Despite the fact that the production seems very shy of revealing casting news just yet, it’s not as if there hasn’t been some casting decisions made. In one case, we’ve waited several weeks in hopes that HBO would let up and provide confirmation… but as they won’t—and more power to them!—we’ll just go ahead and reveal what we know (or think we know) to date regarding one particular trio of castings on which we have details.
Back in early June, the word slipped out—thanks to tweets from the young actress in question, followed by a confirmation from the acting academy which she attended—that Kerry Ingram was cast in the role of Stannis Baratheon’s daughter, Shireen. As some may recall, in the TV series a line of dialog seemed to imply that Stannis’s wife is barren on the show… but the line can also be read to just mean that she’s failed to give him sons, who are (after all) all-important in the patriarchal inheritance system of Westeros. Ingram is quite the performer, having shared an Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical with three other young actresses who shared the role of Matilda in the eponymous musical. Below, you can see their performance at the Olivier Awards, as well as their acceptance speech:
(If you’re wondering, Ingram is the tallest of the four girls in the acceptance speech video, who starts speaking at about the 2 minute mark.)
Speaking of Stannis’s wife… according to the Evening Standard, actress Tara Fitzgerald has been cast in Game of Thrones, and will be filming “soon”. Given that a tweet from Carice van Houten seems to indicate that she’s filming Dragonstone scenes soon, and given the roles we know are being cast, it seems like a pretty safe bet that Fitzgerald will be playing Shireen’s mother and Stannis’s Baratheon’s wife, Queen Selyse. Fitzgerald is, one must say, rather a lot more beautiful than the homely Selyse! She has extensive credits in film, theater, and television, with such notable items as Sirens, The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain, and the BBC’s most recent Jane Eyre miniseries. She was also Ophelia in Jonathan Kent’s production of Hamlet which starred the then up-and-coming Ralph Fiennes—we’ve heard amazing things about that particular production.
Here’s a video featuring her and Keith Allen (aka Alfie Allen’s dad!) discussing a show they were on, The Body Farm:
And finally, we’re not quite sure what to make of this, but Charlotte Hope‘s CV now notes that she’s now cast in the role of “Myranda”. Myranda Royce is a character in the books, yes… but she wouldn’t show up, as we’re not going to be in the Vale at all this season. So who is she, really? The smart money would be on Meera Reed, given her age and appearance, and the name is a place holder to try and disguise her. This seems to fit HBO’s present reticence to confirm anything at all until a time of their choosing.
Here’s a clip of Hope from an episode of medical drama Holby City, starting at the 1:21 mark, in the role of Eleanor: