Aidan Gillen's portrayal of Littlefinger: Yay or Nay?

[undertow]

I'd give him a 6ish out of 10. I always figured that Littlefinger was a low key, sneak under the radar type of personality.

Ironically, he sounds more like Littlefinger when he's talking about the character than when he's being the character:

edited b/c previous link didn't work

[gogorath]

For an actor of Gillen's stature, with the resume he has, I'd bet this is the directorial (or in TV, I think is more withe the producers) choice.

I'll be honest - I understand the complaints of wooden but it is growing on me. It's careful.

[valacirca]

I've been waiting it to grow on me ever since the council was first introduced back in E03 :( Hopefully it happens before Season 1 ends... I guess I'm getting used to it, but that's different from growing on me.

[Bowl o' Brown]

I don't think it's Aidan Gillen's fault as much as it is the scripts. That said he is still far from being a favourite in the TV series. One of his first lines "Is she?" from episode 3 never sat well with me, and all his "whispering" at both the Hand's tournament (Hound's story, Loras' mare), and on the dais in episode 6 was forced/unatural, truly awful stuff.

I think there's zero mystery as to Littlefinger's motives in the books, at least as of a Feast for Crows.

That's one of my big complaints with the scripts. It's season 1, we are still in aGoT, not season 4 covering aFfC content. There should be some mystery. The TV audience is being robbed of one of the best slow reveals from the earlier books. What the TV audience got was: "I'm going to fuck them!" 20 minutes later "I told you not to trust me.".

Ironically, he sounds more like Littlefinger when he's talking about the character than when he's being the character

Agreed.

[Silverjaime]

Maybe he's having accent trouble? This seems unlikely - he had a Baltimore accent in The Wire and IIRC a Manc one for Queer as Folk - but maybe dialling down to a neutral, RSC accent is using up so much concentration he can't pull off a great performance at the same time? Seems highly unfeasible, given the success other actors are having.

It may also simply be that Littlefinger is a tough character to pull off. If he hasn't read the novels, he may be finding the character too slippery and self-contradictary to nail down properly.

Aidan had an ordinary US accent for the Wire - none of the British actors tried the Baltimore accent, and his accent in Queer as Folk was his own Dublin one as the character was Irish. He's had the services of Brendan Gunn to perfect an English accent for GOT and I wouldn't think it was giving him any trouble.

When he took the part and during the season, he hadn't read the books, and was going by screenplay only, which is his normal modus operandi. He's apparently reading the books now.

The problem I think with LF in the show, is how the writers have portrayed him, and the direction they must be giving. Aidan takes direction extremely well, so this portrayal of LF is obviously what D&D see the character as being. In my opinion, they've made him much less complex, and they've signalled from early on that he's a villain - which the book was more ambivalent about at first, so that even in the end scene in the Throne room, we're still not sure which side LF will come down on. In the show, due to the exposiition in the ridiculous brothel scene, it's clear to all that LF will be f-----g Ned over.

As for Aidan's acting ability - that's really not in question. People - especially in US - keep referring to The Wire, but actually that's really a huge ensemble piece and his role was not that large. We in UK have seen him in many other roles, and he's made many films - from commercial Hollywood films to low-budget, Indie films - in which his range as an actor was huge. He's been acting for 30 years. Someone remarked about his performance being "theatrical", well whilst Aidan is a hugely respected theatre actor as well, LF came across as quite theatrical anyway to me from the books. It's funny how one person thinks his performance is theatrical, and another thinks it's 'wooden', maybe he's succeeding in being different things to different people as in the books! Perhaps that's why some people think Aidan is doing a good job, and others don't.

[Gurney Halleck]

I must admit I am finding the Littlefinger performance dull and unengaging. I had him far more obsequious in my mind. Not because of his demeanor, but his ability to hand over tidbits of seemingly nonsensical trivia that turn out to be massive plot turners and advice well worth heeding. I guess that was wrong, because Varys has obsequious down.

But AG's method is not bad, poor character developement on the show may be to blame. But I had high hope for this character in the novel, and that changed as I read. I was always rooting for LF in the books, villains are the best. hopefully in the show as things progress (as they do for him indeed) I can see more dynamics in the actor.

[tarantella]

I don't think there's anything wrong with how he's playing Littlefinger, pretty close to what I imagined - careful, mild one minute and the next he has his knife at your throat, figuratively or literally. It's not Gillen's fault the writers are giving him stupid scenes like his pimp scene in 7 or his really loud and obvious "asides" to Renly and Sansa in 5 and 6. The Renly one was especially weird, since you know, there were like 30 other people within earshot when LF said it.

[Ser_not_appearing_yet]

Gillen is fine personally, the portrayal is obviously very different to what a lot of folks had in mind.

Tbh I just find the writing poor. That's the main problem with the entire series for me.

[Ferrum Aeternum]

He runs hot & cold with me. There are certain lines and scenes I think he nails to perfection, while others seem forced and stilted. I share the opinion that this likely resides in the realm of writing and directing - to wit, the LF scenes I enjoy the most have been the ones that adhere more closely to the book.

[End of Disc One]

Just look at the smile on LF's face when Varys is threatening him. It's perfect.

[Ranzadule]

His whispering was done well I would say. I am pretty certain it is meant to be an "Irish Whisper" as my Mom called it, meant to be heard by those within a certain area. I think his acting in that respect was spot on and that he did exactly what the director and writers wanted.

[Ser Warpechowski]

This! I definitely agree with this!

