New Casting Announcements

[flying mosquito]

Bfff... The more I know about it, the less convinced I am.

[red snow]

I will never get why people don't find Tamzin Merchant beautiful. Looks-wise, I think she is a pretty perfect choice for Dany.

I totally agree. I'm kicking myself for not thinking it when I saw her in Tudors. I'll defintely be watching the new season of Tudors with renewed interest.

I just hope Tamzin never visits any of these forums as it could be a hell of a knock to her self-esteem. I never thought of Dany as a "stunner" (that's Cersei's turf) but as a (albeit GRRM style) fairy tale princess and Tamzin definitely has that look IMO. Plus she can play way younger than she is, which is essential for the role and could come in handy over the next couple of years too.

[Dornish]

Excellent choices,

My thoughts:

Tamzin Merchant is fucking gorgeous

Allen does so look like Theon.

I feel sorry for the poor woman casting thinks looks enough like Nikolaj Coster-Waldau to play his twin.

[Silverstar]

I totally agree. I'm kicking myself for not thinking it when I saw her in Tudors. I'll defintely be watching the new season of Tudors with renewed interest.

I just hope Tamzin never visits any of these forums as it could be a hell of a knock to her self-esteem. I never thought of Dany as a "stunner" (that's Cersei's turf) but as a (albeit GRRM style) fairy tale princess and Tamzin definitely has that look IMO. Plus she can play way younger than she is, which is essential for the role and could come in handy over the next couple of years too.

And George apparently tagged her as Dany the first time he saw her in The Tudors, which means she's the way he envisioned Dany. Which means that's what Dany looks like, basically. He'd know better than us!

[red snow]

A quick run down on the other cast members

Jaime by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. I think I'll have to refer to him as NCW, like some others have, as that name seems to be a blind spot in my memory. More in the rugged handsome camp than the pretty handsome camp I personally imagined. I think the Josh Holloway proponents should be placated with the choice though. I'll have to watch that virtuality pilot sitting on my hardrive. I hear the virtuality pilot was good but it could be for the best that it died .

Robb by richard Madden. I know nothing about him but he looks the part and it sounds as though he can act. Has a very good chance of breaking people's hearts deoending how far the show gets.

Jorah Mormont by Iain Glen. Jorah was one of those roles I never had a real picture in my head of other than I thought he was balding (even though that may never have been stated in the book). Therefore I'm more intersted in the actor's talent and his resume is pretty good.

Theon by Alfie Allen. I admit that I was a bit surprised by this choice as I always thought of Theon as a Jude law style womaniser. I've been thinking it through though and people don't have to be stunning to get the girls - they can be cheeky scamps/geezers. Allen looks like a cheeky geezer and if the rest of his family are anything to go by playing Theon should come naturally to him. He'll definitely bring some British media attention to the show - although it will probably make me dislike him as much Lilly Allen (her music is good though so hopefully his acting will be).

Sansa and Arya . Based on the minute thumbnail pictures which goo well be out of date they seem fine. GRRMS description of the audition for Arya puts me at ease. With actors that young it's essential there own personality matches the character and their acting fills the gaps (A bit like with Harry Potter at first). I'm surprised so much care went into selecting Sansa - I thought they would have waited for the greenlight then recast. It's good the production is feeling so confident!

Who does that leave us with? The only "big" roles I can think of now are for Cersei, Bran, Khal Drogo and the Hound. Granted there are tons of supporting cast still and the direwolves...

[The Pita]

This is an excellent cast list, but now I have to go see Kingdom of Heaven. Gah damn George

[Philly Homer]

I have shed my tears (metaphorically speaking) for the non McKidd casting, and I'm now behind the Nikolaj Coster-Waldau casting. The video, GRRM posted on his blog, does a good job of showing the guy's acting range and versatility. I think Coster- Waldau can pull off the off the Kingslayer both look and acting wise.

Tamzin Merchant is hot enough to play, Dany, in my opinion. Besides, it's not her beauty we should be worrying about, it's her acting. She did a decent job as Henry's fifth wife, but I'm not sure how she will fare as Dany. It's not like we have much to judgee on either.

