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Emilia Clarke is Daenerys


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It isn't just "fanboy notions" if it is accurate to the text they're using as source.

Actually, not exactly. The issue is when people begin insisting that the TV show must be accurate to the nth degree. Emilia Clarke is apparently 5"2, which is petit. I'm not sure how anyone can judge properly any of the other criteria used.

The woman originally cast as Dany may or may not be as thin as Emilia Clarke but the real question is, does it matter? If it causes you angst that Sean Bean doesn't look like your picture of Ned, then yes you could be called a fanboy. If it doesn't cause you angst, then you may not be. *shrug*

I hope nobody is going to insult Tamzin Merchant by suggesting she was choosen because she is merely thin.

I've given up hoping they'll cast to my mind's eye

Did you really think they would? Seriously? :)

Let a man have an opinion without trying to degrade it with fake words made up purely for such denigration

I'm not sure what this is about. "Fake" words? Is this something about a persecution complex.

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Anyway,

hope Emilia is all good working with Jason Momoa (assuming her remains cast as Drogo). She is supposedly 5'2 and he is over 6'5. Cue the walking head job jokes.

I read once in an interview with someone in The Princess Bride that Robin Wright Penn was nervous/frightened the first time she saw Andre the Giant, knowing he'd be manhandling her a bit, and she sort of girlishly squealed and ran away. Of course the guy was gentle as with women Awhhhh how cute

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Who the hell cares if she's not as thin as Tamzin. The people in casting think Clarke will make the best Dany. You're judging her based on your own superficial fanboy notions of how you think her character "should be."

Partly, yes. And why not?

I can also repeat that i IDEALLY want her to. It's not a big deal.

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It's not a big deal.

Well that is good at least.

Focusing on the weight angle is just soooo cliche though. Dany's character does not revolve around her weight. And this actress certainly has no problem fitting the essential characteristics.

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As far as petite goes, she is certainly short enough, but dare i say that ideally she might drop a few pounds?

What she's wearing in the videos you saw doesn't mean anything about her weight. She's a beautiful girl who obviously has some serious acting chops, which is the most important thing- acting... I mean, were you happy with the Daenerys figurine? To me the figurine's breasts were too large, and yet it was okay'ed to be the offical Daenerys figuring!! So, what really is the perfect image? There isn't one, so lets be happy with talent, hmmm?

Your idea was for a skinny petite girl, mine was for small actress who looks somewhat exotic, young, and can act. And who knows, maybe Tamzin Merchant is out because she was too fragile physically, so there goes your skinny...

It isn't just "fanboy notions" if it is accurate to the text they're using as source. The Dany in the books is described with narrow hips, a small bust and otherwise very petite. She is also described as having more 'elfin' features than Ms. Clarke. She is also described as being the better part of a decade younger though, so obviously there are going to be some difficulties matching the look. These aren't fanboy notions they're accurate to the source.

Where does it say in the novels that Daenerys has "elfin" features? Just say's she looks like a Targaryen= otherworldly...And from what I saw in the video's, Emilia Clarke does have a small bust and narrow hips. I think because her face is lusher than Tamzin Merchant's face (fuller lips, colouring, eyes) that maybe she seems larger because there's more going on in the face, a more exotic look. She's not boney like Tamzin (I'm not trying to be mean- Tamzin is boneier looking), but she's definitely small. It's apple's and orange's really, Tamzin has a look that was good for Dany (although to me looked very English) but so does Emilia (who to me looks a bit more exotic).

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GRRM also favoured Tamzin.

As I said before, I don't believe GRRM liked Tamzin so much because she was thin.

When one has two thin actresses, I really shouldn't end up involved in a debate about which one is thiner. leaving.gif

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GRRMs idea. Viserys says that she's "too skinny" when discussing with Illyrio wether or not Drogo likes them this young. GRRM also favoured Tamzin.

Wow, I think that the weight crack is way too off base. Emilia looks like she can pull off being very young, and that's all that matters. When will people get off wanting to have anorexic actresses on their screen?

GRMM may have favored Tamzin, but for some reason, that's not possible, so let's move on!

I have a hard time imagining Emilia as a blonde, but I can get beyond that.

Besides, Viserys is a freak and he'd call Dany skinny just to hurt her.

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GRRMs idea. Viserys says that she's "too skinny" when discussing with Illyrio wether or not Drogo likes them this young. GRRM also favoured Tamzin.

Viserys was also crazy and cruel. His saying she's skinny doesn't mean she was actually skinny. GRRM says he liked Tamzin, because she was chosen and he had seen a bit of her in The Tudors... I wouldn't put a definitive stamp of approval on what he says, he could be just saying positive things in general. Its very possible he hadn't seen Emilia for the original round of casting but only when they started the new round of casting. We really don't know what GRRM now prefers, he may see Emilia as the better actress now, or not.

Its also possible GRRM liked Tamzins look, but when she did the pilot her acting may have fell short of the mark. We don't know GRRM, all we know is what he commented about both actresses, and it seems he liked one and likes the new one too.

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I have to note, petite (which has become a talking point since I used the word earlier, I guess) isn't just a matter of height; saying, "She's petite because she's 5'2" is wrong. There are very short people who are not petite. Small _and_ slight = petite (or petit, if you're male). For me, Clarke doesn't quite strike me as _petite_ ... but that's okay, as I said. People suggesting she should lose some weight are being fanboys about this, and I mean that in a negative way. It's silly. She is not defined by her slenderness.

She's obviously at a perfectly healthy weight and seems quite pretty (and her eyes are very beautiful, and very expressive from those Samaritans ads, which is great). She does not need to be GRRM's exact description of Dany. She hasn't got the hair or the eyes or the beauty, and so why, exactly, does she need to be so slender? It's silly, as I said, and I think it's actually rather rude to suggest a young actress should lose weight or a young actor should beef up to fit some mental image of a character, because "they're too fat" or "they're too weak." Lets recall that the actors do look at this site on occasion.

