Do you imagine the TV actors when you read the books.

[Er Rn]

For the most part, yeah, I imagine the show characters when I read the books. Probably because I watched some of season 1 before I read them all.

The only major difference for me is Asha/Yara. It's not that I think the actress is bad or ugly or anything, she's just not the Asha I picture.

Season 3's additions look really promising. Meera and Jojen are exactly as I pictured them. The only one that really stands out as different is Daario, and I hate book Daario so the change doesn't bother me.

[Harald Hard-Ruler]

• Renly: Quite frankly he should have been taller, less skinny and...not that Gethin Anthony is ugly or anything but hes hardly "the most handsome man in the Seven Kingdoms" (and this is coming from a straight guy, so if I notice it some of the female fans must have as well).
  

I always pictured Paul Telfer in my head as Renly. Young, 6-2, muscular, looks like he could kick ass but also looks he cares a bit too much about his appearance. The perfect actor to play copper; bright and shiny, and pretty to look at but not much beneath the surface.

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm4252598528/nm1533208

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3547955456/nm1533208

[bloodofthedragonqueen]

nope I use my imagination (but I have a HUGE one, most people don't, but dw- sometimes its a curse haha) , same goes for the red keep, eyrie, and everything- I have my own creations for them all. The moon door isn't in the floor for a start, and if it is, the floor is like a balcony over the cliff, not a huge hole in the centre being held up by pillars like in the tv show (doesnt even make sense! needs its own post! LOL)

Plus if ive seen good fan art (Like cersei has pretty good pictures of what she should look like) I picture those faces. Dany is different too, like 19ish in my head.

:)

[King Tyrion I]

I watched the show first, then read the books.

And no, I still see different people in my mind when I reread the books. For my part, I differenciate show GoT from the book series ASoIaF.

Of course, the actors chosen do a great job.

[Grand Moff Mithrandir]

Definately, I watched the show before i read the books(all of them). When I read the Ser Gregor vs Oberyn Martell fight i pictured Conan Stevens going up against Oded Fehr

[bloodofthedragonqueen]

Cool.. its too bad Conan Stevens has left ! and now we are stuck with the tall guy. That man who plays the new Mountain, the very tall man, guess what, he was the white walker in episode one. You know when the head gets cut off? well that was him. Conan stevens wasnt on a contract so he left- what a bad move too..... he had a big role.

[gwenyth]

I saw Season 1 before I read the books, so yes, for the most part it was the TV cast I pictured. Though one casting choice seemed off to me even before reading GRRM - Sir Loras. The actor cast looked too frail to even manage a war horse, much less with one hand while handling a lance with the other. I don't imagine him as hulking and muscle-bound - he is "the Knight of the Flowers" after all - but he should look stronger and far more fit.

Joffrey could have been taller - but the young actor does a fine job portraying the character. Ayra is not "horse (long) faced" but really embodies the character, I think. I have no difficulty imagining the actor playing Robert as having been both mighty and very handsome in his prime - the facial bones and overall phisique are right for it. I think Jon and Rob are both well-cast. Bean was perfect. I think Dany is well cast, as well as Tywin, Tryion, Brienne, Jorah (admittedly, the actor is handsomer than Jorah is described, but he plays him so well it doesn't matter).

Of the new characters I've seen for Season 3, Jojen Reed looks absolutely perfect. Hinds as Mance? Not so much, for me - I pictured Mance as better looking in a sort of lean, hawkish way. I think Hinds is a fine actor and I'm sure he'll convince me in the playing of the role, but he is not at all how I'd pictured Mance.

And btw - what's with the concern some seem to have about clarifying their sexual identity? Who cares? Surely both men and women of any and all orientations can admire both male and female beauty? However, referring to someone as a "tiny tit" is grossly offensive.

[Jaqen H'gcarl]

Hinds as Mance? Not so much, for me - I pictured Mance as better looking in a sort of lean, hawkish way. I think Hinds is a fine actor and I'm sure he'll convince me in the playing of the role, but he is not at all how I'd pictured Mance.

I saw both season 1 and 2 before I read the books, but I agree with you to an extent. I pictured Mance a bit differently, other than that I pretty much see the actors in my head when I read the books. There were only a few I had trouble picturing (the book version was way different than the actor) and that was (for me) Margaery Tyrell and perhaps Asha Greyjoy. btw, why did they change her name to Yara?

Also, I think Tywin is the best cast in all of GOT, atleast I personally think so. He's absolutely damn spot on :P

[MotherMerciless]

Yep. I can't help it. I do imagine Tyrion with the scars that are described in the book though, and not those shown in the show.

[Brienne Of Bombay]

Some of them, as I watched the show before I started reading. But somehow the show and the books are two different things in my mind.

[smallfolktypeperson]

I watched Season 1 first, and only started reading GoT at the very end (they'd probably gotten rid of Ned at that point), so I do...I think if I had read them earlier, I'd see whatever image I had conjured, still. I have self-invented images in my mind of characters from later books (like Ygritte, for example, and the Dornish,etc.) I think these will have a better chance of "sticking" with me.

[The_Salt_Wife]

No, not really, I have clearly defined ideas of what the characters look like.

Some do somewhat resemble their TV counterparts: Littlefinger, Varys, Bronn, Arya.

Others could not be more different. My Theon is much taller than Alfie Allen.