Also, they keep going back to the damn brothel all the time. It's as if they used millions to make that set and need to get a 'bang for their buck' (pun intended!). The problem I've having is that doesn't make any sense to me, I mean he stuck Cat in the brothel because nobody would "think to find her there" or whatever.. but why wouldn't they, when he seems to be spending a lot of his time there? At one point he's even got some sort of office set up where he's doing books..?

Knowing Varys there has to be at least one little bird there to chirp to him (he even alludes to this in their pissing contest scene), which I think that Littlefinger also would assume, which again begs the question: Why put Cat there? Why spill his guts about what kinda guy he is there?

The books are subtle, the TV series isnt. That is why they have exposed LF so much.

They also have "hooks" if the show is to end in season two. Developing him now could mean his main story has already "ended" when he betrayed Ned.

And youre quite sure about the settings, they have a limited amount of them and so they´re suposed to use it as best as possible. If only they could do something like Babylon 5, where they could produce a new set of an array of individual parts...

[Lady Blackfish]

Not an unequivocal nay, but I agree with Wert: I think Aiden Gillen is a fine actor but many of his line deliveries are coming off flat and wooden. Whoever mentioned "theatrical", I also agree with. I'm not sure if it's the writing or Gillen's take on the writing or something else, but there's something off about the portrayal that goes beyond simply making Littlefinger a different character.

Though I also agree that Littlefinger's character is different by virtue of taking away some of the mystery of the character. One of my favorite things to do while reading ASOIAF was try and figure out and puzzle over who he is and what he wants. Now it's all out there. Watching the Littlefinger scene in the 7th episode, I felt like HBO was saying "Look, we understand the character" ... and what they wrote does signal a certain understanding of the character. But at the same time, maybe not so much an understanding of why he was revealed the way he was in the books. Is it better or worse? I don't know, it certainly takes away some suspense, and to me certain decisions like (but not limited to) this signal to me that HBO might have different storytelling goals than what I personally think really explains the layout of the series. So basically, I hope their reason is good, but I can't see that reason right now.

[SnowBastard]

I love his portrayal. He is a ruthless uncaring prick in the book and this is exactly how he comes off on the screen. I love it.

[Songlian]

and to me certain decisions like (but not limited to) this signal to me that HBO might have different storytelling goals than what I personally think really explains the layout of the series.

This certainly puts a few things into perspective for me.

Aidan Gillen's portrayal didn't stand out for me, whereas the character in the books did. I'm not sure if this labels it as bad, though.

[fitheach]

Maybe he's portraying the character as an psychopath? Wouldn't explain the flat and wooden acting though... Maybe an Aspergerish/Psycopath?

That wouldn't work either, would it?

Hmmmmm... :ohwell:

[Lord Mord]

I also blame the writing -- and at times the direction -- rather more than the performer.

To tell the truth, I think I got it wrong, sort of, when I'd read. I never quite got a whole picture of LF, physically, and so my mind just drifted to fragments of images. Thus, trying to picture proper deliveries is ... complicated.

However, I did have an impression of him, which has only been sort of touched on in the series, though that's probably just as well: that he is still the little boy fostered at Riverrun. I remember feeling, when reading, that here is a man who may have his fingers in unsavory pies, and who may have leverage on other courtiers, but who has a streak of honor of his own, but that it's a boyish kind of honor. As fiercely avaricious and backstabbing as he is with everybody else, when it comes to his lady love, he does still hold onto the silly songs of Sansa's daydreams. In fact, there's a part of him that's even more fiercely in love with those songs than the rest of him is about money and position. So that through his eyes, I got to see the Stark folly, and the Stark arrogance to think they have a virtual monopoly on honor.

It gave his scenes at council and the rumors when people spoke of him a whole extra layer of depth, and I could see him two or three dozen different ways, though all of them rather misunderstood, and most of them sympathetic in this.

Which made me absolutely want to rip out his every appendage and shove them down his throat when he turned on Ned. Ned may have been flawed, but he was my Ned. How dare that little shit do such a thing?

I didn't get quite as much of that romance from him as I might have liked, and I think the reason is because the writers had him telling us all the romantic things about himself, which makes him more obviously manipulative, rather than having them gradually leak out from the lips of others, and from how he does things. Hard to believe in the sweetness of a self-confessed back-stabber who's telling you how sweet he is.

[SergioCQH]

I'll have to go against the grain here. I vastly prefer the show's Littlefinger to the book version, which is too much of a buffoon for me. While the book version may work on the page, I don't think it would work when we have to watch and listen to it. The understated, calculating Littlefinger of the show works better on the screen.

[Tywin's bastard]

I think Gillien does a good job as Littlefinger and I feel that he's getting across his intended moods and feelings. It's very interesting how people's perceptions differ though and it's probably in part due to that we all have different experiences with people and therefor we have different standards to what feels right and what doesn't.

This thread even shows that people even has quite different views on who Littlefinger is in the books. I think this is one of the better reasons why we have to try as hard as we can to separate ourselves from our reading experience since people are seeing the books in quite different ways and as I doubt there's a "correct" way there will be a good risk that characters don't resonate the same way, even when they are trying to stay very close to the book. I didn't think Littlefinger was one of the secondary characters that stood out the most when I read AGOT for the first time but I have changed my mind about the character as I've read, and reread, more books so there's a bit of a conflict between the experienced book eye, and the fresh show eye.

[valacirca]

^ I've already separated myself from the reading experience as much as I can. I've already tried watching and re-watching the episodes with the mindset that "this is not necessarily a worse LF... just a different LF from the books." However, there's no cure for wooden acting, no matter what kind of character you're portraying.