Who should be the prettiest girl in the series?

[Andhaira]

In the books its easy to describe all the girls as pretty and leave the rest up to the viewers imagineation. Now by all the girls I mean Cersei, Dany, Margery, Asha, and Sansa.

However, in the series it will be more easier to figure out who the prettiest it. I know GRRMdoesn't have an active hand int he casting process, but if he heartily approves all the actresses, we might figure out which girl he meant to be the prettiest.

IMO Sansa is the prettiest of all, and I hope its displayed in this teevee series.

(btw that chick in Day After Tommorow should totally get a roll, probably as Asha. She is superhot though, or at least was in DAT. Maybe too hot to be Asha, who has an odd nose if I recall)

[Wastrel]

Main point: why would anybody care which fictional character the author thought of as the prettiest?

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Secondary point: no, it's a lot harder to tell from TV, not easier. In a book, he can just tell you how pretty someone is. In a TV, they just show you the characters - and you can't usually tell from looking at them how pretty they are. Or rather, you can't tell how pretty you're meant to think they are.

As an example: I was recently watching the reimagined Battlestar. If I were to 'rank' the women (which of course I would not), I would say that Starbuck > Boomer > Six > Dee. Yet I know for a fact that my housemate has the exact opposite ordering (which I can't understand - I can understand that Starbuck is a bit androgynous and not to everybody's taste, but not reversing the other three).

People may, mostly, agree on broad definitions like 'pretty' and 'ugly' (though even there there will be substantial disagreement), but any hope for an actual gradation of how pretty or ugly someone is just isn't realisable. If we knew for sure which characters were meant to be prettiest, we might be able to guess what GRRM finds pretty from the casting choices; if we knew what he found pretty, we might be able to guess which character is 'meant' to be prettiest. But knowing neither....

[superfluous second example: I was recently directed to a list drawn up by Harpers a few years ago of the ten most beautiful women in the world (somebody a friend is a fan of was on it). Out of curiousity, I looked up pictures of the ones I hadn't heard of - and in ten names this panel of people had managed to find women that spanned the entire scale from "stunningly beautiful" right the way to "offputtingly ugly". A woman one person says is the second or third most beautiful woman in the world may, to another person, look ugly. Taste really is.... a matter of taste]

And that's with actual adult women, where our sexualised culture is used to trying to impose ideal appearances. When we get to Sansa, and the peculiar little world of how on earth to judge which ten-year-old girl is prettiest, we don't even have those standards to follow.

[At the extreme: have you seen 'most beautiful baby' competitions? It's basically entirely random who wins (probably on the basis of resemblance to babies previously loved by the judges, I'm guessing)]

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Tertiary point: I think, and hope, that this will be immensely low down the list of casting priorities. If we're lucky, we may have casting as precise as ugly women being ugly (although I doubt it - I assume everybody will be beautiful, as it's television, and glossy US television at that). We certainly won't have casting on the level of "oh, we can't have her, her nose isn't the right shape for the books". And that's a good thing. I can't remember what Asha's nose looks like in the books. To me, it's vastly more important that the actress is able to convey her personality than that she is able to faithfully convey her nose without prosthetic or digital assistance.

[Halfhand]

According to the leaked pilot script, that would be Cersei. Her beauty is referred to as "legendary."

[About Yea High]

I don't care which female role is considered prettiest (and as Wastrel observed, beauty is in the eye of the beholder - Grace Park is clearly the hottest Battlestarlet).

I only care that Brienne "The Beauty" is not. And assuming they even get to her in the series, I'd say Game of Thrones is on its way to being considered a success.

[HyperVolk]

As long as none of the characters are played by a cotton candy actress like Hayden Panettier, the transformers chick, or Dakota Fanning it shouldn't matter.

Acting skills really make a character, not their looks.

I think it should be all unknowns similar to how Harry Potter was casted.

Also, agreeing with other posters, that 'pretty' is definitely not something that anyone can say definitively that actress 'a' is prettier than actress 'b'

[Jon Targaryen]

Beauty is the in the eye of the beholder so ... the one I hope to find prettiest is "the fairest woman in the world" - Dany.

But I'm sure you won't be able to find five random people who watch the show that can agree on who is the prettiest.

[Padraig]

Beauty is the in the eye of the beholder so ... the one I hope to find prettiest is "the fairest woman in the world" - Dany.

I don't think GRRM ever meant that to be objectively the truth. :)

[Andhaira]

Ok first of all lets hope Dakota Fanning does not come anywhere NEAR this production! The scary thing is that she is of the correct age to play a couple of characters (Sansa, Margery, Dany)

I wouldn't mind Megan Fox though. She could play a good marge.

Cersei's lesbian girlfriend (she of the lejendary myrish swamp) is also a hot role; they should get a bollywood actress to play that.

[Silverstar]

Um, does it really matter?

Dany, Cersei, Sansa, Catelyn, Margaery etc are all beautiful, all in different ways (well, except Cat and Sansa) and all will hopefully be played by talented actresses who can be made to look the part, with wigs and contact lenses if they aren't close enough already.

[Thor85]

Dany no doubt. And I just know that her actress's prettiness will make me hate her that much more passionately as a character. I'll be counting every time in the show that she is either crying or ruthlessly drowning kittens.

Just kidding about the kittens part, all you "book accuracy" nuts. But Dany strikes me as a person who would be comfortable doing bad things to kittens and babies.

[Angalin]

GRRM has described the characters well enough in the books that as long as the actress has a close enough look to her character, readers-turned-viewers will buy in. For instance, if a brunette was cast as Cersei, she would be wigged to the nines.

