Right actor, wrong part?

[Good Guy Garlan]

If you could swap some roles or cast an actor of the show as a different character, what would you do?

I personally think the casting has been great, a few duds notwithstanding, but in terms of looks or acting or both, I think some actors would’ve been a closer fit for different characters, like:

 

I would switch the roles of:

-          Alfie Allen < ---- > Iwan Rheon

-          Natalia Tena < ---- > Gemma Whelan

-          Sibel Kekilli < ---- > Roxanne McKee (Doreah)

 

Also, I think some actors fit other roles better, like:

-          Natalie Dormer as Cersei

-          Mark Killeen (Mero) as Euron

-          Lena Headey as Catelyn

-          Mark Stanley (Grenn) as Beric Dondarrion

-          Ciaran Hinds as Qhorin Halfhand

-          Luke Roberts (Arthur Dayne) as Renly

 

And then there are the actors who would’ve been a great match for some of the characters that didn’t make the cut, like:

-          Nathalie Emmanuel as Arianne Martell

-          Brigitte Hjort Sorensen as Alysane Mormont

-          Iain Glen as Jon Connington

-          Michelle Fairley as Barbrey Dustin

 

Again, I’m not saying these castings were bad, quite the contrary, most of them are/were great, but I think this is fun in a “what if?” kind of way.

What say you? Any other actor who you think would’ve worked in a different role?

[kimim]

I think casting is one of the strengths of the show. If I had to make some changes:

Sibel Kekilli and Esme Bianco (Ros) switch

Natalie Dormer and Emilia Clarke switch

Pilou Asbaek and Michiel Huisman switch. Asbaek wears a gold tooth, and Huisman wears an eyepatch.

Jacob Anderson and Joel Fry (Hizdahr) switch

[Wyman Manderly's Meat Pies]

Lord knows I love show Tormund, but he's exactly how I pictured Smalljon. 

Adewale Akinnuoye Agbaje who played the slaver that captured Tyrion and Jorah for the cut role of Brown Ben Plumm. AAA is one of my favorite actors and I was disgusted to see him wasted on that slaver. 

Ian McNiece if he counts. He was Illyrio in the pilot, the perfect Wyman Manderly. Rome fans know that voice reciting "The North Remembers." would be perfection.

Good call on Briggite as Alysane. She was wasted on a one episode Wildling. 

I pictured Ned more like Joseph Mawle than Sean Bean. I always thought aging up in mind, that Sean was still too old looking. A similar sentiment with a lot of well cast characters like Brienne and the Hound. But the performances were so good that It didn't matter.

[Winter's Cold]

I really feel like bookMance and showMance were two different characters in terms of personality. I imagined bookMance to be a bit more like showBronn. I'd want Bronn's actor to play both characters.

[Ruhail]

Kitt Harrington as Jon is a big horrible miscast he has no range as an actor to play anything beyond S1/book 1 Jon really wish Harry Llyod was Jon Snow

[Good Guy Garlan]

7 hours ago, kimim said:

I think casting is one of the strengths of the show.

Totally. It's borderline miraculous that with so many characters they've had only very few duds in that regard. 

7 hours ago, Wyman Manderly's Meat Pies said:

Adewale Akinnuoye Agbaje who played the slaver that captured Tyrion and Jorah for the cut role of Brown Ben Plumm. AAA is one of my favorite actors and I was disgusted to see him wasted on that slaver. 

That's interesting. He's actually how I pictured Moqorro or even Thoros.

5 hours ago, Winter's Cold said:

I really feel like bookMance and showMance were two different characters in terms of personality. I imagined bookMance to be a bit more like showBronn. I'd want Bronn's actor to play both characters.

You read my mind, I think so too. I also think Gethin Anthony (Renly) could've worked as a younger Mance, based on his performance as Charles Manson in "Aquarius". I mean, Manson is like the evil version of a Mance: a charismatic leader who gathered lots of followers, and a musician to boot. 

2 hours ago, Ruhail said:

Kitt Harrington as Jon is a big horrible miscast he has no range as an actor to play anything beyond S1/book 1 Jon really wish Harry Llyod was Jon Snow

I agree. I would switch some roles around like:

Jon - Harry Lloyd

Loras - Kit Harington

Viserys - Eugene Simon (Lancel) 

Lancel - Finn Jones

[kimim]

4 hours ago, Ruhail said:

Kitt Harrington as Jon is a big horrible miscast he has no range as an actor to play anything beyond S1/book 1 Jon really wish Harry Llyod was Jon Snow

ita, can't believe I forgot about him! YES, definitely Harry Lloyd would have been better. I wouldn't want Harrington do Viserys, though.

[Gendry_Goldeneyes]

12 hours ago, Wyman Manderly's Meat Pies said:

Lord knows I love show Tormund, but he's exactly how I pictured Smalljon. 

Adewale Akinnuoye Agbaje who played the slaver that captured Tyrion and Jorah for the cut role of Brown Ben Plumm. AAA is one of my favorite actors and I was disgusted to see him wasted on that slaver. 

Ian McNiece if he counts. He was Illyrio in the pilot, the perfect Wyman Manderly. Rome fans know that voice reciting "The North Remembers." would be perfection.

Good call on Briggite as Alysane. She was wasted on a one episode Wildling. 

I pictured Ned more like Joseph Mawle than Sean Bean. I always thought aging up in mind, that Sean was still too old looking. A similar sentiment with a lot of well cast characters like Brienne and the Hound. But the performances were so good that It didn't matter.

i completely agree with this statment

what a fucking waste that was

[House Cambodia]

As others say, the casting has been almost perfect. I'd only wish to improve 2 main characters - 

 

Sorry ladies, but Kit Harington doesn't quite cut it for me - too narrow a range.

