Who is the best actor on the series?

[Aetta]

There are little nuances about some of the acting that attracts me, especially the "vocals". Not your run of the mill "American doing a British accent" thing.  I mean, Aiden Gillen's Baelish accent, Dinklage's whole voice inflection changes as Tyrion, Iain Glen's accent as Jorah.  Their characters are portraying a high born vocal, but the actors sometimes have higher pitch real-life voices, or a little Liverpool, or Scottish inflections.  Jason Mamoa's Drogo is another great example, pulling off a thick gruff accent that makes you think he rode with Khan himself.  

[SerJeremiahLouistark]

The young Hodor in Bran's greendream.  

[Northernmonkey]

Charles Dance was the outstanding actor on the series by far.

Stephen Dillane is my favourite but that's mainly because of his facial expressions. He absolutely nailed Stannis just with the look on his face.

Of the younger less experienced lot I think Sophie Turner and Alfie Allen do a great job. Maisie Williams can be great but she can also be a bit annoyingly drama school-ish if you know what I mean.

[Channel4s-JonSnow]

Also agree with Dance, many of the elder statesmen of English actors are simply fantastic on the show, and its great to have them all on there.. Rigg, Pryce, Dance etc. I'm also a big fan of Qyburn, Maester Aemon, Alistair Thorne, both Mormonts.. basically all actors I've seen around for many years who have come together to add their experience to the show.

[Damaris]

Alfie Allen is one of, if not the best actor in the show right now in my opinion.

[Ingelheim]

Charles Dance, Stephen Dillane, Alfie Allen, Diana Rigg, Lena Headey...lots of outstanding actors on this Show.

[Fearodh]

The guy playing Tywin was best, he owned every scene.

Some ppl are great, like Tormund, Ned Stark, Melisandre.

One of the few disappointments in the cast for me so far is Euron.

[Jedi Renee]

On 24/05/2016 at 11:17 PM, Kiwi said:

Natalie Dormer is just perfect and she nails the role. My number 1.

Lena Headey is also perfect.

And I agree that Sophie Turner is/is gonna be far more entertaining this season, as maybe we will finally get to see some other emotions played by her, not just despair, fear and pain.

I would say Emilia Clarke is surely a great actress, although I find her to be a poor match for Dany - her face expressions are just too goofy for this role, imo.

As for male actors, Peter Dinklage and Charles Dance are the best.

The actor who played Stannis, and one for Oberyn were also great, though their roles are a bit easier than ones mentioned above.

This but I don't think Sophie or Emilia are that strong 

On 24/05/2016 at 1:20 AM, Uncle Benjen's said:

Charles Dance as Tywin and Stephen Dillane as Stannis are definitely my top 2.

Rory McCann as the Hound,
Jonathan Pryce as the High Sparrow is a sensation, I have a sneaking suspicion he helps in the writing process for his character's monologues as they are great in contrast to the recent dialogue.
Natalie Dormer as Margery nails it.
Lena Headley ofc, the her first scene this season and the realization of what Jaime is bringing home was great.
Pedro Pascal stole the show as Oberyn, but I think if his character was around any longer and put into different situations we may of seen him differently.
Peter Dinklage for obvious reasons.

But most of all Kristian Nairn as Hodor. I mean he's managed to convey a multitude of emotions and expressions with one word, I imagine playing Hodor is a lot harder than you would at first think.

All of this!

On 24/05/2016 at 1:23 AM, Antonio81 said:

alfie allen should be mentioned

Definitely 

On 24/05/2016 at 6:14 AM, Status Crow said:

Liam Cunningham.

For sure 

On 24/05/2016 at 8:05 AM, Good Guy Garlan said:

Jack Gleeson. His Joffrey immediately earned a well-deserved spot among the most iconic tv villains (or even villains in general) of all time. 

Ramsay wishes. 

Yuss

For me stephen dilane and varys

[ShinD]

Sean Bean was the best in season 1

Charles Dance overall (watch the BBC mini-serie "And then there were none" if you like him)

Alfie Allen works for me but really it's more about his face than his acting

Always thought Dinklage was a bit overated because he had all the best lines in the show at the start.

[Laughing Storm Reborn]

Many good castings/performances and some awfull ones...

Best actor? Dillane, no contest

[A Ghost of Someone]

Alfie Allen, very overlooked. Twice the actor of Dinklage. No pun intended.

