Viserys. Absolutely amazing. Stole every scene he was in. He made Viserys - one of the most boring characters in the book - into the coolest villain the show offered so far (Joffrey would be close second, but he had little screen time in Season 1, the next seasons will fix this). Damn shame he died so fast, but at least he was awesome and even his final death scene was amazing.

2) Mark Addy as Robert. Pretty much the same as Lloyd's Viserys. Made Robert very compelling. He completely nailed the character and now I can't picture him any other way. When I read the book I see Addy's face and I hear his voice. That happened with only two other characters - Viserys and Tyrion.

3) Peter Dinklage as Tyrion. I'm not a native English speaker so I couldn't care less about his accent (I've seen it mentioned a lot). He owned the part. Can't wait to see more of him.

4) Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime. I think he nailed him. Some are not sold on "The things I do for love" line, but what won me over is the line right before that - when he asks Bran how old he is and then repeats the answer, "10". You could see so much on his face, in his eyes and in his voice in that simple one-word line. It was more like "10. I'm going to kill a 10-year old kid. My whole life people despise me because I killed a king and now I'm going to kill a 10-year old boy because he saw me fucking my sister." Amazing delivery. His scenes with Brienne should be awesome.

5) Jack Gleeson as Joffrey. A perfectly cast role. Simply perfect. I've seen Gleeson only once before the show, when he played a kid in Batman Begins, but the role was tiny and he was a lot younger. He's an amazing find. I find that, kinda like Viserys, I don't hate him as much as I did in the book (though I never hated Viserys, simply couldn't care even a little). It's not that he's sympathetic, but it's almost cool how well he portrays Joffrey.

Honorable mentions for Iain Glen's Jorah, Maise Williams' Arya and Kit Harington's Jon.

[Marcus Adler]

A few points:

I agree Williams and Dinklage were wonderful. So was Ian Glenn as Jorah Mormont.

I would argue that Tywin Lannister was more passive in the books -- he never betrayed emotion, even when raising his voice.

Littlefinger was far more mocking the books -- always had a prominent brow and always seemed like he was trying not to laugh at those he spoke to. The actor never sold it for me.

Also, in my opinion, Hodor and Sandor Clegane (the Hound) weren't portrayed very well, either -- Hodor is described as "beaming genially" in the books -- the actor doesn't really sell it even when he has a chance to portray the character's innocence. By contrast, Sandor Clegane is supposed to be smoldering -- eyes full of hatred, always angry -- and the actor does a terrible job of portraying that.

Varys was decent -- he didn't giggle or squeal like in the books, but it was alright.

Mark Addy was a great Robert and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau portrayed Jaime very well, even though he didn't look the role.

Likewise, Khal Drogo was portrayed very, very well, in spite of the fact that the script portrays him poorly.

Alright -- who'd I miss?

[nim]

I feel bad saying it since he was the 'star' of the season, but Sean Bean really didn't do anything for me. In King's Landing he was supposed to be cautious and weary, but he just looked confused. And didn't it seem like his mouth was always open??

Was also a little disappointed with Aiden Gillen - was expecting quite a lot from him, but a lot of his lines felt so flat.

That being said, my top 5:

1. Peter Dinklage. He totally owns every scene he's in. His accent isn't great, but it's not much of a distraction...

2. Jack Gleeson. I didn't think he would be good, but am so impressed. Can't wait to see him go bat-crazy in Season 2!

3. Jason Momoa. The language played a big part, and he nailed it. How does he make his voice so throaty?!

4. Harry Lloyd. So fun to watch! Although I found him more funny than menacing.

5. Iain Glen. WOW. I always liked Jorah, but never thought he was so...HOT. I want that man. Crushing on him hard. In unhealthy ways :)

And...although I was really annoyed by Catelyn in the books, Michelle Fairley pretty much kills it.

[GoldSeven]

My top five by sheer brain-match:

1. Bran

2. Cersei

3. Jorah Mormont

4. Theon Greyjoy

5. Sam Tarley

Top five acting skills though they didn't match my idea of the characters:

1. Peter Dinklage - Tyrion

2. Aidan Gillen - Littlefinger

3. Mark Addy - Robert

4. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau - Jaime

5. Sophie Turner - Sansa

Funny how cold* the Starks left me in the series. The Starks are my favourite characters in the books, but in the series, I preferred almost everyone else - they somehow turned out bland. I even preferred (gasp) Dany.

*pun fully intended