Another casting post and another tough decision for the producers. Bran, as listed in the script, is 8 years old. They will most likely cast someone a bit older that looks younger. They can’t be too old though as you can’t have the actor going through puberty at a time when Bran is still only supposed to be 9 or 10 years old. So it will be a tough task finding a 10-11 year old that can pull off the role. Bran is mature beyond his years and they will need to find an actor that can accurately portray that. Let’s take a look at the choices.
Alex Etel – The young English actor from such films as Millions and The Water Horse. Etel has shown he is a talented actor. He also seems to have that “mature beyond his years” characteristic. Unfortunately, his age has now caught up to his maturity level. Having just turned 14, he is probably now too old for the role. Unless they decide to age up Bran much more than the version of the script I have calls for, he is probably not a good fit.
Bill Milner – Milner made his acting debut in the British comedy, Son of Rambow. He has since starred in a few made-for-TV movies and a short. I think he has the talent and the right look. Unfortunately IMDb doesn’t list his birthdate, so it is unknown how old he is. In Son of Rambow he plays a ten-year-old, so I would assume he was around 10 at the time of filming that movie. Which would most likely make him 12 or 13 now. Possibly a bit too old to play Bran.
Asa Butterfield – Butterfield also appeared in Son of Rambow, however his breakout role was in The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas. His performance showed he has the acting talent to pull off this role. He is also, at around 10 years old, the perfect age. Plus, I think he has a good look for Bran. Young and innocent, but with a hint of sadness and seriousness. One potential problem would be his appearance on the BBC series Merlin. It looks like he has only been in one episode so far, but if that were to become a recurring role he would likely be out of the running.
Ellis Hollins – The youngest actor on this list, he still has the most acting experience, having appeared on the British soap Hollyoaks since he was a 1 year old. The past couple years he has won awards and critical acclaim for his acting on the show. He is the exact age that is called for in the script, so assuming they keep a steady filming schedule, there shouldn’t be any issues with him aging too fast. He could be a great fit, if they decide to go for an 8 year old actor and not someone a few years older.Despite all our speculation and research into potential candidates, my guess is most of the child roles will probably go to unknown actors. It is easier to cast a talented unknown than it would be to try and get a successful young actor in for the role. An open casting call will give them lots of young actors to choose from and all of them would be cheaper than an already established child actor. Hopefully we will start getting some casting decisions soon, so we can begin to see what direction Benioff and Weiss will be going with this.
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53 Comments
I think that this might very well be THE most difficult casting. You have to find a child actor who has the acting chops to spend most of the time as a cripple. That will be insanely difficult.
OmagusQuote Reply
I hate to say it, but Bill Milner is not cute enough for Bran; Bill has more of a scrappy look. He wouldn’t be believable as the child of Kat and Ned. Ellis’ red hair is out unless it can be dyed dark.
AnonymousQuote Reply
It’s going to be almost impossible to find decent child/young actors with the requisite physiques. Bran won’t be much of a problem, but Jon and Rob especially will need to be fairly athletic to be believable.
I suppose that goes for everyone in the show though… It’s a pity HBO can’t make them go live in a castle and do 4 hours of sword training a day for 6 months before filming :)
AnonymousQuote Reply
Milner was reported as 12 in March 2008, so he is probably either 13 now or near enough.
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3672031/Son-of-Rambow-ready-for-action.html
NinepennyQuote Reply
Freddie Highmore anyone?
AnonymousQuote Reply
I saw Asa Butterfield in Merlin, and he’s pretty close to what I imagined Bran to look like and behave. He really has that solemn melancholy about him.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Ninepenny: Thanks for the clarification. Seems I was pretty close then.
Anon: Highmore would have been great, about five years ago. He is almost 17 now. And he looks it, he is really tall and gangly.
WinterIsComingQuote Reply
Yeah, Asa Butterfield could be a contender. Bran also doesn’t have the most intensive of storylines (or rather he doesn’t have as much screen-time as say Jon, Dany or Tyrion) so it could be fitted in around his appearances on MERLIN. As he’s playing Mordred, I think it’s safe to say he will reappear. However, there are suggestions that MERLIN will have to start skipping ahead chunks of time, in which case the role may have to be recast. Possibly not for the second season, but maybe later.
