Interview with Charles Dance, the Sequel

[salt]

I like Charles Dance as an actor and his Tywin Lannister, but somehow I am always a bit disappointed when the actors say they haven't read the books.

Yeah, we'd all like to believe the actors read the book and love them as much as we do, but thats a bit unrealistic to demand. I love when I hear that actors read the books, but all thats really important is that they understand their character and their scripts. For better or worse, you have to put the trust into David and Dan's hands. The books are amazing, but the show is their vision now and everyone involved has to be in line with that for it to work. You can't have one actor playing a character based on whats in the script but another actor thinking 'Well I know my character is written this way in the script, but you know, I really don't think XXXX would act this way...' They've got to trust D&D to tell them what their characters needs to be. We won't always be happy with he results and if D&D can't put together a good show it won't be around for long, but everyone involved needs to be on the same page if it has any chance of working.

[Currawong]

You can't have one actor playing a character based on whats in the script but another actor thinking 'Well I know my character is written this way in the script, but you know, I really don't think XXXX would act this way...' They've got to trust D&D to tell them what their characters needs to be. We won't always be happy with he results and if D&D can't put together a good show it won't be around for long, but everyone involved needs to be on the same page if it has any chance of working.

This.

Some actors only read the relevant book after they have read the scripts for that series, just for that reason. Some don't feel the need to read the books at all, especially when the scripts themselves are well-written. They can't be second-guessing the writers and directors, so if they read the books later, the books give some background to what is in the scripts. Some die-hard fans of the books don't understand this, but it's critical for the way actors have to work. If you go and look up the various actor interviews, there are some very good explanations of why they do / don't read the books - NCW and Charles Dance are two that come to mind who talk about this in some detail. CD for example, explains that where a script is poor, and as an actor he is faced with trying to make a silk purse out of a pig's ear, then he may have to go outside the script to try and understand his character and the role. But when there is quality writing, as with this series, he doesn't feel it's necessary.

[Leuf]

Don't forget Wilko Johnson (Ser Ilyn Payne) who said he tried to read the books but didn't like them. Not that Wilko has a complex motivation to understand in his scenes :)

[Brienne the Beauty]

ASOIAF is dauntingly huge. A quick google reveals it is about three times as long as War and Peace all put together. If fantasy is not your "cup of tea" it'd be torture to plough through it - imagine reading Atlas Shrugged, War and Peace, and Middlemarch back to back.

[James Arryn]

Read books, don't read books, whatever Charles Dance is doing to animate Tywin, keep on doing it.

He is the best rendition of a role in the series, imo.

Bang on like a boss.

[Currawong]

Read books, don't read books, whatever Charles Dance is doing to animate Tywin, keep on doing it.

This.

After that amazing scene in Series 1 with Tywin and Jaime, with so much being said through their eyes and body language, I am so looking forward to seeing their final rift in ASOS when Jaime returns to KL. If they split ASOS into 2 seasons, that will presumably be inSeason 4.