Brienne cast

[Abaddon]

Likewise, Brienne has failed at everything so far (Renly died, she lost Jaimie, she can't find Sansa), but people still think of her as a great hero who overcomes.

Fess up, you didn't actually read her chapters in AFFC did you?

[Commodore]

looking forward to her scenes with NCW, should be some of the best

[Bahimiron]

Not too thrilled. Never was a fan of this idea, and now it's come to pass. May even be a deal breaker for me so far as watching the series

Omg! I hope HBO is reading and there's still time to change the casting!

[The Dude]

I've often wondered about how they would cast this role, and it led to me wondering just how important the "ugliness" is to the character and her story. Would it serve if she were just plain or unusual looking? Which would actually be quite easy for them to pull of with this actress.

Also, after watching the video, she clearly has a suitable amount of body mass. Yes, she could use a little arm toning, but should be no problem as well. Anyone who insists that she is too thin or waif-ish should be forced to watch that video until they can sing the entire song.

[Lord Godric]

She's too pretty????!!!

Instead of underestimating the ability of make up departments to uglify somebody, I think you are instread underestimating the ability of fashion photographers to make ugly people look pretty!

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/showbiz/article-23791236-friel-small-co-star-dwarfs-anna.do

There is no character in ASoIaF who is called ugly more often than Brienne is, which has led me to draw up this image of a rather hideous person. And while that picture you posted is certainly unflattering it is by no means of an ugly woman.

[nightwisp1956]

I'm sure she will do a great job being Brienne. She's tall, but yes, she is pretty. I wonder if she is related to Julie Christie because there is a resemblance.

[Le_Saboteur]

Brienne dresses as a man and doesn't act the least bit feminine. She emasculates the majority of the men around her, men that are in general extremely proud. Is it not at all possible that it's for these reasons that every one calls her ugly so often? She flies in the face of everything that a woman should aspire to be in Westeros (dainty, beautiful and retiring). She's very alien to a lot of the characters. I'm not saying Brienne is secretly the ugly duckling, but she never came across to me as disgusting as so many here are implying. Weird looking or homely, definitely. Yeah, she's meant to have freaky teeth and a broken nose (yay, prosthetics), but the pinnacle of hideousness? Hardly.

You really get a better idea of what Christie will look like on the show in the videos. She's certainly not ugly or even homely I think, but she's also made up. I feel like I've said this everywhere else, but- Brienne will not be wearing mascara and lipstick. I've yet to actually see her act, but the casting team have done a pretty good job so far. It must have been difficult to find someone who fit all of the things they were looking for. Gwendoline was my favourite out of the fan choices, though! I'm very happy.

As for the books, I love Brienne just because she's so good-hearted and sensitive. She tries so hard. I really enjoyed her chapters as a whole, too- not just the interactions with Jaime, but seeing the way that the regular people of Westeros have been touched by the war.

[Iotun]

There is no character in ASoIaF who is called ugly more often than Brienne is, which has led me to draw up this image of a rather hideous person. And while that picture you posted is certainly unflattering it is by no means of an ugly woman.

Looks ugly to me!!!

That's actually so inappropriate. Imagine if the actors ever visit these forums to see what people are saying about their characters.

And I agree with the poster above, yeah Brienne goes against Westerosi stereotypes, and she certainly has a less than pretty face and body type, but I don't think she's supposed to be the pinnacle of hideousness, in that she is disgusting to even look at or something like that. There's certainly a lot of people who tried to, or suggested the wanted to, rape her.

[scotcat]

Brienne dresses as a man and doesn't act the least bit feminine. She emasculates the majority of the men around her, men that are in general extremely proud. Is it not at all possible that it's for these reasons that every one calls her ugly so often? She flies in the face of everything that a woman should aspire to be in Westeros (dainty, beautiful and retiring). She's very alien to a lot of the characters. I'm not saying Brienne is secretly the ugly duckling, but she never came across to me as disgusting as so many here are implying. Weird looking or homely, definitely. Yeah, she's meant to have freaky teeth and a broken nose (yay, prosthetics), but the pinnacle of hideousness? Hardly.

This was always my take on Brienne as well. The men of westeros seem to be an exceptionally proud lot and what better way to demean a woman - particularly a woman who is so different from what they consider normal - than by calling her ugly.

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

There's certainly a lot of people who tried to, or suggested the wanted to, rape her.

That is because rape is about power, dominance and control, not about how she looks.

[Ser Warpechowski]

I aprove.

