Never thought I'd miss Ed Skrein, but...

[iknownothingjonsnow]

Welcome to Season 4 of HBO's medieval sex and violence fantasy camp, Game of Thrones!

This year, playing Daario Naharis, please welcome, from David Benioff's 2004 epic 'Troy' (by way of ABC's 'Nashville')...

Hector

http://lovehopefaith.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/hector-of-troy-2.jpg

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BkpDv-PCIAAlPqL.png

And introducing, the vengeance obsessed Red Viper himself, from the Dornish peninsula (by way of Santiago, Chile and Chicago, Illinois), let's have a big hand for...

Inigo Montoya

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JGp7Meg42U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=lr29ACMeYoI#t=80

Yeah, that was pretty lame... sorry.

[Thelastactionhero]

I do like that you're giving him a chance, versus writing him off like many fans are. I hope he'll pleasantly surprise you (and that D&D will pleasantly surprise us and give him better scenes than the first episode).

I think the "skeeviness" was a detriment only because he's the love interest of one of the leading ladies on the show. From what I've read on this board, many people were banging their heads against a table trying to read Dany's chapters when she was romancing Daario because they didn't understand how she could fall for him because of this particularly (un-)charming trait. I'll give you that many people like their leading ladies falling for a "bad boy", but usually only when there's also a redemption arc for that "bad boy" put in place. Plus these "bad boys" are never particularly skeevy, they're usually just brooding and taciturn. I just think D&D figured that they needed someone less "skeevy" and more likeable if we're going to have to put up with him for two seasons, whether this particular decision is justified or not.

Now that I can agree with. They're definitely trying hard with this guy, (you can already to tell), to make him more empathetic and likeable. I actually found it somewhat ironic that I liked Skrein's performance so much, considering the fact that I was one of those people banging my head against aDwD because of how awful the Dany/Daario romance is. Seeing as he is the love interest for the leading lady, and she has been written as near immaculate in the tv series, it would be a bit hard for the show watchers to connect with her falling in love with a soulless douchebag. (This is one of the weaker aspects of the adaptation in my opinion, especially when I think about how certain other characters who need not be named havebeen vilified) That being said, I really hope he's able to bring some of that electricity Skrein managed to bring to the screen. There's certainly more captivating scenes on the way, so he has a chance to pull it off, even if he didn't make a very good first impression with me.

[changalang]

Now that I can agree with. They're definitely trying hard with this guy, (you can already to tell), to make him more empathetic and likeable. I actually found it somewhat ironic that I liked Skrein's performance so much, considering the fact that I was one of those people banging my head against aDwD because of how awful the Dany/Daario romance is. Seeing as he is the love interest for the leading lady, and she has been written as near immaculate in the tv series, it would be a bit hard for the show watchers to connect with her falling in love with a soulless douchebag. (This is one of the weaker aspects of the adaptation in my opinion, especially when I think about how certain other characters who need not be named havebeen vilified) That being said, I really hope he's able to bring some of that electricity Skrein managed to bring to the screen. There's certainly more captivating scenes on the way, so he has a chance to pull it off, even if he didn't make a very good first impression with me.

I'm definitely looking forward to more captivating scenes because as much as I appreciate Michiel's subtlety and can get behind a less skeezy Daario, I would much rather him have a chance to run the whole gamut of what it might mean to play Daario, from arrogance and charisma to kicking ass and taking names in addition to this increased likeability.

[Ser Desmond Wine's Bane]

Many thanks Lord Stoneheart - that was hilarious! So many facepalms!

[Ilúvatar]

Neither are anything like book Daario because the costume department is full of incompetent schmucks who feel the need to homogenize everything.

That said, the new actor is slightly better suited for the role than Ed Skrein.