[The Onion Kniggit]

The funny thing about Stephen Dillane is that he seems to be the only actor who doesn't give two craps about the show and admit he only did it for the money and basically doesn't know much about his own character save that he is a "warrior" 

Yet in spite of this his acting is top tier and his portrayal of Stannis is on point. 

Now just imagine if he was actually motivated and given a proper script instead of that half-assed nonsensical crap that he got.

[Kolx]

Alfie is the best by far, one of the main reasons why I keep wacthing the show.

[Pecan]

So many names mentioned reading through the thread. Obviously, the quality of the acting on the show is terrific. Throw a rock on set and you'll hit a great actor. 

[MakeWesterosGreatAgain]

Coster-Waldau was so good for so long. I hate how they've written his character lately because it's ruined one of the strongest performances in the show.

Chapman has actually done a really good job of keeping as close to book-material Tommen as possible considering the age gap and the fact that he blasted through puberty. 

Just some names that havent really been named much.

[Ser Maverick]

I think the Lannister siblings have consistently given the strongest performances over the course of the series. If I had to pick one, I think it might be Lena, although Peter's "confession" at his trial is maybe my favorite actor moment of the series. Diana Rigg is a standout performance and Charles Dance was perfect when he was on it. I'd give honorable mentions to Alfie Allen, Jack Gleeson, and of course Sean Bean. I think all of the actors do really good jobs however, which is really something considering the massive size of the cast.

[BlueNightzx]

Charles dance
he IS tywin, book tywin

Stephen dillane as Stannis comes REALLY close,

there a lot of great actors, but they all lack some parts of the character

Lena headey is a very, VERY different cersei, i don't really like it, first by her appearance, she has more of a mediteranian look, Cersei is very north European looking, bright blond hair, green eyes, voluptuous, pale as milk

I love natalie dormer since the tudors, but her margaery comes off as more malicious and cunning than the innocent and smart/savvy book marg, still a good performance though

Joffrey's actor really nailed it, a very good young actor, an excellent performance, but still not a contender to the likes of charles dance

Peter dinklage is excellent tyrion, (a rather too handsome perhaps) and its not his fault that the writting of the series became so boring for his character, the same with jaime, really great match for book jaime, but the show ruined his character, not the actors fault, in the first 3 seasons he was fantastic,

Davos, Theon, Shireen,  the hound and carice van houten all deserve special attention, really excellent actors who portray their characters flawlessly IMO,

Emilia Clarke started as Kit, very boring actors with the same expression in every scene, but kit really evolved in his acting and became a rather decent and in some scenes really good actor, emilia clarke otherwise remains quite boring and really a bad match for book dany, her expressions are more comical and funny than this exotic alluring beauty and seduction of book Dany,, she looks, very modern, like she belongs in sex and the city or something of the sort.
when she's tries to be imperial and angry she seems funny, when she tries to look calm and superior she looks a bit crazy and off, 







 

[Viking]

I'd have two "lists"

Well regarded actors who have transcended the material

Peter Dinklage, Charles Dance, Sean Bean, Lena Heady, Diane Rigg, Jonathan Pryce, Aiden Gillen, Conleth Hill, Natalie Tena

Unknown (at least to me) actors who have inhabited their roles

Maisy Williams, Sophie Turner, Pedro Pascal, Jason Momoa, Jack Gleeson, Kristian Hivju, Alfie Allen

[Uncle Benjen's]

8 hours ago, Ser Maverick said:

Diana Rigg is a standout performance

I always forget about Diana. Her performances as Lady Olenna was one of the high points of season 4 and she's always a delight to watch - I am glad she's in the mix this season.

[Lord Oaf of Highgarden]

I think Alfie Allen has started to get the credit he truly deserves. What a talent. He has portrayed so many different sides of Theon amazingly. From the over-confident to the broken man to the redemption.  

As a few others have already said the likes of Charles Dance, Lena Headey, Conleth Hill, Stephen Dillane all absolutely nail their characters and performances. 

I have loved Natalie Dormer's performance of Margaery Tyrell. She has gone from a character I could not care about in the books to one of my favorite characters in the show. I do feel that is a testament to Dormer's performance. She just gets the correct balance to that acting politically naive and friendly to clearly being manipulative, confident and clever. 

This year I feel Sophie Turner has come into her own and she really showed off her acting ability. I was never a massive fan of her acting in the past, probably to do with the fact I am not a massive fan of the character either. This year however she has really stepped up her game. 

I feel for all of the show's faults one of the show's strongest points is their cast and their acting ability.