My Hound is quite a bit younger than Rory McCan. His scars are also more pronounced.

Asha Greyjoy looks totally different from Gemma Whelan. No disrespect for miss Whelan's acting ability, but in terms of appearance she was an odd fit for Asha.

[Techelles]

Guilty, for the most part. Even though I know Tywin has thick blonde chops and no hair on his head.

[humbug]

not really, i started the series reading the books without actually watching the tv series, although i've seen trailers so some of the characters may be what i imagined while reading

the lannisters are perfect in the tv, even though tyrion could've been uglier in the show, i still imagine peter dinklage when i read

despite age differences, the starks are okay though arya in the show isnt horsefaced

lysa's too skinny whereas i remembered her being chubby

loras is not too pretty imo, in his stead i imagined heath ledger

and for renly he shouldve longer hair, and him being gay and all that i totally imagined jake gyllenhaal as for the movie broke back mountain lol

dany shouldve been frailer, idk why but dakota fanning is my typical dany

of course there's yara who's not too sexy for the asha in my dreams

brienne is great but she's too pretty

[The Killer Snark]

Nope, not usually, especially not in the case of characters like Tyrion, Catelyn and Shae, whose appearance between books and series completely differs. I love Lena Headey, but I imagine Nicole Kidman when reading the books, and think that Ezra Miller would have made a perfect Theon, though again I like Alfie Allen in the role. With Charles Dance, they got the casting perfectly right except that they have different hair. Physically, the guy they got to play Renly was a very good call; Margaery's actress is gorgeous, but if you want to be pedantic, she looks exactly like book Shae. Daenarys was a good call; the guy they got to play Jon Snow is too good looking though a good actor, and Sean Bean as Eddard acts well in the part but looks nothing like.

[Lady Shadow Cat]

I was introduced to all things GoT by watching the series. When I found out it was based on a book series, I headed straight to the library lol. So for the most part I imagine the characters as how they look in the show. I agree with most of the general critisisms of the casting that others have posted. Asha/Yara I picture differently as well, but I think the actress captured the personality well. If the looks are different but the acting is good, I can forgive the change.

For the characters that people are pointing out that are better looking than described in the books (Tyrion, Brienne, Jorah etc) might I point out that in TV/film people are very rarely ugly unless it serves a specific purpose (such as Sandor's burns). Similar to how in the TV show Dany's hair does not get burned off. Its not aesthetically pleasing for TV.

However one thing that really bothered me in the show after reading the books is the changes in eye colour, especially for Dany. It seems that for the Targaryens, the purple eyes and silver hair are of equal importance and I wonder why they just didn't get contacts? Same goes for other characters, as GRRM describes characters very specifically, and for good reason. The seed is strong!

[The Killer Snark]

I actually like TV Yara, though I wince at the fact they didn't just call her Asha. She acts well and she's attractive. But how hard would it have been to find an attractive woman with dark hair and an aquiline nose? The fact that I like the actress kind of mollifies me on that one, but usually I like some visual frame of reference between book characters and the screen.

[Derek of House Stark]

I first watched the TV Show, then I read the Books. So I was influenced by the actors. But it is a Problem for me to imagine a 22 years old guy like Kit Harrington, playing a Teenager.

A 22 years old virgin? *lol* okay^^

[The Killer Snark]

Same here, but HBO has to make the characters older than in the books because of the American age of consent, which is substantially higher than it is in Europe, though the frame of historical reference in the novels is indeed British/European.

[Inquisitor Glokta]

So here my 2cents on the actors:

Most of them are way older then what i would have imagined, but the characters in the show got aged up a bit, so nvm...

almost exactly like i imagine them:

-Ned Stark: I couldn't think of any actor who would have been better for that role - period

-Sansa: Sophie Turner is really cute and i love her accent

-Jon Snow: Kit Harrington really has the Stark look (except for the hair)

-Rob: almost perfect, except for the hair color

-Drogo: omfg, absolutley perfect

-Theon: only problem is that he looks younger than rob (he is actually 5years older in the book)

-Robert Baratheon: should be a few inches taller

-Jaime: perfect

-Brienne: i guess she could be a little bigger, but otherwise really great for the role

-Tromund: OMFG, this is Tormund Giantsbane!

-The Hound: perfect

-Littlefinger: perfect

-Sallador: Yo Ho! Yo Ho! A pirates life for me

-Jof: perfect

-Greatjon: he's definetly an Umber

-The Mountain (S1): perfect

-Tywin: perfect

pretty close:

-Davos: if he would be bald, with the fingers missing on the other hand...

-Cersei: she doesn't look like Jaime

-Walder Frey: he should be WAY older

-Jorah: to handsome

-Missandei: definetly to old to play a 11year old girl, otherwise she seems ok

-Cat: her hair should be more like Sansa's

completely different:

-Tyrion: Dinklage is way to handsome, esp. with the S3 previews i've seen... he still got a nose :(

-Arya: to old and doesn't look boyish enough

-Stannis: no square jaw, no teeth grinding -.-

-Dany: she's just to old for the role...

-Mance: i don't know... imagined him completly different after reading the first Jon chapter in ASOS, he just doesn't look like the bard i pictured...

-Ygritte: Rose Leslie is WAY to beautiful for the role :D

-Asha: i pictured her more beautiful

and if the picture posted before is actually supposed to be Daario... WHERE THE F*** is his colorful beard and hair?