[LordStoneheart]

I don't think you're crazy for liking the recast, even though we strongly disagree. My response was more in regards to the other poster, who chided the majority of us for praising Skrein's air of confidence and bravado, as though we're all seeing something that isn't there (and if you'll notice, my criticisms of Huisman have nothing to do with his abilities as an actor). I haven't read all the critical reviews, but something I find striking is that you believe this sense of "skeeviness" Skrein brought to the role is somehow a detriment. The fact of the matter is that Daario is skeevy. Daario is a soulless murderer who kills for pleasure as much as he kills for gold. Sure, it doesn't make him likeable, but that's not how he's written in the books either. There's been points made here about his body language, however, that are definitely of interest regarding this divide between NewDaario and OldDaario (which does, on some level, come down to taste). With Huisman, I'm just not buying the swashbuckling arrogance that subtley trying to sell. This has as much to do with the content on Sunday night as it does his actual body language. He's not holding himself with this booming air of confidence that seemed to just to ooze out of Skrein naturally. Like I said, we'll see what happens though. Whether it's the writing, as you're suggesting, or his delivery or both, I am currently underwhelmed with Daario. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. Still too early to call the jury back for a final verdict.

And I still don't see it. He has three major scenes, and the only air of confidence I see is that he smiles a lot. Otherwise, he's really not doing much of anything. I just seems like he's repeating his lines. Perhaps, yes, in comparison to this new guy's rather chill acting Ed looks like a foppish braggard in comparison, but hardly "swagger."

[Le Cygne]

I love Dany and she's all kindsof badass, but int he books, daario was having the uppper hand int their relationship. So far, the new daario seems to be chasing dany, not the other way.

He made a play for her from the start in the books. He was more over the top. She was responding, but much of that was coming from inside, her thoughts, I think Emilia is conveying that. I guess they decided between last season and this season not to have him say things like this, but he can get the point across other ways. Seems like they want the audience to like him, I suppose that means there's a reason.

"My blood, my body, my songs, you own them all. I live and die at your command, fair queen."

[LordStoneheart]

Many thanks Lord Stoneheart - that was hilarious! So many facepalms!

It's quite easy to write something off when you have nothing to say or refute about it.

[ground_control]

I do like that you're giving him a chance, versus writing him off like many fans are. I hope he'll pleasantly surprise you (and that D&D will pleasantly surprise us and give him better scenes than the first episode).

I don't understand this "give him a chance" thing people keep yapping about...the deed is done. By choice or by necessity, D&D recast Daario. They chose Huisman as S4 Daario, they wrote all the scripts, made all the costumes, and have already filmed everything. Unless there's a surprise recasting of another Daario for Episodes 2-10, we're going to keep seeing Huisman. Unless the wardrobe department made his Epsiode 1 look (costume, hair, etc.) a one-off and he's going to look like, we know what we will be seeing in episodes 2-9. All we don't know is how well the dialog will be written and how well he will handle it (although, to be fair, we have no reason to assume it will be better or worse than what we saw the other night).

So, when I say S3 Daario looked the part (both actor and wardrobe) and had better chemistry than what we've seen of S4 Daario, we have no reason to expect that will change for the rest of this season. The only thing that might happen is that the writing gets better (I thought both the Grey Worm and Flower scenes were awkwardly written) or that Huisman might make it *sound* better, but neither of those things can overcome the "look and feel" deficiency that won't be changing.

[Ser Desmond Wine's Bane]

It's quite easy to write something off when you have nothing to say or refute about it.

I will be happy to discuss this with you one on one in an appropriate forum. The blog post was severely logically flawed and extremely poorly written and I will be happy to demonstrate the reasons why I do not accept almost every single premise they put forward to attempt to support their claims.

PM, email, wherever is fine - your choice - but somewhere one on one and definitely not here in the Ed Skrein Thread.

[Florina Laufeyson]

ITT: People whinge about a casting we barely got 3 minutes of screen time of.