Now, as to what the books say, Dany is petite. She is very slender; look at GRRM's approved resin bust or Tom Meier's sculpted figurine. Drogo can span her waist with his hands, as I recall, and he picks her up as easily as if she were a child on several occasions. He's a big man, but that sort of thing makes me think of pairs figure skaters (5'0"-5'2", 90-100 lbs. seems typical height and weight; in the respect of height, it's true, Clarke seems to fit a bit better than Merchant) She's a fine-boned, slender girl. That's all. Viserys saying she's "too skinny" is his being unpleasant, but it's true that she's slim. If she were not slender of build, he would likelier have told her that she was too fat.

But for the series? The description doesn't matter except in the most general possible way. She's supposed to appear beautiful and exotic in her appearance, and she's supposed to give off a physical vulnerability, waifishness. Ms. Clarke seems perfectly capable of achieving this with a good team to take care of the contacts and hair and makeup, and her acting talent (she comes off as quite vulnerable in the Samaritans ads).

You will have to choose to suspend disbelief about this "most beautiful woman in the world" business, but then one would always have to do that, regardless of what actress they got for the role.

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Exactly, what Ran said. Although I'd still say Emilia is petite (to me), and that the Tom Meier figurine that was approve has Dany with a bit more boobage going on than expected ;-p.

Either way, we have a talented, beautiful, small of stature/ petite, young looking actress. Let's be happy they didn't cast Lindsey Lohan...

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Dany is probably slim and petite at first in the books...she's a 13 year old girl, so still very small. As things progress, she not only gets older but goes through a full pregnancy, which is going to change her body significantly, so a curvier Dany later on is totally likely.

Dany in the TV show will be 16 to start, so there's a greater likelihood of her having a more womanly figure already, even before her pregnancy. If they really want, they could use body doubles for Emilia if they think she's too curvy for the early scenes, then later use her own body, once she's gone through the pregnancy.

All of these complaints about very specific issues with her look being different than the book description is inevitable when casting something. You first need to find actors for roles who can act and who are the right type for a role...and when I say "right type" that's a much more broad category than getting into finer points of the looks as described on the book page. It's just not possible to work that way, to worry about finding someone who has a perfect physical look, especially if the best actor for a role is staring you in the face and looks "close enough" to make it work. Goodness, I was looking at Emilia's resume and one role listed there was Rosencrantz in Hamlet...Rosencrantz is supposed to be a man, but I guess for that version of the play they decided she was the best for the part. Hey, why not?

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Venardhi- considering that the guy who I addressed my initial post to admitted that he was being a fanboy, I'd say your post is completely off base (and perhaps you are trying to rationalize your own feelings). Every fan has an idea in their head of how a character should look, but it's rare for that actor/actress to be found. It's more about the performance and if they can bring the emotion, the essence of that character onto the screen. There's quite a few that don't fit the description in the book or in my mind as well, but you accept that as a reality and a bias on your part and move on. You have to reserve judgment until you see them in action.

As other posters have pointed out, Dany is being aged up because of the sex scenes. Of course the Dany in the book who is 13 is incredibly small because she is not fully developed as a woman yet. It's better for the audience if the actress playing her doesn't look like a child having sex with a huge man.

Oh, and I will degrade someone for a rude comment on a young woman's weight because it's disgusting and entirely deserved.

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I've seen her in clips and pictures. And she's certainly not as thin as Tamzin, which was just about right.

Right for who? You, or her?

Her weight, and/or build are only of minimal importance, as far as I'm concerned. They're a factor, but what's most important is her ability to convince us she's Dany through her ability. Her few clips seem to bode well for her on that front

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GRRMs idea. Viserys says that she's "too skinny" when discussing with Illyrio wether or not Drogo likes them this young. GRRM also favoured Tamzin.

*Sighs* Anyone read the quote I posted from GRRM? No all too busy arguing.

This girl looks small enough to me. Any weight she has could be the warm british clothing or the suplus flesh most people need to survive the UK winters. Whatever a girl of 5'2 should have no problem losing it guys. Skinny problem solved! She has Targ eyes. She also seems to appear to have the ability to look both fragile and strong. Look at the child abuse ad and her crying, then look at the other clips and her telling her creepy dad off.

She's been selected and GRRM claims to be happy with her.

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Maybe some of the fanboys out there are just "sad" they won't see an actress who looks 13 have a sex scene...Ugh, not trying to be mean, but seriously, would you want to see that? I would not.

Reading it is one thing, seeing it is another.

The character is aged up and the body will be as well, let's move on.

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Viserys was also crazy and cruel. His saying she's skinny doesn't mean she was actually skinny. GRRM says he liked Tamzin, because she was chosen and he had seen a bit of her in The Tudors... I wouldn't put a definitive stamp of approval on what he says, he could be just saying positive things in general. Its very possible he hadn't seen Emilia for the original round of casting but only when they started the new round of casting. We really don't know what GRRM now prefers, he may see Emilia as the better actress now, or not.

Its also possible GRRM liked Tamzins look, but when she did the pilot her acting may have fell short of the mark. We don't know GRRM, all we know is what he commented about both actresses, and it seems he liked one and likes the new one too.

Why "interpret" it all to death? If Viserys tells Illyrio she's "too skinny", in the context that he's concerned Drogo might not like them "that young" - it's probably just that - she's skinny. It will also help us believe that she is 15 (where did someone get 16 from?).

Btw: I really don't see how it's so weird of me to think she's skinny. You all know i might very well be right, anyway.... It's clear i've touched some nerve here.

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