Ellis Hollins is a decent child actor, but he has two problems for this role: first, his northern accent is fairly pronounced. Unless they change all of the Starks to northerners, that won’t really work. More importantly, he is still on Hollyoaks and the schedule is pretty demanding (he appeared in 80 episodes in 2008, for example) so unless he left, it’s unlikely he could do AGoT at the same time.
Adam WhiteheadQuote Reply
This is one occasion where I want a known child actor. The open casting calls often seem to end badly. Some of the actors in the Harry Potter films have been very poor indeed. Even Radcliffe was naff to begin with. Getting a tried and tested actor might help to ensure they don’t mess it up. On the other hand I really don’t know anything about child actor’s…
Must get me a profile, I have posted lots of times now!
AnonymousQuote Reply
I assume the originator of most of these actor “samplings” is British – it’s obvious that most of the choices are.
I suspect it’s significant that HBO is predominately a US organization – and therefore choices might be made of those closer to home.
AnonymousQuote Reply
I know that on the Rome commentary the producers of that show said that in child casting they go for the ones who can act not the ones that looked the best for the part. They talked about seeing hundreds of kids even for pretty minor roles. The small kids (Bran, Rickon, Aarya, Sansa) will most likely be open casting call. However I have faith that HBO will get the kids right.
dizzyQuote Reply
Anonymous6, I’m assuming you haven’t been following any of this blog or else you’d know that HBO is teaming with BBC for this project, and the pilot at least will almost certainly be shot in the UK…
AnonymousQuote Reply
“I suspect it’s significant that HBO is predominately a US organization – and therefore choices might be made of those closer to home.”
Highly unlikely. The series will almost certainly be shot in UK (it’s about a 90% lock, I believe) and for tax and logistical reasons the majority of the cast will be British. This is the same situation as on BAND OF BROTHERS in which a lot of the American soldiers were actually British actors doing superb accents.
Whilst some of the roles may be played by Americans, the child actors will almost certainly be British due to laws and limitations on how long a child actor can spend on set per day and what schooling they must receive.
Adam WhiteheadQuote Reply
Bran, like Sansa and Robb, is supposed to have blue eyes and auburn hair. I hope they stick pretty close to the representations of the characters in the books.
AnonymousQuote Reply
He’s probably too old for the role now, but Kodi Smit-McPhee of Romolus, My Father fame would have been perfect for the role.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Anon: I always thought he had more Tully coloring too, but I haven’t been able to find confirmation of that. Do you know where in the books it gives a description of Bran? I looked in the beginning of GoT but didn’t find anything.
WinterIsComingQuote Reply
I’m not sure, but you’d most likely find it in an early Jon or Arya chapter, since they probably noticed it since they have the Stark look. Also, an early Catelyn chapter might have it. I also seem to remember Catelyn mentioning it to Brienne once, maybe when she has dinner with her when after she finds out that Bran and Rickon are dead.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Anon: Thanks! My wife, who is now reading the series for the first time, actually found it. It is in one of the early Catelyn chapters where she mentions how Bran, Robb and Sansa look more like her. That would mean as far as looks go, Hollins is the best choice.
WinterIsComingQuote Reply
I agree that Bill Milner and Asa Butterfield would both be great as Bran.
High and Mighty JeffreyQuote Reply
Ah-ha! So I was watching a film tonight. the whole movie I was admiring the performance of a young child actor, whose somber role is executed perfectly. Then suddenly I was reminded of this blog and it hit me: Dillon Freasier of “There will Be Blood” would make an outstanding Bran. Take note, I haven’t done a whole lot of looking into this, but I did think it was worth mentioning. Dillon would be about 13 right now, and might be just what’s needed.
BrianQuote Reply
I agree with Brian…Dillon Freasier is the PERFECT choice for Bran…good thinking….can’t believe I didn’t think of him
coltaine777Quote Reply
my son has been up for the casting of Bran, he would be perfect, I just hope he get’s the chance when he is up against all these established young actor’s
sueQuote Reply
My son has just been invited to an audition for the role of Ban.
But it sounds like auditions have already been held.
I am new to this how does it work?
How do you find out when and where the casting is taking place for these things?
LEONAQuote Reply
yeh im up for sansa, but people have already had auditions and callbacks and rejections, so i wonder how they are doing it…
AnonymousQuote Reply
@Leona and Anon above: where are you from? This bit of info may help us get the bigger picture. Thanks for sharing.