*squints* Seriously guys, mountains out of molehills. The majority of viewers watching season 3 thought "Who is this fucking joker and why does he look so derpy?" My mum even commented when New!Daario came on screen that he was better looking immediately. People need to be a bit sympathetic to Dany's choice in a new manfriend. Old!Daario was an improvement on the Book!Daario. But New!Daario is a definite improvement on Old!Daario. He'll look good with no clothes on. He sounds like a cocky putz instead of Mr. Wooden. New!Daario snarking at Grey Worm over Missandei is exactly something Book!Daario would do. The tone and everything. This guy is ultimately a better actor and still smarmy as all hell. So while the audience will be sympathetic to Dany wanting to slam that, the audience will also be convinced that hes kind of a douchecanoe.

Its also too soon to say if hes really worse, but my first impressions of the new guy is that hes better.

He made a play for her from the start in the books. He was more over the top. She was responding, but much of that was coming from inside, her thoughts, I think Emilia is conveying that. I guess they decided between last season and this season not to have him say things like this, but he can get the point across other ways. Seems like they want the audience to like him, I suppose that means there's a reason.

I give her props for trying but Clarke is ass at conveying subtlety. (its why shes better suited for the hammy action moments.) So really, it does look like Dany is just staring stupidly after him during the end of the flower scene. The season 3 part where she steps out of the tub was kinda awesome, but theres no subtlety there. Perhaps another scene will happen where Dany actually discusses her thoughts with Missandei on the matter.

[Konradsmith]

He's waaaaaay better than Ed Skrein. I don't know why they didn't try to ease the transition more by either shaving Michiel or giving his hair some extensions but whatever, its done. By ep. 3 he will have won folks over...

[Florina Laufeyson]

He's waaaaaay better than Ed Skrein. I don't know why they didn't try to ease the transition more by either shaving Michiel or giving his hair some extensions but whatever, its done. By ep. 3 he will have won folks over...

Cuz its hella funnier just dropping the new bloke in without even a mention. No in-universe notion that Daario got a haircut or new clothes for Volantis or whatever. Hes just ~there~ being all different.

Its great.

[Konradsmith]

Has anybody made a meme yet?

Dany: Where is Daario Naharis?

Barry: He's been recast, your grace."

Or...

Dany: You're a gambler, aren't you?

Daario: Yeah, I lost all my hair in a bet. And won a beard.

[changalang]

I don't understand this "give him a chance" thing people keep yapping about...the deed is done. By choice or by necessity, D&D recast Daario. They chose Huisman as S4 Daario, they wrote all the scripts, made all the costumes, and have already filmed everything. Unless there's a surprise recasting of another Daario for Episodes 2-10, we're going to keep seeing Huisman. Unless the wardrobe department made his Epsiode 1 look (costume, hair, etc.) a one-off and he's going to look like, we know what we will be seeing in episodes 2-9. All we don't know is how well the dialog will be written and how well he will handle it (although, to be fair, we have no reason to assume it will be better or worse than what we saw the other night).

So, when I say S3 Daario looked the part (both actor and wardrobe) and had better chemistry than what we've seen of S4 Daario, we have no reason to expect that will change for the rest of this season. The only thing that might happen is that the writing gets better (I thought both the Grey Worm and Flower scenes were awkwardly written) or that Huisman might make it *sound* better, but neither of those things can overcome the "look and feel" deficiency that won't be changing.

Giving him a chance means not writing him off as you do in the sentence above. As for not knowing whether he will handle better dialogue better or worse, as you say, I have good cause to assume he will handle it well having seen him in other projects.

But you seem determined to dislike him, so what can I say? Your circular logic of disliking him and complaining about it and then saying there's nothing that can be done just doesn't particularly make sense to me. Oh, and he's definitely in for S5, as they've signed him already so too bad so sad for those who don't like him or the way D&D have decided to go with the character.

[changalang]

Has anybody made a meme yet?

Dany: Where is Daario Naharis?

Barry: He's been recast, your grace."

Or...

Dany: You're a gambler, aren't you?

Daario: Yeah, I lost all my hair in a bet. And won a beard.

They've done a variation of your first one and the one where they screencap the passage from the book describing his appearance with a picture of the New!Daario with the saying "Nailed it...again!" (There was a variation of this one with a picture of Ed last season.)

