Casting the Dornish

[lilbufbuf]

Latino/Hispanic is an ethnicity, so they represent a range of people, who are black, white, mixed, Asian. There isn't a specific look.

Anaik of Rhoyne - I also thought of the Dornish as a mixture of Middle Eastern/North African/Indian ethnic groups.

I believe GRRM himself told Janina Gavankar (an actress of Indian descent), when they met at San Diego Comic Con, that she reminded him of Lady Nymeria.

[Anaik of Rhoyne]

Latino/Hispanic is an ethnicity, so they represent a range of people, who are black, white, mixed, Asian. There isn't a specific look.

Anaik of Rhoyne - I also thought of the Dornish as a mixture of Middle Eastern/North African/Indian ethnic groups.

I believe GRRM himself told Janina Gavankar (an actress of Indian descent), when they met at San Diego Comic Con, that she reminded him of Lady Nymeria.

Oh that's awesome, I think she would make a great addition to the Dornish cast. So that makes me think that we are on the right track with the whole MiddleEastern/N. African/Indian look

I don't know but it might be my bias as Middle Eastern, but all the descriptions of Dorne and even the clothing (ie the gold snake wrapped around Arianne's arm is so "Eastern")

Also it would make sense given the Dornish variation in looks since that is typical in the greater Middle East.

[The Girl in Winterfell]

In my mind they're mostly mediterranean so Italian, Spanish, Greek, some north african but I see the SandSnakes as al different looking because their mothers are very different. Sarella is black in my mind, Obara looks a lot like Michelle Rodriguez and Nym has an asian look to her.

[SerArthurHeath]

According to Daeron I, who recorded his wars in Dorne, there were three sorts of Dornishmen.

• 'Salted' Dornishmen , who lived along the coastlines, which were generally thin and dark, with olive skin and black hair.
  
• 'Sandy' Dornishmen, who lived in the deserts and river valleys, with dark brown skin and tended to wear long, bright scarfs around their helms to keep the sun off.
  
• 'Stony' Dornishmen, who lived in the Red Mountains, large and fair, they still contained the blood of the Andals and the First Men, usually with blond or brown hair and freckles.
  

The salty Dornishmen have the most Rhoynish blood, the stony Dornishmen the least.^[1]

So clearly depending on the character, Dornish can include Mediterranean looks, Indian/Arabic looks and (for eg the Daynes) blue eyed, blond Europeans.

Arianne- has olive skin (also not pure Dornish)

Doran- looks like his son

Oberyn- his skin colour is not remarked upon, only his hair and eyes which are black

Quentyn- his skin colour is not remarked upon

[Lord_Debaka]

Always seen them as being persian.

[Brucolac]

According to Daeron I, who recorded his wars in Dorne, there were three sorts of Dornishmen.

• 'Salted' Dornishmen , who lived along the coastlines, which were generally thin and dark, with olive skin and black hair.
  
• 'Sandy' Dornishmen, who lived in the deserts and river valleys, with dark brown skin and tended to wear long, bright scarfs around their helms to keep the sun off.
  
• 'Stony' Dornishmen, who lived in the Red Mountains, large and fair, they still contained the blood of the Andals and the First Men, usually with blond or brown hair and freckles.
  

Yeah, that is Spain.

Stony = Catalonian

salted = Andalusian

sandy = heavily moorish

[Which Tyler]

According to Daeron I, who recorded his wars in Dorne, there were three sorts of Dornishmen.

• 'Salted' Dornishmen , who lived along the coastlines, which were generally thin and dark, with olive skin and black hair.
  
• 'Sandy' Dornishmen, who lived in the deserts and river valleys, with dark brown skin and tended to wear long, bright scarfs around their helms to keep the sun off.
  
• 'Stony' Dornishmen, who lived in the Red Mountains, large and fair, they still contained the blood of the Andals and the First Men, usually with blond or brown hair and freckles.
  

The salty Dornishmen have the most Rhoynish blood, the stony Dornishmen the least.^[1]

So clearly depending on the character, Dornish can include Mediterranean looks, Indian/Arabic looks and (for eg the Daynes) blue eyed, blond Europeans.

Arianne- has olive skin (also not pure Dornish)

Doran- looks like his son

Oberyn- his skin colour is not remarked upon, only his hair and eyes which are black

Quentyn- his skin colour is not remarked upon

Correction

Immediately after Tyrion tells us that about the Dornish, he say of Oberyn "A salty Dornishman for certain"

[Chris77]

I would love to see Janina Gavankar play Ariane, she has Indian ancestors, but played Latina (L-word) and Native American (True Blood) before. She has a history with HBO, has no problem with onscreen nudity, is absolutely gorgeous and a gaming geek:)

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1232470/

[Damar]

Alexander Siddig as Oberyn Martell.