The biggest mistake is Euron - that character is about to become the most evil thing on the show but the actor looks like a hight-hearted sitcom sort. No menace in him. Shame.

[Neds Secret]

29 minutes ago, House Cambodia said:

As others say, the casting has been almost perfect. I'd only wish to improve 2 main characters - 

 

Sorry ladies, but Kit Harington doesn't quite cut it for me - too narrow a range.

The biggest mistake is Euron - that character is about to become the most evil thing on the show but the actor looks like a hight-hearted sitcom sort. No menace in him. Shame.

Yes, he looks like he just stepped off the set of Silicon Valley! Ciaran Hinds could have played the part of Mace Tyrell quite well, if Mace was more like book Mace

[RoamingRonin]

Stannis should be Davos and Davos should be Stannis.

[nedstarksdetachedhead]

Who ever does the casting for the show has done a amazing job, since that 99% of casting is perfect. I would change the sand snakes and maybe Euron.

[nedstarksdetachedhead]

On 6/4/2016 at 9:29 PM, RoamingRonin said:

Stannis should be Davos and Davos should be Stannis.

LOL just no. The actor they got for Stannis was perfect, they just messed it up.

[Ferocious Veldt Roarer]

I believe Ian McShane would make an even better Tywin Lannister (not that Charles Dance was bad, mind you).

[Boudica]

On 6/3/2016 at 3:49 PM, kimim said:

ita, can't believe I forgot about him! YES, definitely Harry Lloyd would have been better. I wouldn't want Harrington do Viserys, though.

No, Harry Lloyd was great at Viserys, but he does not have the right look or feel for Jon. I don't necessarily mean physical attributions such as eye or hair colour it is more about his vibe and attitude that would not work. He always has a bit crazy vibe around him. He might also have been interesting as Ramsay. If played good character I could imagine him being more convincing as a type of a slightly kooky character. 

Kit has a more solemn/ sensitive/ serious vibe which lends itself well to playing perhaps more heroic characters realistically. Kit is doing a great job this season so far with the acting, and last season as well. 

[Travy1991]

I would just change two.

Pilou Asbæk should have been Brother Ray. Honestly, Asbæk is pretty charismatic (the writing for Euron isn't great though) so I would like to see him on Game of Thrones. I think he could have done a great job playing Brother Ray and would have worked wonderfully as a one-off memorable character like Karsi or Ser Pounce. Meanwhile, Ian McShane should have been Euron. McShane is capable of being menacing and charismatic and most important of all, he actually looks old enough to be Balon Greyjoy's brother. That's my biggest issue - Asbæk is just too young to be Balon's brother. Gemma Whelan is even older than him. I know it's possible for an uncle and a niece that the generation below can be older but Asbæk is 37 years younger than Patrick Malahide.

For the same reason, I've disliked that Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson plays Gregor Clegane, the older brother of Rory McCann's Sandor Clegane. Although, many people claim that Björnsson looks older than his 20s due to his bulk, I still think he looks starkly fresh faced and youthful when compared with McCann. Not that McCann looks bad - he just looks like a dude in his 40s. Björnsson looks like a big scary dude in his 20s. I don't buy him as the elder Clegane brother. Conan Stevens, who played the character in Season 1, was not as bulky but he was tall, strong and incredibly menacing. It's a shame that he had to be recast. Just to be clear, Björnsson is good at the limited amount of acting he has to do. I'd just like to see him play a giant or a big bulky wildling.

[Maester Totoro]

Only one switch: Ian McShane would've been a great Euron.

That dude sucks.

BookMance could have taken away some of the direness of the wildling situation, so I get why they made him way more serious and tired, but Ciaran Hinds, despite being a great actor, never seemed quite right for the role.

[PrettyPig]

On 6/3/2016 at 6:10 AM, Good Guy Garlan said:

He's actually how I pictured Moqorro or even Thoros.

Moqorro, absolutely.   And I just add AAA to the list of AAA actors who deserved a far greater role than they got on the show:  Ciaran Hinds, Max von Sydow, Ian McShane....

 

On 6/2/2016 at 2:14 PM, Good Guy Garlan said:

Mark Killeen (Mero) as Euron

Mark Killeen with darker hair and a gold tooth would have been Daario stepped off the page for me.  His attitude as Mero was perfect for Daario.

Ian McShane = Euron.  Typecasting exists for a reason!

Maria Doyle Kennedy would have been a perfect Catelyn.

 

 

[Criston of House Shapper]

I would switch Kit Harrington with Richard Madden, I think Kit Harrington always comes across as kind of dumb and naive and would fit the role of Robb Stark perfectly, while Richard Madden would've had the range to make Jon Snow a much more compelling character. Other than that, casting is one of the strengths of the show, especially for the more villainous characters.

[Good Guy Garlan]

5 hours ago, Criston of House Shapper said:

I would switch Kit Harrington with Richard Madden, I think Kit Harrington always comes across as kind of dumb and naive and would fit the role of Robb Stark perfectly, while Richard Madden would've had the range to make Jon Snow a much more compelling character. Other than that, casting is one of the strengths of the show, especially for the more villainous characters.

Yeah, I've seen that switch suggested several times, and I think I agree. I think Madden does have more range than Harington, and his Scottish accent would've served as evidence of the Wildlings (especially Ygritte) rubbing off on Jon