George R.R. Martin has provided fresh clues to three as-yet-unannounced roles, saying two are lords and the third is a knight. He writes:
“The first flew by night to find the truth. The second is a merry man from the god of war. The third was a supervillain, and once ambled amongst oak trees and hollies, where he might have come across a golden rose.”
In comments, the difficulty of these clues lead to some remarks, with GRRM responding that he wanted to make them tougher since the fans have been so quick to solve them in the past. However, we’re tenatively endorsing one guess: Derek Halligan as Ser Alliser Thorne (known for his derisive nicknames for Night’s Watch recruits, including Pimple, Monkey, and Ser Loon), via Mormegil99. Halligan has been in the long-running British drama/soap Hollyoaks, alongside actor Finn Jones (playing Ser Loras Tyrell, who bears a golden rose on his shield) and played the part of a supervillain, Dr. Nightshade, in a film titled Tonight We Fly.
The other two clues are unclear as yet, but the lord who gave up a lordship and received another strikes us as Lord Jeor Mormont, Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch (others are guessing Janos Slynt), while the silent lord… At first we read this as Ser Ilyn Payne, but obviously he’s not a lord. It seems possible that a scene from a draft of the pilot which was never actually shot—the death of Jon Arryn—may be reinstated in the course of the extensive reshooting.
GRRM also adds that Renly Baratheon will soon be announced, to complete the small council. Stannis Baratheon, however, will not be making any appearances in the first season.
Thanks to Maureen Ryan, we have some new information on casting for HBO’s Game of Thrones. First up, the role of Varys—the eunuch spymaster called the Spider—will be played by Conleth Hill, who received the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 2001 for best actor in “Stones in His Pockets”. Hill has a personal website here.
The other news is that the role of Ser Waymar Royce, a young ranger of the Night’s Watch, has been recast. Originally the role was played by Jamie Campbell Bower, who has a notable fan-following thanks to his appearances in the Harry Potter series, but reshoots of the scenes (which we were aware of following news that the role of Will was being urgently recast—Bronson Webb being away filming Pirates of the Caribbean 4) meant that the actor (who has been cast as King Arthur in Starz’s new Arthurian series, Camelot) was unavailable. Instead, the role will be played by Rob Ostlere, a RADA graduate who has recently started his career on television in the U.K.
Below is a clip from the comedy Whatever Works, starring Larry David which features Conleth Hill in a role rather different from what Varys will be like, to say the least:
GRRM has been confirming a number of the casting reports which we’ve already made, such as Jamie Sives as Jory and Ian McElhinney as Barristan the Bold. He has just mentioned, however, that we’re sure to have more casting announcements soon. This falls in line with everything we’ve heard, and of course, with shooting set to begin in a week and a half, it makes sense.
In other news, North Ireland Screen has sent out an urgent request for swarthy, experienced horsemen for the Game of Thrones production. These are obviously extras for the Dothraki, and it seems like they’re not quite finding as many suitable riders as they’d like in Northern Ireland. If you or anyone you know fits the bill, this is a ripe opportunity for getting involved in the production.
George R.R. Martin’s Wild Cards: The Hard Call, published by Dynamite Comics, is now on sale both via Dynamite’s web storefront and at your friendly local comic shop. An original Wild Cards story written by author Daniel Abraham with art by Eric Battle, the comic saw the welcome return of the Sleeper—Roger Zelazny’s popular character—to the Wild Cards setting after a long absence.
The So Spake Martin collection of reports and correspondence with GRRM have been updated with an e-mail from May in which a plot point from A Storm of Swords is briefly discussed, and with reports from last week from George’s appearance in San Diego last week. It includes some interesting information on the initial choice for the role of Illyrio Mopatis and how the dramatization of the series might effect GRRM’s depiction of characters.
Easily lost in the big casting news headlining the article, James Hibberd’s post at the Live Feed addressed two other points. First, although initially reporting that HBO was making an effort to put together an extended teaser or trailer for San Diego Comic Con, Hibberd now says that isn’t happening.
More notably, Hibberd addresses the extensive re-shooting that various re-castings (Michelle Fairley as Catelyn, Emilia Clarke as Daenerys, and now Will—a minor character who is featured heavily in the prologue—currently in recasting) will necessitate. According to Hibberd’s sources, the re-shooting shows HBO’s commitment to getting it right. Hibberd provides what may be an amusing example of the level of obsession HBO and the production team have over this: “When you’re creating a whole fantasy universe from a hit book series, you can end up with 20 opinions about what a chair looks like.”
George is back from teaching at the Clarion Writer’s Workshop, and is preparing a post about all the recent casting news, including a hint about the Aiden Gillen casting that came out just moments before his own post. Keep an eye on his “Not a Blog” to see what he has to say about the various casting items which we’ve been reporting on. The first entry is on the casting of Samwell Tarly and Rast, in which GRRM promises four more members of the Night’s Watch set will soon be announced.
