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Westeros Blog: Catelyn Recast: Ehle Out, Fairley In


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The Hollywood Reporter notes some very big news, and probably one of the bad pieces of news that GRRM has recently alludedto : Jennifer Ehle is out of HBO’s Game of Thrones. Replacing her is Northern Irish actress Michelle Fairley, who played Hermione Granger’s mother in the Harry Potter films.

More as we get it.

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http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i21cea1586dd4edf533b1d96d3d3b5d32

Fairley to replace Ehle in HBO's 'Thrones'

THR EXCLUSIVE

By Nellie Andreeva

March 19, 2010, 01:41 PM ET

The cast of HBO's much buzzed about new fantasy series "Game of Thrones" is undergoing minor tweaking.

Irish actress Michelle Fairley has been tapped for a co-starring role on the adaptation of the George R.R. Martin book series.

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Pretty surprising. Network decision? Obvious re-shoots now, though I'm sure they would have tweaked the pilot anyway.

I haven't watched any of the Harry Potter movies so I know nothing about this actress. In the pictues of her, though, she does have a piercing blue stare.

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Pretty surprising. Network decision? Obvious re-shoots now, though I'm sure they would have tweaked the pilot anyway.

If George openly calls it "bad news", I don't think it has been a network decision. I would say that it must have been due to Ehle's unavailability due to one reason or another.

Regarding re-shoots... didn't HBO changed the actress playing Tara in True Blood between the pilot and the second episode? IIRC, they kept the pilot as it was.

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Wow, that's a surprise, I like Ehle too. Wonder if it was done to improve the chemistry with Bean, or perhaps Ehle said no to the project (she has a young family). Of course it could also be money related ;)

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That is bad news; I thought I read about Ehle being pregnant so that would make the rumored summer shooting schedule awkward for her.

Hopefully Fairley is a great actress because from the few pictures I found of her on Google she does not seem to fit the description of Cat at all.

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That's unexpected and quite unfortunate news. Ehle is a very good actress and would have been stellar in the role.

That said, Michelle Fairley was very good in the George Best movie (playing Best's alcoholic mother, with some pretty challenging material), and looks like she could be a good replacement.

Regarding re-shoots... didn't HBO changed the actress playing Tara in True Blood between the pilot and the second episode? IIRC, they kept the pilot as it was.

No, they reshot the pilot, or at least the scenes from the pilot involving Tara.

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Well, I hope they re-shoot Cat's scenes for the pilot then. There is little I find more annoying in TV shows than recasting major roles after the pilot, or after a season.

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I've posted a couple of videos, and a profile/chat with her, in a fresh post here.

I figure they'll be reshooting the... what, 4-6 scenes with her? Telling Ned about Jon Arryn, the arrival at Winterfell, the feast, the bedroom scene... I vaguely recall something about her talking with Bran as well?

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Wow, stunning. I was hoping GRRM's little note that there was some bad news wasn't about the show, but I had a sinking suspicion. Not knocking Fairley by saying that, I honestly don't know anything about her as an actress, but I am a fan of Ehle and physically I thought she had the perfect look for the part. Fairley looks way different to me, but whatever. We'll see. So long as she's good and works well in the part, I'll be fine.

The biggest deal is that they will probably have to totally reshoot the whole feast scene, which is a very big deal and probably very expensive. Perhaps there is a way with clever cutting to get around that more cheaply, I don't know, but it's likely that will happen. Also, depending on the scale of the arrival at Winterfell scene, that could be another very expensive day they need to reshoot.

There is a scene where she talks to Bran. It's before the arrival, when she tells Bran to stop climbing the walls and get ready for the King.

I haven't watched any of the Harry Potter movies so I know nothing about this actress. In the pictues of her, though, she does have a piercing blue stare.

She hasn't been in any of the movies yet, her character appears in the next one.

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Yeah, the leaked script has a scene with her and Bran in it, establishing Bran's interest in climbing, and her fear that he might fall. I doubt that they would cut this scene, as it lets the audience understand why on earth the last scene of the pilot shows young Bran climbing.

As for Jennifer Ehle, I only saw her as Constance Wilde in the Wilde movie, but she would have been a great Catelyn, I think.

Off topic:

Why on earth do they need a Mrs Granger for the last Potter movies?

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She hasn't been in any of the movies yet, her character appears in the next one.

ah, ok.

Well, she will be able to avenge her poppet for the Kingslayer's recent deed. Shit for honor, indeed!

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She's only 46, 4 years younger than Bean and about of an age with Addy. In other words, perfectly in line with Catelyn's age in relation to these characters, given the fact that they've bumped them all up 10 years or so from the books.

Many of the pictures one sees are from Best: His Mother's Son, where she plays an alcoholic middle-aged woman, and the makeup obviously was supposed to emphasized a person who suffered a hard, unhappy life.

One thing I do like about her appearance is that she looks like she'll easily be able to cover Catelyn's grief and grimness later on. Ehle's face did not lend itself to ... well, to grimness, from the roles I've seen her in.

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Well, now I feel kinda responsible.

Really, I do feel loss, despite my qualms about Ehle. I wasn't sure about her for the role, but she was very talented and I was (believe it or not) utterly pleased that HBO went out and got such a capable actress for the role. I don't know anything about Fairley, so I can't say how I feel about this at all, except that I hope they know what they're doing.

She does indeed seem extremely worn though, she certainly looks older than I would imagine for the wife of Sean Bean. Actual age aside, she seems to project a whole lot of fatigue.

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Wow, stunning. I was hoping GRRM's little note that there was some bad news wasn't about the show, but I had a sinking suspicion.

I guess he would never write "bad news" for a simple recast, that wouldn't be fair to the new actress. The bad news must be the reason why the

recasting was necessary in the first place.

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One thing I do like about her appearance is that she looks like she'll easily be able to cover Catelyn's grief and grimness later on. Ehle's face did not lend itself to ... well, to grimness, from the roles I've seen her in.

That was my thought exactly. The google images didn't show what I viewed as the happy beautiful Catelyn Stark, but definitely a Catelyn from Books 2 and on...

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