GRRM Interviewed

[Westeros]

There was more than one interview conducted during Eastercon with A Song of Ice and Fire writer and creator, George R.R. Martin. While George took part in various panels and an official interview for the convention, he took time out to talk with Geoff Lloyd, the host of Sky Atlantic’s Thronecast.Here’s what he had to say on a number of topics—including which characters in the show are quite different from his own representation of them in the book (one of them is somewhat of a surprise to me!)Speaking of Thronecast, you can find every episode for this season linked in the Extras section of the various Season 2 episode guides, as well as our own videos plus our contributions to MTV News’ “Watching the Throne” program.

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[Crown]

'I want to be Tyrion, but I think I'm much closer to Sam,' spoken by Lord George R. R. Martin. Laughed my ass off.

[Slick Mongoose]

Which writer took out an ad in variety denouncing the adaptation of their book?

[Laohu]

GRRM brought up three characters who he thought were different from book to TV: Shae, Renly, and Littlefinger.

Shae seems like a totally different character in terms of appearance, background, and behavior, and part of the reason behind these differences is probably what GRRM referred to as script changes. I definitely agree that Shae is completely different in the show, and it is not a positive change in my opinion.

Besides the fact that Renly looks nothing like I imagined he would, I think he mirrors the character in the book fairly well. The casting could have gone to someone who may have looked more like the Renly in the books, but there does not seem to be much other discrepancy with the book character. He definitely grew into the role a bit with episode 2.3.

Littlefinger, on the other hand, has definitely fallen victim to the liberties taken by D&D for the TV adaptation. He has taken other characters' lines for the sake of exposition in the show and has been given extra scenes which have drastically deviated from the books in some instances. I understand that he is a really interesting character, so it makes sense that he should get plenty if screen time in the show; however, I also think he has lost his aura of mystery that, to me at least, was a significant part of Littlefinger's character.

[Ran]

There's a good deal of difference between book Renly and TV show Renly. Not just looks. Renly plays up chivalric culture, rides in the tourney where he's a great favorite, has no qualms about going hunting or bloodshed, hasn't any real doubts about his purpose or what it takes to get what he wants. Renly's on the whole a much more confident characer in the novels than he is on the show. I don't find this a real problem myself, but it certainly is different.

Other characters lines... you're referring to the Hound and Mountain story? That was because of time constraints -- they had scripted it as in the books, but bad weather and various delays forced them to excise it, and the only way they had to save the story was to give it to Littlefinger.

[salt]

Besides the fact that Renly looks nothing like I imagined he would, I think he mirrors the character in the book fairly well. The casting could have gone to someone who may have looked more like the Renly in the books, but there does not seem to be much other discrepancy with the book character. He definitely grew into the role a bit with episode 2.3.

I disagree. TV Renly is 90 percent a brand new invented character, he retains very little of the essence of the book character. They've removed both his bad traits, and his most interesting ones. Last episode he certainly seemed closer to the book character than he did in season 1, but not by much. The scene with Margery was silly. Renly wasn't dumb, he would've given Margery plenty of children. Someone as power hungry as Renly could deal with 6 minutes of hetero lovin' if it means holding a kingdom.

[Ran]

Well, it's worth noting that it's pretty probable that Renly hadn't mustered the energy for those "6 minutes of hetero lovin'". He seemed to think there was no particular urgency, so he'd prefer to leave the unpleasant deed to some other time.

[salt]

True, Renly hadn't yet done the deed on the road to KL, but there was never any doubt in his mind that he would quickly create heirs once the throne was his. TV Renly looked like episode 3 was the first time he ever realized, "Oh right, we're going to need to have sex at some point. Ew."

[Laohu]

That is very interesting. It appears I have forgotten a good portion of Renly's story and the character himself. Perhaps the reason I pictured him as a badass warrior was not simply because his appearance was described as a younger version of Robert in his prime, but also because that was just simply the type of man he was: a warrior (certainly not the Renly we see in the show).

Although I have thought about it before and decided against it, maybe a reread of the series would not be a bad idea. I am sure this is not the only detail from the books that has slipped my mind as I watch the TV show. Thank you for enlightening me!