One of the most anticipated remaining casting announcements for HBO’s adaption of George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones has just come out, courtesy of James Hibberd at the Hollywood Reporter’s blog, The Live Feed.
Aidan Gillen, a fan favorite from early on, has been cast in the role of Lord Petyr Baelish, more popularly known as Littlefinger. A scheming, immoral social-climbing conniver, Baelish is a pivotal character in the series, one that viewers are sure to love to hate.
Gillen first came to prominence in his breakthrough role as Stuart Allen Jones in the original Queer as Folk in the U.K., and has since gone on to appear in a number of productions, most notably the role of Mayor Carcetti (also a political schemere par excellance) in HBO’s acclaimed The Wire. Some months back, Paul Gude was in contact with his agent, and learned that the agent had heard about the possibility of a role for his client and expressed their interest. It seems to have worked out.
Below are two videos, one featuring him reading in his native Dublin accent. The other, we’re told, is a pivotal scene from The Wire which we’re placing below the cut as it contains spoilers:
According to the incomparable Oliver Powell, Ian McElhinney has been cast in the role of the famous Ser Barristan Selmy, the Lord Commander of King’s Robert’s Kingsguard. McElhinney, a Belfast native, has an extensive thirty-year career behind him. Most recently, he has appeared in a number of U.K. and Irish productions, including playing the role of Pope Clement VII in The Tudors. He’s turned his hand to stage directing with “Rock Doves”, which led to the interview (one of four parts) embedded below:
McElhinney has also lent his voice to dramatic readings as well, as seen as here:
A new interview with Lena Headey—cast as Cersei Lannister in HBO’s Game of Thrones—finds her talking about the series and her character. After having been away from work for a number of months due to her pregnancy and then birth of her first child, she describes herself as excited and “very ready and not ready one bit” to get back to work. Though she hasn’t read the novels, she seems to have a good grasp on what makes Cersei tick, as well: “smart , insecure, ferociously maternal, cutthroat, paranoid.”
According to oliverpowell (who has already proved a solid source), the role of Jory Cassel—Winterfell’s captain of the guard—has gone to popular Scottish actor, Jamie Sives. Sives has a long list of credits, including appearances in genre productions such as Doctor Who, the new Clash of the Titans, and the historical adventure Valhalla Rising. In 2002, Sives garnered a number of film festival nominations and awards for his performance in the independet film, Wilbur (Wants to Kill Himself), which earned him attention from diverse sources such as the BBC.
Below is one of a number of videos featuring Sives available on Youtube:
As previously reported, actor Conan Stevens has been cast in the role of Gregor Clegane. Now, he writes about how he chased and won the role. It’s been a long journey, three years in the making, but his perseverance wins the day. He confirms that he auditioned for the role of Khal Drogo, which was much speculated, with an eye towards getting in front of the casting director if the series was greenlit. It definitely worked out. Stevens has a lot of kind things to say about the fans, including Westeros.org, for having helped him in his quest.
Genre site io9 has posted several images from the 2011 A Song of Ice and Fire Calendar. Featuring thirteen gorgeous paintings of notable castes of Westeros by renowned genre artist Ted Nasmith (best known as one of the Big Three of Tolkien artists, alongside John Howe and Alan Lee), the calendar is less than two weeks away from its release on July 20th.
Having seen all the images before, when they were initially slated for The World of Ice and Fire (they’ll still appear there, plus some more pieces besides), they’re all as beautiful as the four being featured on the io9 site.
James Hibberd of the Hollywood Reporter’s Live Feed has posted an article regarding which shows are not making an appearance at San Diego’s Comic Con. Among them, of course, is Game of Thrones. We’ve previously reported on HBO not being able to provide the full court press (such as a panel) because of the logistical problem of filming starting immediately after the convention. To this, Hibberd adds a couple more: “The show isn’t premiering until sometime next year, possible even after Comic-Con 2011. Like “My Dad Says,” the pilot is being reworked.” Which makes sense, since the recasting of major parts such as Daenerys and Catelyn means large portions of the original pilot will end up on the cutting room floor.
However, Hibberd tantalizes with the possibility that some sort of trailer is likely to air in conjunction with HBO’s panel for their hit series, True Blood. When we asked him about this, he had this to say: “Nothing is final but, yes, they would like to have something to show at ‘true blood’ for ‘thrones’ that’s more substantial than the teaser.” So, Game of Thrones fans, if you’re attending the con, make sure to attend the True Blood panel just in case HBO swings a new trailer. Our guess as to its contents, if it happens? Possibly it’ll be a cut-down version of a trailer allegedly shown at a Time-Warner (of which HBO is a subsidiary) investors meeting.
Avatar Press has released the third issue in their ongoing adaption of George R.R. Martin’s Fevre Dream, with script by Daniel Abraham and art by Rafa Lopez. It should be available at your local friendly comic book shop. Below we have a preview, courtesy of Avatar.