My favourite though may be the ones where people have photoshopped some blue into his beard lol

[ground_control]

Giving him a chance means not writing him off as you do in the sentence above. As for not knowing whether he will handle it better or worse, as you say, I have good cause to assume he will handle it well having seen him in other projects.

But you seem determined to dislike him, so what can I say? Your circular logic of disliking him and complaining about it and then saying there's nothing that can be done just doesn't particularly make sense to me. Oh, and he's definitely in for S5, as they've signed him already so too bad so sad for those who don't like him or the way D&D have decided to go with the character.

You have a serious problem with temporal matters...I am not determined to dislike [the new Daario], I already do. And it's not [just] Huisman the actor, it's the show's casting and wardrobe people, as well as the screenplay writers. I assume Huisman had little to no control over those factors, he just auditioned for the part and acted as directed. It's not his fault he doesn't look or feel the part, that was somebody else's call to make. And to be honest, the showrunners were screwed by Martin, because he's the one who made such a bad character in the first place.

I love ASOIAF, but I can't stand stand Book Daario, and I live just fine. I'm not making my statements in order to influence the show's direction, I'm just giving the people who made the decision three thumbs down. It won't stop me from watching the show any more than Book Daario has made me quit reading and rereading the books.

This is a forum for discussing the show. Don't attack me just because I don't agree with your assessment of Daario.

[changalang]

You have a serious problem with temporal matters...I am not determined to dislike [the new Daario], I already do. And it's not [just] Huisman the actor, it's the show's casting and wardrobe people, as well as the screenplay writers. I assume Huisman had little to no control over those factors, he just auditioned for the part and acted as directed. It's not his fault he doesn't look or feel the part, that was somebody else's call to make. And to be honest, the showrunners were screwed by Martin, because he's the one who made such a bad character in the first place.

I love ASOIAF, but I can't stand stand Book Daario, and I live just fine. I'm not making my statements in order to influence the show's direction, I'm just giving the people who made the decision three thumbs down. It won't stop me from watching the show any more than Book Daario has made me quit reading and rereading the books.

This is a forum for discussing the show. Don't attack me just because I don't agree with your assessment of Daario.

I have a serious problem? I'm attacking you? When I said you were determined to dislike, excuse me, that you dislike the New!Daario? That's not an attack. That's just a fact. I haven't called you names, I haven't insulted you. I said that your circular logic doesn't make sense to me. Maybe it makes sense to you, but not me. That's not an attack.

I don't care if you personally care for this Daario or not. My statement about giving him another chance is a blanket statement for fans who were willing to write him off after two scenes because I like the dude as an actor and know he is quite good and hope other fans are open to this as well. If you're not one of those people, that's fine. I never said it wasn't. My replies to you have been refuting your statements about "not getting the point" or whatever else you wanted to criticize in whatever post I made. I get your point. You don't like him. I got it, thanks.

This is versus you telling me that I have a "serious problem with temporal matters", even though it's a matter of semantics and your prose not being clear, or some point I keep on "yapping" about. Let's be real here. I don't take this as attacking me, because well, it's called having an argument or disagreement on the internet and a difference of opinion, but if anyone's attacking anyone, we all know who it is.

And with that, I'm taking a page out of Lord Stoneheart's book and if you want to talk/argue semantics/whatever further, let's take it off this board. As you said, it's a forum for discussing the show.

[Blazfemur]

I still stand by old Daario. not only was he arrogant and cocky, the actor portraying him and emilia totally nailed the unspoken implied sexual tension. her and this new guy, (and yes, i realize it's only been one episode), have zero onscreen chemistry.

[Florina Laufeyson]

I still stand by old Daario. not only was he arrogant and cocky, the actor portraying him and emilia totally nailed the unspoken implied sexual tension. her and this new guy, (and yes, i realize it's only been one episode), have zero onscreen chemistry.

To be fair, her having chemistry with anyone is a bit of a stretch. Hue :P