We have a short clip from a new film, All Good Children, which stars Jack Gleeson, the 17-year-old actor cast as Joffrey Baratheon in HBO’s Game of Thrones. The film has received some strong reviews with Variety particularly praising Gleeson, who played a 12-year-old in the film, stating that “Gleeson, with his massive blue eyes and anxious, ever-hopeful expression, is the pic’s big discovery.”
The clip from Vimeo below features a key scene mentioned in the review:
Thanks to Winter is Coming for pointing the clip out on Twitter.
Dark Sword Miniatures has announced that three new George R.R. Martin Masterworks are now completed and ready to be ordered from their online store. The three miniatures—featured fully painted in their gallery by Dark Sword’s in-house painters—are Eddard Stark, Samwell Tarly, and Euron Greyjoy.
Green Ronin reports that the A Song of Ice and Fire Campaign Guide is now in their warehouse and is beginning to ship to those who’ve pre-ordered (which until June 1st includes a free download of the PDF version of the book) from their store and to retailers. The Campaign Guide features a number of original illustrations and maps, including a cover by Michael Komarck.
The 21st entry into the Wild Cards series has just been delivered, according to GRRM. He discusses the story and some of the characters introduced in the post, as well as listing the authors participating. There’s no firm publication date yet, by he thinks Spring 2011 seems likely.
A fan has posted up four clips covering Emilia Clarke’s scenes in her one professional television drama credit to date, an episode of the U.K.‘s daily soap Doctors which aired in August, 2009. The storyline has a bit of a creepy feel to it, and Clarke seems to handle herself very well with her fellow actors in the following scenes:
GRRM has confirmed that Emilia Clarke (with an e) has been cast as Daenerys. GRRM points to her resume page, which shows a number of theatrical productions for Drama Centre London. GRRM notes she provided some amazing readings, beating out a number of terrific actresses to land the part. A commercial, part of an anti-domestic violence campaign, featuring a very emotive Ms. Clarke, below the cut:
Maureen Ryan has confirmed that the role of Daenerys will now be filled by Emilia Clark, a British actress who has not been involved in U.S.-funded productions before, and we can’t seem to find any information on her at this time. She may be a genuine unknown, new to acting.
Ryan also gained confirmation of the start of principal photography as taking place in late July, back from the earlier late June plans, which we’ve reported on previously.
Update: Video now removed. Given the way these videos come and go, we can’t promise it will be around permanently. But while it’s up, here’s what looks to be like a genuine casting tape for the role of Hodor, intended for Nina Gold who is the casting agent in the U.K. for HBO’s Game of Thrones production:
The hopeful Hodor is Kristian Nairn, a professional DJ according to his MySpace page.
It seems likely that the production for HBO’s Game of Thrones has decided to present the Dothraki culture as a multi-ethnic one, a realization that dawned on us today when an Irish actor of African origin, Yare Jegbefume, revealed on Twitter that he had auditioned for the parts of two Dothraki warriors, Jhogo (one of Daenerys’s guards) and Qotho (one of Drogo’s bloodriders). In retrospect, the fact that many of the wedding dancers that have been noted (such as Kelechi Nwanokwu) were also black should have suggested not that they were supposed to represent slaves from far-flung regions (as we had initially assumed) but that the production was taking this particular course.
Although this does not fit the Dothraki as represented in the books—their appearance being a much more homogenous look, a mix of Native American in regards to their coppery skin and Asian due to their eyes and flatter faces—it sounds like an excellent way to widen the field to find the best possible actors. We can’t wait to see how the Dothraki appear on screen next year!
According to a comment from GRRM, principal photography has been pushed back to late July for HBO’s Game of Thrones. Nothing really bad about this, as bringing in so many disparate logistical things together can be difficult, but there’s always the possibility that there’s interesting reasons for it, like having to wait on a newly-cast lead (ala Daenerys) to be free to work, or a director, or other things of this sort.
GRRM also notes that he’s unlikely to spend any time in Northern Ireland to watch the filming, except possibly when his own episode (episode 8) is filmed, and doubtless when he’s in the area for Octocon in October.
Fantasy Flight Games has published a press release announcing the first expansion for their new Battles of Westeros game. The expansion, titled Wardens of the West, will introduce new Lannister commanders, three new Lannister units, and new cards. The full release is below.
Battles of Westeros‘s publication is imminent (June), and Wardens of the West will follow in Q3.
George R.R. Martin mentions that he’s come back from a convention to some hundred new auditions tapes. He notes some of the roles actors are seeking in the tapes: Rast (one of the recruits on the Wall), Mord (brutish jailer at the Eyrie), Jhogo (one of the Dothraki warriors assigned as personal guard to Daenerys) are among the smaller parts, while Lord Tywin Lannister, Ser Barristan Selmy, and Lysa Arryn are among the larger parts.
We expect that the first casting announcements are likely to come by the end of the month, or early next month, with production set to begin in earnest right around the end of June or start of July.
Dark Sword Miniatures has shared their second Daenerys miniature, sculpted by the amazing Tom Meier. The first miniature in the Masterworks series featured Daenerys after having come out of the fire. This one, on the other hand, depicts her in a more casual moment, wearing a Qartheen gown. According to the note on the image, Dark Sword Miniatures owner Jim Ludwig states that they may produce a miniature throne from which Daenerys could then be descending.
Some recent reports and finds on the web have helped clarify something of which of the more minor tertiary roles will be cut, reduced, or kept in place in the course of HBO’s adaption of A Song of Ice and Fire.
Lord Ned’s Head reports that at this weekend’s LepreCon convention, GRRM discussed the HBO series as part of a Q&A. He indicated that Syrio Forel remains (he’s written “scenes” for him in episode 8), but that the guardsman Desmond is gone. Other roles, such as Jon Snow’s fellow recruits, may be reduced to just a few line (e.g. Grenn and Pyp) or be cut entirely or be reduced to background characters with no lines (e.g. Toad, Rast, and so on).
raijap tweeted about this webpage for actress Caroline Grace-Cassidy, which states that she auditioned this month (possibly in the recent Dublin auditions?) for the role of the wildling woman, Osha, which certainly suggests that character is planned to be in the series.
It’s interesting that agents and actors are posting audition tapes up onto video streaming sites such as Youtube and Vimeo. We’ve reported on the Charlotte Salt audition previously (since removed from Youtube), but Winter is Coming readers have discovered three more actresses auditioning for parts. According to a member of the A Song of Ice and Fire forum who used to work in Hollywood, these could be posted to ease getting them to a casting director, or to more easily allow other members of an agency to examine the auditions (thanks, Brudewollen).
Now, imagine yourself in the place of the casting director, the producers, and GRRM. You’ve received a bundle of audition tapes for the roles of Daenerys and Doreah. Which of these appeal to you more? Who gets the setting and characters and tone across? Are further auditions merited? I don’t envy them their labor! Videos embedded below: