Dany, Sansa, + some Arya

[Smoldering Hound]

Lets just assume that the two of them are getting aged to 18. (sansa 16 at least).

Honestly, I see both parts needing similar actresses, with Dany going to whichever one wants to break out of a previous history of young nice roles, and Sansa going to whoever wants a histronic drama queen role. Both are perfect for actresses trying to transition from child actor to adult actor.

Arya, on the other hand, is still a child actor role, though probably should be aged to tween...but not "90210" age teen. Basically, disney and nickolodian show aged actress, not dawson's creek for Arya.

[Valyrian-Steel]

[quote name='Smouldering Hound' post='1592572' date='Nov 18 2008, 09.10']Lets just assume that the two of them are getting aged to 18. (sansa 16 at least).

Honestly, I see both parts needing similar actresses, with Dany going to whichever one wants to break out of a previous history of young nice roles, and Sansa going to whoever wants a histronic drama queen role. Both are perfect for actresses trying to transition from child actor to adult actor.

Arya, on the other hand, is still a child actor role, though probably should be aged to tween...but not "90210" age teen. Basically, disney and nickolodian show aged actress, not dawson's creek for Arya.[/quote]

Why do you assume they'd make Dany 18?

HBO has no problems showing children in sexual situations.

Who here has seen the movie "Kids", those are supposedly 13 and 14 year olds, obviously the [i]actors[/i] were older, but the [i]characters[/i] where not.

This isn't going to be on NBC, this is HBO, and showing a 13 or 14 year old [i]character[/i] portrayed by a young looking 18 or 19 year old [i]actress[/i] in a sexual situation is something HBO has done in the past, and not something they have a problem with, and it is true to the book. Making Dany 18 vastly changes her character, you have to question why she puts up with Viserys, why she isn't comfortable at first with her sexuality, she has less innocence in that role, would be less likely to be underestimated (which is a repeated plot point). Her relative weakness is perfectly normal for a 13 or 14 year old, but if she were 18 it wouldn't be seen as normal, it would be seen as a character flaw, and she wouldn't be a likable character. She'd be that spoiled rich girl from the first season of Lost.

Aging up Sansa as well just wouldn't be accurate. If Sansa was 18 in GRRM's world, the daughter of a great lord, and pretty, she'd be married already.

[psim]

We should all be open to the idea that most of the younger roles are probably going to be cast with actresses and actors that noone here ever heard of. But since that's not very fun to discuss... Sansa's role will have to be cast very diligently, as it's easy to think of her just as the arrogant little girl from GoT, but she becomes so much more over the next books and the actress must be able to diplay a very wide range of emotions, and be subtle about it...

[Adelle Tully]

I think for Dany and Sansa, keeping they're ages the same as GRRM has them is essential for the story development, not just casting. I mean, Sansa being not yet to her first menstrual cycle is a key reason why her and Joffrey weren't wedded and bedded. As for Dany, the age is a big deal in terms of her life experience (and lack there of) as a ruler, a wife and just generally as a character.

As I said in another thread, I think Dany's hair should be silver-blonde, not some crazy D&D wanna be type silver. The actress playing her needs to be able to capture her innocence and the shape of a young girl just budding and beginning to hit puberty.

As for Sansa, they need to capture her arrogance, innocence, and prepubescent view of life and men in general. In short, hers will be one of the harder characters to play in terms of acting.