Four New Cast Members Announced

[Westeros]

Now that HBO’s House of the Dragon is in the full swing of production, casting news will start ramping up for new roles this season, and today provides us the first tranche as four actors have been revealed by Variety with their roles, all of which were first described in George R.R. Martin’s The World of Ice and Fire and Fire and Blood:

• Gayle Rankin as Alys Rivers, described as “a healer and resident of Harrenhal”. For those not concerned about spoilers, the Wiki of Ice and Fire has you covered on all we know of the character from George R.R. Martin’s writing.
• Veteran actor Simon Russell Beale (who has multiple Olivier and Tony awards to his credit) will play Ser Simon Strong, described as “the Castellan of Harrenhal and great-uncle to Lord Larys Strong”. the Wiki of Ice and Fire has more information about the character.
• Freddie Fox will play Ser Gwayne Hightower, “the son of Otto Hightower, brother to Queen Alicent, and uncle” to the queen’s children. The character appeared in the first episode of House of the Dragon, in the tournament, but wore a helm and was played by a stuntman. Again, this is a canonical character.
• Last but not last, Abubakar Salim will play Alyn of Hull, “a sailor in the Velaryon fleet.” There’s a lot more about him on the Wiki for those not afraid of spoilers.


https://www.westeros.org/Graphics/Images/_medium/Gayle_Rankin.jfif



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[The Bard of Banefort]

So Gayle Rankin is 33 but looks (and this is not a dig) quite a bit older. I had seen her name batted around Reddit a few weeks go. I’m guessing she started following the rest of the cast on Instagram.

They announced Alyn but not Addam. Maybe they’re saving Addam for the dragon seeds announcement, but I would have expected they’d be announced together. This could mean that the Laenor-returns-as-Addam theory is true, or perhaps Jace is taking Addam’s role after all.

[The Dragon Demands]

I’m really worried about this “Alyn” announcement 

[Annara Snow]

1 hour ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

So Gayle Rankin is 33 but looks (and this is not a dig) quite a bit older. I had seen her name batted around Reddit a few weeks go. I’m guessing she started following the rest of the cast on Instagram.

They announced Alyn but not Addam. Maybe they’re saving Addam for the dragon seeds announcement, but I would have expected they’d be announced together. This could mean that the Laenor-returns-as-Addam theory is true, or perhaps Jace is taking Addam’s role after all.

Yes, she was heavily speculated on Twitter a lot too (alongside Abubakar Salim and a few other actors, one of them - Kieran New - is confirmed because of set photos on Instragram but we don't know which role he plays) because of the Instagram follows, although we weren't sure which role. And she does look older than 33 (while Alys is 40 but looks younger) so I don't think people should be crying ageism. She won't look the same age as Aemond, as some people expected from the casting.

But no one had any inkling about Simon Russell Beale or Freddie Fox. I'm guessing the actors don't have SM presence.

I'm guessing they announced these roles (and not others like Daeron, Nettles, Cregan...) in order not to be preempted by set photos and spies. Redanian Intelligence had just announced that Harrenhal scenes were being shot, and it seems King's Landing scenes have also been filmed.

 

[Colonel Green]

3 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

They announced Alyn but not Addam. Maybe they’re saving Addam for the dragon seeds announcement, but I would have expected they’d be announced together. This could mean that the Laenor-returns-as-Addam theory is true, or perhaps Jace is taking Addam’s role after all.

It's also at least theoretically possible that they've combined Addam and Alyn into one character.

[The Dragon Demands]

1 minute ago, Colonel Green said:

It's also at least theoretically possible that they've combined Addam and Alyn into one character.

We don't need to resort to extreme measures, Colonel Green.

[The Dragon Demands]

Well on the other hand....there are prominent rumors, even being entertained by Redanian Intelligence, that actor Clinton Liberty has been cast as Addam Velaryon:

https://redanianintelligence.com/2023/04/12/house-of-the-dragon-season-2-adds-cheese-and-more-casting-news/

[Lord Varys]

51 minutes ago, Colonel Green said:

It's also at least theoretically possible that they've combined Addam and Alyn into one character.

While this could easily work for the show, it is not something one would wish for.

Regency stuff is likely not going to be covered, so Alyn Velaryon is a character nobody actually needs here.

[The Dragon Demands]

Unless of course...they cast Salim with an eye towards him being more age-appropriate for Regency-era Alyn Velaryon? And they'll just have him "play down" for a scene or two this year, before coming back in 3 years?

Edited April 24 by The Dragon Demands

[Corvinus85]

21 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

They announced Alyn but not Addam. Maybe they’re saving Addam for the dragon seeds announcement, but I would have expected they’d be announced together. This could mean that the Laenor-returns-as-Addam theory is true, or perhaps Jace is taking Addam’s role after all.

But the whole loyal part, which is really Addam's main story arc, wouldn't work for Jace, not even for Laenor.

16 hours ago, The Dragon Demands said:

Unless of course...they cast Salim with an eye towards him being more age-appropriate for Regency-era Alyn Velaryon? And they'll just have him "play down" for a scene or two this year, before coming back in 3 years?

The actor is much older than what Alyn is supposed to be. So maybe, yes, they're looking ahead with this casting.

[The Bard of Banefort]

8 minutes ago, Corvinus85 said:

But the whole loyal part, which is really Addam's main story arc, wouldn't work for Jace, not even for Laenor.

The actor is much older than what Alyn is supposed to be. So maybe, yes, they're looking ahead with this casting.