As an example: I was recently watching the reimagined Battlestar. If I were to 'rank' the women (which of course I would not), I would say that Starbuck > Boomer > Six > Dee. Yet I know for a fact that my housemate has the exact opposite ordering (which I can't understand - I can understand that Starbuck is a bit androgynous and not to everybody's taste, but not reversing the other three).

See any past Firefly thread for a good example of this. :)

[Prince Rhaegar Targaryen]

But Dany strikes me as a person who would be comfortable doing bad things to kittens and babies.

What "Dany" in which book is that?

[Andhaira]

Not right now I agree. However there is hope in some circles that dany will start going mad as the seies progresses. (targaryen madness)

[Knight o' Pansies]

In the books its easy to describe all the girls as pretty and leave the rest up to the viewers imagineation. Now by all the girls I mean Cersei, Dany, Margery, Asha, and Sansa.

I'm not entirely sure I understood your post, but would that imply that in your view GRRM described Asha as very pretty, or as in any way pretty in comparison to the rest of the characters you've mentioned?

I don't have the relevant book with me(that should be ACoK I think), but I remember her as a tomboy-ish young woman, thin, flat-chested and with with a big(hooked?) nose.

Now I'm not saying she's bad on the eyes, not at all, but that's no way anything close the rest you've mentioned, which are all(boring) classical beauties.

It'd be actually quite bad of them to make another supermodel out of her.

[Green Apple Fossoway]

I don't have the relevant book with me(that should be ACoK I think), but I remember her as a tomboy-ish young woman, thin, flat-chested and with with a big(hooked?) nose.

Now I'm not saying she's bad on the eyes, not at all, but that's no way anything close the rest you've mentioned, which are all(boring) classical beauties.

It'd be actually quite bad of them to make another supermodel out of her.

Who played Cleopatra in the show Rome? I think she'd probably make a pretty good Asha. IIRC she had the beak nose thing going for her, at least.

[Thor85]

What "Dany" in which book is that?

"Daenerys". Very funny :). You should read the board more Rhaegar.

[Prince Rhaegar Targaryen]

"Daenerys". Very funny :). You should read the board more Rhaegar.

Heavy lurker since ezBoard-times ;)

The thing is, maybe I missed Dany being "comfortable doing bad things to kittens and babies" written somewhere on these boards. But on the other hand, stuff only written on these boards is by no way canon as opposed to stuff actually in the books, which this is not, clearly. And "hopes" for Dany going Targaryen-mad is mostly speculation at this point, so no facts either. What we do know of Dany's character so far (eg. saving slaves) suggests otherwise (concerning her being comfortable doing "bad things", not concerning a possible future madness). I know that many of her decisions like freeing slaves didn't exactly work out like intendend - but because we have her PoV, we do know what was intended, originally. Nowhere near kitten-slaying so far.

(and just to mark my state of knowledge, I'm desperately avoiding ADwD preview chapters)

[Thor85]

Not right now I agree. However there is hope in some circles that dany will start going mad as the seies progresses. (targaryen madness)

Isn't it already starting to show, especially in how she treated Mormont, one of her only true supporters while at the same time elevating that sleazy mercenary condottiero. Pure madness.

[Prince Rhaegar Targaryen]

Isn't it already starting to show, especially in how she treated Mormont, one of her only true supporters while at the same time elevating that sleazy mercenary condottiero. Pure madness.

First off, sorry for kinda hijacking this thread :leaving:

Hm, I absolutely can't feel sorry for Mormont. "One of her only true supporters"? True indeed. :bs:

He ceased his reports to Varys way too late, while trying for his Queen on a sexual level (with her being decades younger). Just not my kind of guy, therefore I'm still of the opinion that he got off far too easy... making me like Dany even more, because she lets her feelings cloud her judgement, can't help it, plus point on my sheet in this case.

And well, Daario hasn't given her any reason not to trust him, yet. And so far she didn't get into bed with him, either (that wouldn't even bother me that much, although reading J. Carey at the moment could be a factor :P). That he's on her war council is obvious and has nothing to do with "elevating" him, he is the leader of one of her military units after all.

[Sandor's Lady]

In the books its easy to describe all the girls as pretty and leave the rest up to the viewers imagineation. Now by all the girls I mean Cersei, Dany, Margery, Asha, and Sansa.

However, in the series it will be more easier to figure out who the prettiest it. I know GRRMdoesn't have an active hand int he casting process, but if he heartily approves all the actresses, we might figure out which girl he meant to be the prettiest.

Interesting question... Of course, there are different kinds of "pretty."

I think Dany needs to rival Cersei. Maybe not at first, but by the time we get to FFC, we have Dany being refered to as "the most beautiful woman in the world." Dany and Cersei both need to be gorgeous. Plus Cersei needs to have an edge of "yeah, she's gorgeous, but she's trouble." To paraphrase Oberyn - "For all her beauty, I'd rather have scorpions in my bed than Cersei."

Sansa and Margaery I would deffinately file into the "pretty" category. They've always seemed to be to be pretty in a "girl next door" kind of way, rather than a legendary way. They may have lots of guys interested in them, but they're not the Face that Launched a Thousand Ships.

Asha, I think, is not pretty - but she is striking, and she is atractive in a sharper way than most of the other women. I think the example of Starbuck someone mentioned up there is a good one - she's not "pretty" but she's still hot.

Plus, I'm adding Melisandre to the list. She needs to be gorgeous, but in a very unnerving - and even slightly inhuman - kind of way.

(PS - my coworker is looking over my shoulder and thinks we're all being ridiculous ;) )