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The 'A Song of Ice and Fire' Domain

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Reaction from Coster-Waldau

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, the Danish actor cast as Jaime Lannister, provides some of the first actor reactions to the media following the announcement of HBO’s pick up of Game of Thrones. The two articles are in Danish, but in summary he notes that he’s to start filming somewhere around July 1st, that it seems Tom McCarthy will be reprising his directorial roll for the first episode to film (which is something we’ll look into), and that though his character is “bad guy #1” to start with, as with other HBO dramas, things are rarely so black-and-white.

Our rough translation follows:

Waldau in Major American Lead Role:

The U.S. production company HBO soon starts filming their new big-budget medieval fantasy series, Game of Thrones. One of the leading roles in the huge production is layed by the Danish actor, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.

And he’s looking forward to the start of filming

“I am totally game to get started. I know both the director (Tom McCarthy) and the other actors from the pilot episode. They’ve created a fantastic world. It’s a very intense drama that takes place in this parrallel-world,” he says to ekstrabladet.dk.

That this is a huge deal is something the actor agrees with.

“I haven’t received the script yet, but we will start around July 1, and I’ll play one of the key roles in the show. It is a relatively expensive series and can probably best be compared with the series ‘Rome’, when we are talking size,” he says.

The series premiere is scheduled for spring 2011, with the first season totalling ten episodes.

HBO has previously been behind shows such as Band of Brothers, Rome and Deadwood.

Coster-Waldau in Major American Series:

The people behind the huge successes like The Sopranos, Deadwood and Rome have started to produce television series Game of Thrones, and the Danish actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is a part of it.

In November, the pilot went into production, and HBO has just given the green light to produce 10 episodes in what is a kind of understated fantasy story in a fictional version of 15th- to 16th-century England without magic.

“There isn’t a lot of supernatural stuff like in Harry Potter, but the whole action takes place under the threat of winter. So if no one does anything, then you will be overrun by winter,” explains Nikolaj Coster-Waldau to DR Culture.

The TV series is based A Song of Ice and Fire on the novel series written by George RR Martin, and the series already has many loyal fans who are waiting excitedly for the television series.

Multi-layered Characters

The chances of success aren’t hurt by the fact that HBO is producing the series, the same company that has been behind the huge successes like Deadwood, Rome and, not least, The Sopranos.

Game of Thrones is a bit similar [to The Sopranos], with the rival families. I play the queen’s twin brother, and he’ll be in the running for bad guy number one, but as we also know from The Sopranos, the characters are not just black and white. There is a reason for the things they do,” says Nikolai Coster-Waldau.

The first 10 episodes will reach American viewers in a year’s time.

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