Realistically, LOYAL would just be a five-second shot of a gravestone. If Jace took on Addam’s role, it would be him proving that bastards can be brave and selfless. Not just to the people who think/know he is a bastard, but to himself and to his mother, who is still prejudiced against bastards despite having three of her own.

[Thomaerys Velaryon]

28 minutes ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

Realistically, LOYAL would just be a five-second shot of a gravestone.

I don't think we will see the "Loyal" marking on Addam's Driftmark gravestone in the show, and I doubt we will see Ben Blackwood bringing back his body to Raventree Hall either.

What I would do instead is having Ben bury Addam's body under a tree somewhere around Tumbleton in the aftermath of the battle with Ben putting a makeshift wooden seven pointed star with the carving "Loyal" on his tomb out of respect for him.

[The Bard of Banefort]

At the end of the day, it may just be that Alyn is filming a scene outdoors, and Addam won’t be for a while. They want to be ahead of the leaks.

[Corvinus85]

1 hour ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

Realistically, LOYAL would just be a five-second shot of a gravestone. If Jace took on Addam’s role, it would be him proving that bastards can be brave and selfless. Not just to the people who think/know he is a bastard, but to himself and to his mother, who is still prejudiced against bastards despite having three of her own.

It's true that the show removed all doubt about who the father is of Rhaenyra's older boys. The plot point of bastards is that people believe bastards naturally lean to treachery. Brave and selfless isn't exactly the same as loyal. I don't think Rhaenyra is going to try to have her heir arrested because of what Ulf and Hugh do.

Jace will likely have to keep proving that he's a true Targaryen, since that has been the issue at hand regarding him and his brothers, not that he's merely loyal. So if Jace were to take Addam's place, his gravestone ought to read DRAGON or something like that.

[The Bard of Banefort]

3 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

It's true that the show removed all doubt about who the father is of Rhaenyra's older boys. The plot point of bastards is that people believe bastards naturally lean to treachery. Brave and selfless isn't exactly the same as loyal. I don't think Rhaenyra is going to try to have her heir arrested because of what Ulf and Hugh do.

Jace will likely have to keep proving that he's a true Targaryen, since that has been the issue at hand regarding him and his brothers, not that he's merely loyal. So if Jace were to take Addam's place, his gravestone ought to read DRAGON or something like that.

In this case, the conflict would be that Rhaenyra wants to arrest Nettles because she’s a bastard, despite her own children being bastards. And based on the little we’ve seen of them, the boys have internalized the shame of that to a degree.

Edited April 25 by The Bard of Banefort

[The Dragon Demands]

why must we be tormented with doubt and hope? I wish they'd just tell us what changes they're doing in advance and be done with it. Softens the blow.

[Thomaerys Velaryon]

2 hours ago, The Dragon Demands said:

why must we be tormented with doubt and hope? I wish they'd just tell us what changes they're doing in advance and be done with it. Softens the blow.

That's what happens when you care too much. They never gonna give us all the information at once, only one part at a time. Be patient my good Ser.

Personally, I'm more curious on the Cregan Stark, Jeyne Arryn and Daeron Targaryen casting news than the dragonseeds who should appear later down the line this season.

[Annara Snow]

15 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

It's true that the show removed all doubt about who the father is of Rhaenyra's older boys. The plot point of bastards is that people believe bastards naturally lean to treachery. Brave and selfless isn't exactly the same as loyal. I don't think Rhaenyra is going to try to have her heir arrested because of what Ulf and Hugh do.

Jace will likely have to keep proving that he's a true Targaryen, since that has been the issue at hand regarding him and his brothers, not that he's merely loyal. So if Jace were to take Addam's place, his gravestone ought to read DRAGON or something like that.

There was never any doubt in the books to begin with. Everyone knew Harwin was their father.

[RumHam]

On 4/24/2023 at 5:37 PM, Colonel Green said:

It's also at least theoretically possible that they've combined Addam and Alyn into one character.

They shouldn't be this short sighted though, since they're seemingly expanding the franchise with shows set all through history. It'd be super helpful to have an outline of that history, and they're lucky enough to have that and it seems stupid to mess with it. A change here might save them some money now but require a retcon or bigger changes later in another show. 

[Lord Varys]

5 hours ago, Annara Snow said:

There was never any doubt in the books to begin with. Everyone knew Harwin was their father.

LOL, no.

51 minutes ago, RumHam said:

They shouldn't be this short sighted though, since they're seemingly expanding the franchise with shows set all through history. It'd be super helpful to have an outline of that history, and they're lucky enough to have that and it seems stupid to mess with it. A change here might save them some money now but require a retcon or bigger changes later in another show. 

Thinking a little bit more about it, it would strike me as silly if they did that, since they actually are casting and using completely irrelevant characters like Gwayne Hightower and Simon Strong. I thought especially the former would never feature again as he was just an extra in season 1.

But as we should not assume that Gwayne Hightower's inclusion now will lead to Luthor Largent being cut, we should also not assume that Alyn being cast means they won't include Addam.

Unless they have Laenor play more or less the role of Addam ... which I think is something they might actually do.

6 hours ago, Thomaerys Velaryon said:

Personally, I'm more curious on the Cregan Stark, Jeyne Arryn and Daeron Targaryen casting news than the dragonseeds who should appear later down the line this season.

The fact that we don't have news about those characters who do have more gravitas and one of them should actually get a lot of screen time in season 2 (Jeyne & Cregan would only be guest stars if the show stays true to the source material) it is more likely those announcements were made to stay ahead of spoiler reports rather than because it was the way they want to make such announcements.