Well so far we’ve looked at possible casting choices for a Lannister, a Stark and a Targaryen. Let’s head back to the Lannister clan and take a look at the Kingslayer himself, Jaime Lannister. The role demands someone who can be simultaneously likable and despicable. Obviously they are going to want to cast a pretty boy, but one who can actually act. Let’s take a look at a few possible choices.
Kevin McKidd – A Scottish-born actor, McKidd has had a number of television roles in the past few years, most notably in Rome, Grey’s Anatomy and Journeyman. He is a talented actor and has a decent enough look for Jaime, although he is a little on the older side. His availability is a question mark as his current role in Grey’s Anatomy may cause a scheduling conflict. In addition, he is in talks to star as Thor in the upcoming movie adaptation based on the comic book.
Neil Jackson – Scheduling shouldn’t be a problem for Jackson, IMDb only has two projects listed as in production for him and both appear to have already completed filming. An English-actor, Jackson is most known for his roles in Alexander and Quantum of Solace. As far as TV experience he has had a number of guest roles in series such as CSI, Cold Case and How I Met Your Mother. He also starred in the short lived Blade: The Series. I can’t speak to his acting ability, but I think he has the perfect look for Jaime. But looks alone won’t land him the part.
Charlie Hunnam – The youngest actor on this list, he is probably most close to the age Jaime is supposed to be in the books. Hunnam has a decent list of credits, including roles in Children of Men and Cold Mountain. He also starred in the Judd Apatow created TV series, Undeclared, and is currently starring in Sons of Anarchy. I think he is the perfect package of age, looks and talent. Unfortunately his role in Anarchy may exclude him from the running.
Laurence Penry-Jones – A relative unknown compared to the others on this list, he is not however without experience. He starred in the BBC series Doctors and also has done extensive theater work. His brother, Rupert, has been thrown around as a possible candidate for Jaime, but I think he is a better fit for the role. He is younger and much better-looking. And the fact that he is pretty much unknown probably increases his chances.Whomever they decide to cast needs to have a lot of range. Jaime is one of the most interesting characters in the series and it will be interesting to see who they cast and how he plays him. The role of Jaime, I think, lends itself to casting an unknown. Someone who has the talent but isn’t a familiar face. Someone who can just inhabit the role and be Jaime Lannister, The Kingslayer.
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42 Comments
I still feel that McKidd is too old but when you compare that photo to the painting at the top the resemblance of the pose and emotion is uncanny.
Isn’t Mckidd a regular on Grey’s anatomy now?
enjaiQuote Reply
Yes, he is. That would probably make it difficult, if not impossible, for him to take the role. He does have a history working with HBO and the BBC though, so he may decide to come back for Game of Thrones. He might be able to fit in shooting the pilot around his schedule for Grey’s Anatomy, but if the series gets picked up he would most likely have to leave the show.
WinterIsComingQuote Reply
I can see Hunnam. The others are too old. The actor who plays Jason Stackhouse on True Blood has the right look.
AnonymousQuote Reply
I always saw Josh Holloway as Jaime. Considering his character Sawyer on Lost has gone through similar character transformations, I think he’s got the attitude down. A little work on the accent (or not, whose to say about fantasy accents?), and he’s set.
AnonymousQuote Reply
How about Alexander Skarsgård?
AnonymousQuote Reply
How about Jason Lewis? Looks the part and is around the same age.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Re: Josh Holloway, Alexander Skarsgård, Jason Lewis
Those guys are all great choices, but I tried to keep my list to UK-based actors. If they decide to look outside the UK than any one of those guys could be a good fit.
WinterIsComingQuote Reply
I dont think any of them are too old. Jaime is in his mid-30′s in the books and all these guys would be believable at that age.
I like Alexander Skarsgård but I hope True Blood sticks around long enough that he wont be available.
Of the 5 listed I’d probably go with Neil Jackson.
Josh Holloway I wouldnt want anywhere near Jaime. He’ll always be Sawyer to me.
svenQuote Reply
not that its realistic or anything but i always thought leonardo dicaprio would be an awesome jaime.
