We pretty quickly figured out that George’s latest casting clue concerned the Laurence Oliver Award-winning actor Oliver Ford Davies would play the part of Maester Cressen, and now GRRM has confirmed!
Cressen is an aged maester in the service of Stannis Baratheon. Having served Stannis’s father, Lord Steffon, Cressen went on to serve Stannis after Robert—newly-crowned—appointed him as Lord of Dragonstone. Cressen has advised Stannis over the years, but is growing old and increasingly marginalized as Melisandre of Asshai, a red priestess of R’hllor from the far-distant land of Asshai, begins to hold sway at Stannis’s court. Melisandre and Stannis have both been cast, so it’s perhaps no surprise that the Cressen news has come out to compliment it.
Below, we have a video featuring an excellent scene from the 2009 Hamlet featuring David Tennant (perhaps best known for his Dr. Who stint) and Davies in the roles of Hamlet and Polonious, respectively. (As a side note, the clip is part of a video series comparing a number of productions of Hamlet—it’s quite an amazing idea!)