[Padraig]

Cool. Great to see GRRM so enthuastic about all the choices. They all seem grand, not that I am familiar with them. :)

[Not another Stark]

I will never get why people don't find Tamzin Merchant beautiful. Looks-wise, I think she is a pretty perfect choice for Dany.

Well. GRRM said that he found she could make a good Dany before the casting even began, after seeing her in Tudors. I guess he's the one who knows best ;)

All in all, well done, folks, that was a pretty impressive work guessing all these parts.

And now we can think of another hint: GRRM hopes that the 2 not-Danys could come back for later roles, so... which ones? I suspect one would be Margaery, but wouldn't someone who could've played Dany too young-looking to play Shae? Maybe Ygritte?

[Silverstar]

Jeyne Poole, possibly. Or one of the Sand Snakes. Jeyne Westerling?

[Ran]

Margaery and Ygritte seem the obvious choices for characters who only show up in later seasons. Jeyne Westerling's not an impossibility, though.

[Lord O' Bones]

I just hope Tamzin never visits any of these forums as it could be a hell of a knock to her self-esteem.

Don't worry about it. On that stupid scale of 1 to 10 as far as women globally, she's at least an 8. As far as women that can act, a 9. As far as women most of her detractors would like to date in real life? A 14.

[Elundin]

Ok I'm happy with these choices. As am I with the rest already announced.

Jaime by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. I never imagined Jaime as an angel. He may have been pictured like one by many people, but given that he was actively involved in combat, I always imagined him somewhat rough. This guy looks seasoned, and Jamie definitely is. His character may be young of age by modern standards, but just remember what he has been through so far. NCW is hot, undeniably, and very attractive. I read somewhere else that Jamie should have the im-here-and-ill-take-all-your-women-and-beat-all-your-men sort of look, and this guy looks like that. He's gonna cause many many sighs.

Robb by richard Madden. The second picture posted in GRRM's blog is the epitomy of what I had imagined Robb would be. Handsome in an earthy sort of way, with a look in his eye that suggests tragedy. He may supposedly be just a young boy about to enter adulthood, but he will find himself soon with all the weight of the world on his shoulders. This Madden person brings out sweet, handsome but troubled in me. I wanna adopt him.

Jorah Mormont by Iain Glen. My god what a perfect match. He looks tormented. He may express the patheticness of Jorah at a later stage. Right age right physic. He is just as perfect as Sean Bean is for Ned.

Theon by Alfie Allen. I'm not all excited about this choice, I had pictured Theon as a gipsy piratey loverman for some reason, and this choice is like, the total opposite of that. But I do realize I can't see one on one with every casting decision, so I'll let this pass.

Dany by Tamzin Merchant. She looks weird. Pretty sort of but still weird. Dany is supposed to be etheral and beautiful. However, in their defense, Dany will be subjected to some serious nudity and sexyness, so you cannot just cast any young girl. She must be able to turn from innocent dove into a self aware sex godess, otherwise it would be very ugly. Imagine some cute girly like Dakota Fanning being subjected to sex scenes, how wrong people would perceive that. Well, Tamzin looks like she would not cause negative sentiments. Plus, she also does NOT look like a slut, which would be also wrong.

Sansa and Arya . I cannot comment on these two, the posted pictures are just too tiny. But I imagine it would have been hell to cast.

[Gytha Ogg]

Richard Madden and NCW certainly fill the male eye candy quota. Om nom nom.

I'm really excited about Iain Glen as Jorah, I think he'll really make that role his own.

Not an Alfie Allen fan at all but if he can do Theon, that's all that matters.

I'm really interested in Maisie Williams - Arya is one of my favourite characters, and George seems really pleased with her. Can't wait to see how she does.

Tamzin looks fine. Can't really comment on her acting as I haven't seen any, but that 2nd picture of her on Not a Blog - that's ugly? Seriously? She has a gorgeous slender figure and those big doe eyes.

[Renasko]

Yeah, I must say I agree with a lot of the Tamzin reactions. If we wanted one character to look so right for the role, it was her. Oh well. It was a nigh on impossible task to get down. Decent attempt. I just hope someone gets a better picture of the poor girl online, because that current one isn't doing her any favours. However, exact appearances are just an added bonus to the adaptation of these characters.

Aside that, I liked the casting. Yes. Yes. Theon hasn't been cast yet, right? Please?

[Slynt]

My two cents:

Great casting of Ser Jorah Mormont, and I am not convinced by the looks of this Alfie at all. At the moment. I think an actor portraying Theon Greyjoy should look more like this: http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh6/cri...heonGreyjoy.jpg or this: http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee299/k...feliciacano.jpg.

Oh well, if the guy can act good enough to make me see past his appearance...

He is just as perfect as Sean Bean is for Ned.

Mmmm.. I became a fan of Bean for his work in The Fellowship of the Ring, but I am not sure he's a perfect Ned Stark, far from it actually. But I believe he'll convince me once in the clothes of the Lord of Winterfell.

To think that this is actually going to be made ... :grouphug:

[The Pita]

Is there a chance we merge this thread with the not a blog thread? They're both discussing the same thing.

[childdoll]

Not really pleased with Jaime's casting. He's suppose to have an effeminate prettiness that this guy just doesn't have. This guy has a rugged handsomeness... not the prettiness that Jaime is suppose to have. Just not how I pictured him at all. I'm a bit disappointed.

As for the choice of Tamzin Merchant as Dany...well... to be perfectly honest, I am not crazy about her for Dany.

She's a very pretty young lady... but that's the problem. She looks like a young lady and not a young girl. I understand that they are aging Dany up a bit (to 15, I believe), and that's understandable, and with the sexuality, obviously you had to have someone over 18 play her. But she does not look like a 15 year old. She looks like a 19-20 year old. Personally, I found one of the importances of Dany is her youth. That is an essential key element to her. There's such a mix of childhood innocence and raw power broiling underneath. Without that sense of childlike innocence and vunerability, the character looses so much.

Miss Merchant looks like she probably could have played Dany effectively at one point, but she simply doesn't look young enough to be convincing to me. I will just wait and hope that she is able to bring this very important role to justice.

I think Madden looks a tad too mature for Rob too. He looks so much older than Jon and they are supposed to be the same age.

As for the others, I'm a bit indifferent about.

It's really all going to boil down to how well they act.

So, I guess I'll just sit back and have to wait for a final judgment.

[Gytha Ogg]

Not really pleased with Jaime's casting. He's suppose to have an effeminate prettiness that this guy just doesn't have. This guy has a rugged handsomeness... not the prettiness that Jaime is suppose to have. Just not how I pictured him at all. I'm a bit disappointed.

As for the choice of Tamzin Merchant as Dany...well... to be perfectly honest, I am not crazy about her for Dany.

She's a very pretty young lady... but that's the problem. She looks like a young lady and not a young girl. I understand that they are aging Dany up a bit (to 15, I believe), and that's understandable, and with the sexuality, obviously you had to have someone over 18 play her. But she does not look like a 15 year old. She looks like a 19-20 year old. Personally, I found one of the importances of Dany is her youth. That is an essential key element to her. There's such a mix of childhood innocence and raw power broiling underneath. Without that sense of childlike innocence and vunerability, the character looses so much.

Miss Merchant looks like she probably could have played Dany effectively at one point, but she simply doesn't look young enough to be convincing to me. I will just wait and hope that she is able to bring this very important role to justice.

I think Madden looks a tad too mature for Rob too. He looks so much older than Jon and they are supposed to be the same age.

As for the others, I'm a bit indifferent about.

It's really all going to boil down to how well they act.

So, I guess I'll just sit back and have to wait for a final judgment.

Jaime is supposed to be EFFEMINATE?

Do I read the same books as everyone else? I'd love some textual evidence that Jaime is 'pretty and effeminate'. Because I don't recall it.

Some people just set themselves up for disappointment by imagining characters as completely different from how they are actually described. Fair enough, we all have our own internal images of characters but if the actor doesn't match your fantasy pretty mincing Jaime it's not really their fault, because that's not how he is meant to be.

[Stubby]

Is there a chance we merge this thread with the not a blog thread? They're both discussing the same thing.

I figure its a new thread now that the announcements have been made.