AnonymousQuote Reply
I think McKidd is a good actor, but I just can’t see him as Jaime. I think Jackson is probably closest to how I envision Jaime in my head.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Hey, I wouldn’t have thought about Charlie Hunnam but I could definitely see (and would definitely love to see) him as Jaime!
AnonymousQuote Reply
These’s fine choices, but shouldn’t he at least have a faint resemblance to Cersei? Will what the actors look like affect the casting of the twins? Or no?
The MomeQuote Reply
The guy at the bottom looks pretty right.
I keep wanting Jesse Spencer but I think this only makes sense in my head, no one else’s.
AnonymousQuote Reply
If they pick Peter Dinklage as Tyrion (He is ideal, if his past roles are any indicator) than perhaps all these actors are too young! Jaime is supposed to be older than Tyrion as I recall. Makeup does wonders though…
AnonymousQuote Reply
As much as I love Kevin McKidd, I don’t think he’s entirely right for this role. On the other hand, that last guy has *just* the look I imagine for Jaime.
coaldustcanaryQuote Reply
I gotta agree th choice gotta be connected to whom will get chosen for Cersei as they gotta have some resemplence, so its hard to choose Jaime without chosing Cersei.
If i had to choose thou it would be McKidd, he can provide the presence that Jaime has and can look the part.
AnonymousQuote Reply
As a Brit, can I suggest that you don’t go for the obvious “good=American, evil=British” stereotype? It does get a bit wearing after the last… oooh… fifteen years?
El Pollo DiabloQuote Reply
Isn’t Jaime 32 at the start of GoT? That makes everybody on your list but Hunnam right for him, age-wise. As for whether casting Dinklage as Tyrion should make for an even older Jaime, presumably PD will be under so much makeup that his age won’t be a factor.
jeanjeanieQuote Reply
Plus they’ll need to find an actor who’s willing to get his hand cut off.
AnonymousQuote Reply
@jeanjeanie:
I always thought he was in his late 20′s. I could be wrong though. Either way, any actor in his late 20s to mid 30s could pull off the role.
WinterIsComingQuote Reply
Personally, I like Kevin McKidd for Ned, as weird as that may sound. If he wants to keep acting in other things at the conclusion of the first season, that wouldn’t be a problem. He would need to be aged a bit with makeup and the like (longer hair would go a long way, too), but having seen him act in Rome, I don’t doubt that he has the emotional range for Ned and right now, he’s who I see when I imagine Ned Stark executing the Watch “deserter” in the first chapter.
As for the Kingslayer, Penry-Jones looks the part the most and seems to be relatively well muscled as well, which is a definite must for Jaime Lancaster.
AnonymousQuote Reply
El Pollo Diablo,
Benioff and Weiss have already stated that most of the actors cast in the series will be from the UK. So that should help avoid that stereotype. As such I’ve been attempting to find actors that are UK-based in all my casting posts.
WinterIsComingQuote Reply
Alexander Skarsgård, YES! AGREED!!! Amazing role in True Blood!
Dave BrownellQuote Reply
First, @El Pollo, who says Jamie Lannister is evil. I don’t see him that way, particularly after ASoS.
Secondly, why do so many people who have previously been in HBO series (particularly Tru Blood and Rome) keep popping up in these casting discussions? Is there some benefit to this that I’m not seeing? I’d prefer they get the right person for the job regardless of what shows they’ve acted in before.
AnonymousQuote Reply
These ones are too young…
Aaron Eckhart (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001173/mediaindex) would suit much more for Jaime Lannister role!
VaisensQuote Reply
I think Neil Jackson can play down his age enough, and he looks like a Jaimie Lannister. Josh Holloway though? I don’t see it at all. Sawyer is too stereotypical bad boy, and too rugged. Part of the distaste people feel toward Jaimie is that he looks the part a graceful noble, and a perfect knight, and then taints that image with his actions and his indignant personality.