BTW, I was indeed referring to the Sandor's lines being spoken by LF. Sad to hear that was simply the result of bad weather and other miscellaneous delays.

[Ty3009]

Show Renly is definitely different than his book counterpart. However, we never really got much of a look into Renly's psyche in the books. I think the show has done a great job of fleshing the character out by revealing his insecurities. Book Renly would be supremely shallow and uninteresting in the show.

[teemo]

OK, people can stop pretending now that LF from the show is a great reflection of Petyr from the book, with GRRM now saying that he's "significantly different."

[Alia of the knife]

Martin does have a point though.

There do have to be comprimises in trying to streamline characters to what the Actors bring to them

While the Actor who plays Renly captures his overall essence, trying to merge that with purist Renly may not have been in his range, and it's better to get someone who can at least get the overall feel of the character than someone who is just playing a type.

Renly I think is somewhat hard to pin down, because he really is a cross between the young charasmatic brash Robert, and a character who has that same charisma and charm, but with a bit more gentility.

[Lord Mord]

Actually, my jaw sort of dropped with Martin saying that show-LF is significantly different from book-LF -- and this is not coming from a place of adoration for Gillen's Littlefinger. Make no mistake, I think Gillen's doing a fine job, but I mean to say that I'm not in the camp of people who think his work on the subject is Exactly Canon, either. But specifically to say "significantly different" just strikes me very odd.

But now I think more on it ... maybe that just means I need to go back and read again, because I'm starting to remember a sense from when I first read the books that LF was sort of insubstantial. I mean, clear signals he's not actually a fool or a pushover, but just a sort of heavy-handed affect for humor and utter lack of gravity. Series LF is definitely not short on gravity. The fact that he smiles his tight little smiles doesn't mean for an instant the thought behind them isn't ponderously heavy, and indeed, that is decidedly his manner.

On the one hand, the Renly of the TV series gives the character some place to go. He can develop from the sniveling third son into a mighty lord. But OTOH, I think this overlooks many thousands of possibilities at developing the character from the books, who is always seen at a fair distance, into a more human shape, to see more of his flaws and his trials.

I don't want to derail, but I will just drop this in here: TV series Stannis is virtually nothing like the book Stannis, and that makes me a little sad.

[Arkash]

I hope someone one day will stop asking who's character does he identify the most...

[Ran]

I think Dillane is pretty close to the novel's character, from what we've seen so far. YMMV

[GoodGuyA]

Always love to hear a bit of Martin witticisms! Great bookends to the interview as well. While we most certainly knew all this information all ready, it's good to hear his spoken thoughts about the series' length and general ideas he has going forward. Let's hope you've many years to beat!

[boojam]

I think Dillane is pretty close to the novel's character, from what we've seen so far. YMMV

I will second that. In fact he even seems to stay 'in character' off camera!

Dillane is one of GB's best actors, fits the George wrote in the novel, other people seem to read that character differently than I do.

[_Oberyn_]

So he would like to do seven books but if he needs more :thumbsup:

[DaveSumm]

The part where he says it was never going to be five books: after Storm, what book was he planning to write? Cos I thought it was Winds, but the gap didn't work so he started Dance (6 books) which got too long so he released Feast (7 books). So the after-gap part of the saga was supposed to be three books?

[Lord Mord]

I think Dillane is rather more petulant and grasping than the Stannis of memory. I think of Stannis as implacable, monolithic, and the personification of duty, in an essential or symbolic sense. Imagine a fairly ordinary person trapped in a body that will simply not let him behave with any of the sloppy-thinking softness that makes human bonds like friendship and love and steers and drives him hard on the basis of impossibly high standards of principle. Are they our principles or good principles, or do they never contradict? Open to inquiry and debate, but the essentialness defines him.

Stephen Dillane is great, but the Stannis he's playing is much more obviously in over his head. Book Stannis creates the tension: are his skill, his hardness, and his essentialness enough to overcome the disparity of his numbers? He may be a jerk, but can he write his own kind of heroic song?

HBO Stannis inspires a different kind of tension: will Davos be able to save this twit from himself?