I mean, Tyrion was suposed to be one of the ugliest dwarves in all seven kingdoms and they casted a guy who is way pretier than most.

[Bulok]

I don't know what the complaints are for, she's not that pretty. She'll be fine as Brienne, she'sjust a wee bit skinny

[Sixshells]

I can't wait to see her in the show. From the videos, I think that with the requiered training to use the sword and armor, she will make a convincing Brienne.

I agree as well on the interpretation of the character's uglyness. Brienne is most probably not beautiful and homely at best, but clearly she is called "ugly" all the time mainly because she doesn't fit in the traditional female role. Also in that world a woman's worth is based on her beaty, so the worst insult one can supposedly make to a woman is calling her ugly. She only likes to wield a sword and wear an armor, and she dares to better at it than most men? Ugly, because that is not feminine. She is tall, awkward and not at her ease in female's clothing and even male's clothing outside of combat? Ugly, because a woman is supposed to be gracious and unable to fight. She has wounds because of combat, and her body shows the strain of training? Ugly again, because a woman is not supposed to train her physical strength. And so on... No need to picture her as some sort of troll.

[Rangers30]

And as was already mentioned Tyrion was supposed to be some ugly little bridge troll and Peter Dinklage is anything but.

[The Dude]

... No need to picture her as some sort of troll.

And as was already mentioned Tyrion was supposed to be some ugly little bridge troll and Peter Dinklage is anything but.

Yea, this is what I was getting at. The readers' interpretation of just how ugly she is supposed to be ultimately has very little importance on the tv show and the plot. Similar to people who complained that Emilia Clarke was not thin enough to play Dany. Completely unimportant.

[fitheach]

Jebus Sijjvra, let's not get our knickers all in a knot. Why don't we all just wait and see, hmmmm? I wasn't really happy with Natalie Dormer's casting as Margaery, since I was going by the character in the novels- but I trust that Nina Gold seriously knows her shit, since most of us have been very happy with the casting so far. So ,I trust that Natalie Dormer will be perfect as the D&D/HBO tweaked Margaery...

Gwendolyn Christie has major height, and it seems she can act. What more do people want? Where would they find a giant (and muscular) woman who can act, and is hideous?! This was never going to happen in the time they had to cast, and probably never would happen. It's not like they could, or should, travel the globe 6 months or more looking for the perfect actress- one who would make every fan happy.. That would be ridiculous, unreasonable, and unattainable. My mental image of a character is not another fans (or the casting directors) mental image. And yet, I've been impressed with the casting because the actors make the role wholly theirs. Emlia Clark, Jason Momea, Mark Addy, Sean Bean, are perfect examples. I didn't see any of these actors as perfect going in, but watching them changed my mind. I think, like Peter Dinklage as Tyrion, Gwendolyn Christie was meant to be Brienne... Training, hair, and makeup, will complete the transformation.

[Lord Godric]

Yea, this is what I was getting at. The readers' interpretation of just how ugly she is supposed to be ultimately has very little importance on the tv show and the plot. Similar to people who complained that Emilia Clarke was not thin enough to play Dany. Completely unimportant.

Oh, I certainly don't think the attractiveness (or lack thereof) of the actress will have anything to do with how good Christie does as Brienne. But as someone challenged me calling Christie too pretty, I defended why I thought that. I certainly do think that Brienne being dressed in man's clothing and wants to be a knight rather than a lady has an impact on how people view her, especially men. But I also think Brienne actually is ugly. Just my interpretation, of course.

[The Dude]

Oh, I certainly don't think the attractiveness (or lack thereof) of the actress will have anything to do with how good Christie does as Brienne. But as someone challenged me calling Christie too pretty, I defended why I thought that. I certainly do think that Brienne being dressed in man's clothing and wants to be a knight rather than a lady has an impact on how people view her, especially men. But I also think Brienne actually is ugly. Just my interpretation, of course.

And I would agree that's a fair criticism or assessment, but there were a couple of others that were definitely in the extreme in their reactions IMO. That's a big difference. I feel very similar about Renly's character/casting, but I realize that ultimately it won't impact the show or the plot in any significant way.

[Dumazi]

Here's a 5 minute paste-up I did. She'll be just fine.

Christie as Brienne

[Vikingkingq]

Brienne's face is supposed to be plain, not hideous. She's supposed to be a bit horse-faced, buck-toothed, an overly-wide mouth, and her nose has been broken. To me, I think most of Brienne's supposed ugliness comes from a mixture of social disapproval and her own physical awkwardness in non-martial situations.