BrettQuote Reply
jesse spencer!
miriamQuote Reply
There is only one actor who can really play Jaime Lannister.
Alexander Skarsgard.
Check him out. He’s PERFECT and dripping hotness everywhere. Plus he is an HBO veteran – he’s from Six Feet Under and True Blood, which means he’s probably a good actor and also quite used to being naked and hot. :D
SunnyQuote Reply
I like Josh Holloway for the part, he’s really got the look and the swagger and the fire that Jaime has. But I also like Hunnam. He’s really, really good-looking and yet can play a conniving SoB too!! He has the really handsome golden-boy thing going on that Jaime has. But maybe he’s too young… though, if they cast Diane Krueger, Rosamund Pike (etc) as Cersei, then he’s a great option. He would not work with Helfer though. But I’d personally love to see Hunnam’s very fit naked bum
I really dislike McKidd and Jackson! And I HATE Skarsgard, I wish people would stop with Skarsgard. Besides, he’s on True Blood, he’s too busy.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Ignoring the fact Josh Holloway can’t play any character other than sleazy texan yokel, the guy can’t act. He can’t put on an English accent. He is horrible for this part.
AnonymousQuote Reply
My top 3 choices are:
1. Eric Johnson – He was awesome as Flash Gordon. I think he’s got what it takes to be Jaime.
2. Daniel Gillies – I wished he had a larger part in Spider-Man 2. He looks like Jaime. I think he could do it.
3. Brad Beyer – This guy was awesome in Jericho and I’d like to see him come back as Jaime.
High and Mighty JeffreyQuote Reply
I think Kevin McKidd could be really feckin’ awesome as Randyll Tarly, but I’m not seeing him as Jaime.
AnonymousQuote Reply
I’ve always pictured Jaime as Gale Harold (Vanished, Desperate Housewives, Queer as Folk…). I think he has that “smile that cut like a knife”…
AnonymousQuote Reply
I have high doubts concerning the choice of an actor for Jaime's role. So far none of the candidates hits me as a good Jaime, not here, nor in Westeros forums. He is possibly the most difficult to cast. Jaime is a very difficult role, he is a badass first (but NOT in Sawyer-style), and little by little he becomes less so but he does not become a total goody-goody. So real acting is required. Secondly, Jaime is beautiful but also masculine. That's a very difficult combination. Maybe I'm alone in my tastes, but most of the Jaime-suggestions are not beautiful to my eyes. Nor are they ugly, they're just ordinary looking peaople. But we need a radiant beau, classical looks with an edge. The only actor of my knowledge who is talented and handsome enough, (without being too girly or soft etc.) is Russian actor Daniil Strakhov (check him out: http://www.dstrahov.com/index_eng.html), but he isn't sadly & of course available, we need English-speaking and someone younger.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Oooops, he isn’t that old after all, but the language thing is still there
AnonymousQuote Reply
My choice for Jaime is Philip Winchester. He looks the part, does a perfect British accent- he’s American but studied at the Royal Acadamy of Drama in London. Oh and he can act, which is important for this character since he changes quite a bit over time. He played Robinson Carusoe in the NBC show ‘Carusoe’ that was dropped, but wasn’t a bad series.
Also had a major part in the film ‘Flyboys’.
IMBD photos of Philip Winchester:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0934618/
fitheachQuote Reply
Jamie Bamber. British. Blonde. Famous for a certain nerdy TV role.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Sorry, I know appearances aren’t everything, but Jamie Bamber’s way too short.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Awe COME ON!!! What are you people thinking!?
Brad Pitt is obviously the only option.
(i kid, i kid… a girl can dream can’t she?)
ValonqarQuote Reply
http://musclemeasure.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/brad-pitt-troy-02.jpg
do you think he’s available?
ValonqarQuote Reply
Paul Bettany will make a perfect Jaime.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Anyone though about Karl Urban for Jaime? He was the guy who played Eomer in Lord of the Rings
AnonymousQuote Reply