Westeros Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Following this morning’s sad news that Margaret John, the actress who played Old Nan, had passed away, we have received a statement from executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss regarding the actress:“We were deeply saddened to hear about Margaret’s passing. She was a warm and wonderful person, and she was completely fantastic in her scenes with Isaac. We wish she could see them… but many people will, and they will love her. We will miss her terribly.”Again, our condolences to her family and friends. More tributes and obituaries can be found at Wales Online, the Daily Star, and The Guardian.Visit the Site! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andhaira Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 What does this mean for the series? That she will be recast? Why couldn't they just have gone with a younger actress and applied makeup to make her seem older? They have to keep in mind that old nan will be around for all 7 books. Thats seven years of filming at the least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ran Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 Who says Old Nan has to be around.... ?And they cast her because she was a fine actress for the job. Lets stay sensitive to the fact that older actors and actresses deserve work too. :mellow: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Obviously, very sad news :(There's no reason why Season 2 can't start with say a small funeral ceremony in Winterfell and Bran reflecting on Old Nan passing away and maybe the impact it has on Hodor, her great-whatever-grandson. That could be a tip of the hat to the actress as well.Arguably, Old Nan's role in the first book is to establish various legends and myths which Luwin attempts to shoot down. By the end of Book 1 that role has been taken over to some extent by Osha anyway. So they can get around it straightforwardly enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
History of Westeros Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Lol @ "why didn't they cast someone younger?". What a ridiculous thing to say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jons_Ghost Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Sad to hear this, she was such a great actress, and made me laugh in Gavin and Stacy for the BBC!I look forward to seeing her in the show, in what i guess is her last ever performance?I hope Old Nan still has stuff to do - i for one am looking forward to the moment in the books when she is set free from Harrenhal. Unless GRRM is gonna kill her off in a horrible way, in which case i like the idea of a funeral at the beginning of the second series!Old Nan rocks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panjer Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 All of old Nan's contributions to the later seasons can be easily relegated to Osha without much trouble. I agree with the idea of a funeral at the beginning of season two. It lets characters voice opinions of Old Nan that we normally would've only found out during flashbacks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCloskey Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Lol @ "why didn't they cast someone younger?". What a ridiculous thing to say.I'll admit that was what I said when they initially cast Roy Dotrice as Pycelle. He's already like 92 so there was no way he would make it to a theoretical 7th season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jons_Ghost Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 I'll admit that was what I said when they initially cast Roy Dotrice as Pycelle. He's already like 92 so there was no way he would make it to a theoretical 7th season.He might! If i was 92 and read that, i'd be devastated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ran Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 He's actually 87. :P And honestly, is Pycelle such a pivotal role that it can't stand a recasting? Is Old Nan? Like I said, even older actors deserve work, if they want it and they're the best actor for the job. Unless the role is a key role, I don't really see that it matters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Padraig Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 And honestly, is Pycelle such a pivotal role that it can't stand a recasting? Is Old Nan?Agreed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anya, Vengeance Demon Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Unless the role is a key role, I don't really see that it matters.And even if it is, I don't see the problem. Did Harry Potter suffer after Richard Harris died? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ran Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Well, to be fair, Harry Potter is ... well, about Harry Potter. Maybe I should say "the lead" rather than "a key" character. If Daniel Radcliffe said that he was tired of playing Potter after 4 films, and didn't want to make any more, that would have had far more consequences than Harris's untimely death. Enough to stop future films... ? Probably not, since they were such cash cows. But we can't suppose GoT will be a massive success -- if it's on the bubble, the loss of the face of your show would be a big issue.A certain actor can be the entire face of franchise, and if they go, the franchise goes with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexia Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 There's no reason why Season 2 can't start with say a small funeral ceremony in Winterfell and Bran reflecting on Old Nan passing away and maybe the impact it has on Hodor, her great-whatever-grandson. That could be a tip of the hat to the actress as well.This is really a lovely idea. Very sad news; my sincere condolences go out to her family and her friends. I look forward to seeing her portrayal of Old Nan in a couple of months. Incidentally, older actors definitely both need and deserve work - and youth is no guarantee of immortality. Glenn Quinn is a tragic example of this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronn Stone Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Speculation for A Dance With Dragons, Spoilers for A Storm of Swords I wonder if this will make up GRRM's mind about whether or not Nan survived the sacking of Winterfell in the books. If the TV series is going to choose to have her die a natural death at the start of season 2, he might well decide to just let her have died at the hands of Ramsay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Padraig Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 I imagine he will have clarified that by now in aDwD and I doubt he would want to revisit it. I expect she will be alive in aDwD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andhaira Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 I for one wouldn't put it past GRRM to change his books to reflect changes in the TV series. It's a shame, but it's true nonetheless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Padraig Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 I for one wouldn't put it past GRRM to change his books to reflect changes in the TV series. It's a shame, but it's true nonetheless.Maybe inadvertently via the subconscious but I can't see GRRM going out of his way to change stuff just because of HBO. He has too much pride in his work. And he knows how fleeting TV can be. You wouldn't want to let it drive your decisions.I certainly can't see him going back into already written parts of aDwD in order to make it more consistent with the TV series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronn Stone Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 Maybe inadvertently via the subconscious but I can't see GRRM going out of his way to change stuff just because of HBO. He has too much pride in his work. And he knows how fleeting TV can be. You wouldn't want to let it drive your decisions.I certainly can't see him going back into already written parts of aDwD in order to make it more consistent with the TV series.Important ones, maybe. But on some of the smaller bits, why not? If the character I mentioned in the spoiler above only had one sentence, there would be little harm and no delay in rewriting that one sentence. I think it goes back to the GRRM as gardener description and his freedom to tweak little bits.Someday I hope there will be an homage to you when someone decides to Blame Podrick Payne for something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Padraig Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 Important ones, maybe. But on some of the smaller bits, why not? If the character I mentioned in the spoiler above only had one sentence, there would be little harm and no delay in rewriting that one sentence. I think it goes back to the GRRM as gardener description and his freedom to tweak little bitI could be wrong but I imagine GRRM would be very leery of making any changes to aDwD if he could avoid it. Its already caused him enough trouble. So he will just focus on the chapters he has left to write. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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