[Aoqi]

I was looking around the internet for other people's casting ideas for the Dornish and it seems to me that it's pretty evenly split between Dorne=Spain and Dorne=Middle East or India. I was also surprised, though, by how nasty people got with those that disagreed with them. I feel really terrible for whoever suggested Imogen Poots as Tyene (I really don't think that it counts as racebending). Personally, I would be thrilled if we ended up with minority Dornish but still subscribe to the Dorne=Spain theory.

[SerArthurHeath]

If we go the spanish route, then come on Jessica Alba as Tyene!

[SerArthurHeath]

I was looking around the internet for other people's casting ideas for the Dornish and it seems to me that it's pretty evenly split between Dorne=Spain and Dorne=Middle East or India. I was also surprised, though, by how nasty people got with those that disagreed with them. I feel really terrible for whoever suggested Imogen Poots as Tyene (I really don't think that it counts as racebending). Personally, I would be thrilled if we ended up with minority Dornish but still subscribe to the Dorne=Spain theory.

I still reckon we can have both Spanish and Indian and Middle Eastern. They did it with the Dothraki, and with the Dornish the mixed phenotype and ethnic origins into fairly distinct groups is actually canon!

[Linda]

I've tended to think of the Rhoynar as either Middle Eastern or possibly Indian (though not quite as dark as they get in some areas given that the skintone is clearly said to be olive) so that's what I see for the salty Dornish. Given that I fear that the Dornish may be mostly cut out of the story (a death blow to my interest, if it happens), I suspect we'll be lucky if we at least get actors that look right for salty Dornish. Of course, it wouldn't be too hard to mix in some of the stony Dornish looks, but given how everything gets simplified I imagine they want them to look homogeneous.

[the Scorpion Knight]

Antonio Banderas

as oberyn martell

(hand down who doesn't want it)

[voodooqueen126]

Dornish isn't really a thing. There seems to be many different racial types in Dorne besides the Rhoynar. I mean, Gerris Drinkwater is said to be fair skinned and sandy haired. Also, Oberyn's daughter Tyene is said to be blonde and blue eyed.

Have you seen pictures of the Spanish royal family? They were whiter than me...

A lot of Latinos are really, really fair.

[Aoqi]

I still reckon we can have both Spanish and Indian and Middle Eastern. They did it with the Dothraki, and with the Dornish the mixed phenotype and ethnic origins into fairly distinct groups is actually canon!

I agree and I think that this logic also applies to the younger generation Martells. Even if they are doing Spanish!Dorne, the fact that Sarella, Nymeria, Arianne, and Quentyn all have foreign mothers means that you will probably get minority actors for the part. Any idea what people from Volantis and Norvos look like?

[Geert]

I always pictured The Red Viper as Oded Fehr, from The Mummy. He was also great in Sleeper Cell. For Doran maybe Ciaran Hinds with a bit of dark make-up.

I don't really think Dorn has to be either Spanish or Arabic in setting, culture and feeling. In my view it's a bit of a mix, like Moorish Spain.

[Linda]

Antonio Banderas as Oberyn would have me ... jumping off a cliff. Ran's been joking about that one for years, just to see the look of horror on my face.

As for Tyene being fair ... I believe she's said to have her mother's colouring and it is not clear her mother is Dornish. Same with Princess Nym, she has the pale skin of her mother (from Volantis). And Obara, of course, has a mother from Oldtown. So, technically, most of the older Sand Snakes should probably look more like the rest of Westeros than anything else. Sarella is the only one who actually should look more "foreign" than your average Dornishman.

But...I am really dubious we're getting any of them.

[Tyrionthebest]

Antonio Banderas as Oberyn would have me ... jumping off a cliff. Ran's been joking about that one for years, just to see the look of horror on my face.

As for Tyene being fair ... I believe she's said to have her mother's colouring and it is not clear her mother is Dornish. Same with Princess Nym, she has the pale skin of her mother (from Volantis). And Obara, of course, has a mother from Oldtown. So, technically, most of the older Sand Snakes should probably look more like the rest of Westeros than anything else. Sarella is the only one who actually should look more "foreign" than your average Dornishman.

But...I am really dubious we're getting any of them.

Why not, their important to the story .

[Linda]

We know they will compress the story a lot, its clear from what they've been saying about the second and any future seasons and from the lack of casting for certain characters.

I may be very pessimistic about the show at this stage, but I think we'll see the Iron Isles and Dornish storylines largely butchered.