MarkoQuote Reply
london
AnonymousQuote Reply
my son went for an audition about 4 week's ago and then a recall 2 week's ago for Bran, his agent said not to expect to hear any thing until about September time, all the blog's seem to think casting the chil roles will be over by end of June, just waiting to hear,we are from Dorset but went to London for casting's, which agent are you with?
sueQuote Reply
Leona, has your son been called up for the casting, his agent should tell you where to go and when, you should have the pilot script too so that your son can learn Bran's part, we were asked to be pretty well word perfect for the recall, wish we would here something but I guess no new's is good new's at this stage.
sueQuote Reply
sue: Wow, September huh? That seems a bit late considering they are scheduled to start filming on Oct. 12. Doesn't leave much time for you and your son to work your schedules around the filming.
WinterIsComingQuote Reply
I have got used to not knowing what I am doing until the day before, you have to be really available in this business at the drop of a hat,I haven't thought about actually what to do if, don't want to tempt fate, I know everything will just fall into place IF it happen's, would be absolutely amazing.
sueQuote Reply
Yeah, I guess that is the nature of the business. Anyway, I hope for your sake and the sake of all the fans waiting anxiously for any casting news, that the decision comes at the end of June and not Sept!
WinterIsComingQuote Reply
Sue, all this is very interesting we are very new to this. What agent are you with? We are being put forward by my sons acting group and don't have an agent. Will happily tell you anything I learn after Wednesdays audition. We have been sent 4 pages of script to learn??
LEONAQuote Reply
We are with doreenenglish95, good luck, I guess this mean's the audition's are still ongoing,where are you going for it , we went to aBaptist church for the first one and a studio just off Marylebone rd for the recall, let me know how you get on,
sueQuote Reply
I agree, I don't think that there will be a definate cast by the end of June, considering that they still haven't cast many people, and there are still ongoing auditions and its almost the end of June…
Good luck Sue and Leona!
AnonymousQuote Reply
Hi, really interesting to find this site. My son is going for the Bran audition tomorrow, again four pages of script and we only got it last night! Quite new to all this, he did the new Sainsburys ad a couple of months ago(victorian boy at start)and since then started acting! I will visit back to see how this works out. Good Luck, Bec.
AnonymousQuote Reply
how old are the boy's going up for Bran today? I wonder if they are going to cast them older, in which case maybe the younger ones will get called up for Rickon instead?
sueQuote Reply
Sue: It depends on whether this is Kellog's or Post brand Bran. I prefer Post because it uses the finest dried raisins.
AnonymousQuote Reply
anon: thanks for the tip!! I have a nice BM with your name on it.
acronymic tendenciesQuote Reply
Sue, my son is 7, small and cute. Or so people tell me. I am not familiar with the characters nor the audititon procedure but I will let you know if I learn anything today Bec.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Leona, let me know how the casting went, how old is your son? are you with Stagecoach, and Anon, let me know how your casting went too, I am amazaed they are looking to cast possibly younger than the story age.
sueQuote Reply
"I am amazaed they are looking to cast possibly younger than the story age."
Merely musing, but first the pilot gets shot, produced…by the time the first season gets around to being shot he might pretty weell be Brans age in the book, and for each succeeding season would have to play furter and further below his real age..
IMHO
Thoros of Myr
AnonymousQuote Reply
Sue, my son is 10. Not much to report other than being produced by american company? Bec, are you in the midalnds and is your son called Thomas?
LEONAQuote Reply
so it look's like they are still looking for any age roughly around 7-10 then, wish we would hurry up and hear something,let me know any new's Leona and Bec,
sueQuote Reply
Err, has anyone actually watched Ellis Hollins in Hollyoaks? I've watched that soap on and off for years, and no one on it can act! Just cos the show means he has more years under his acting belt than other kids doesn't actually make him any good! I'm hoping for an unknown myself, lets discover someone instead!
AnonymousQuote Reply
Leona, yes we are, yes it is Thomas are you with the workshop? Is your son Max? Not a great deal to report audition seemed to go fine. Far too inexperienced really know what to expect! Hope all went well for you. Bec.
BecQuote Reply
which workshop are you guy's with? My son, Freddy has private drama lesson's and is very new to all this too, he's good though, I would say that I guess, but I can really see him as Bran, bright blue eyes, dark blonde, hair almost tingeing with red, who know's , I just wish we would hear something, how are you fixed for the long period of filming in Ireland if it came to it? keep in touch Leona and Bec,
sueQuote Reply
Hi Bec. Yes we are with the workshop but no my son is Matt with the red hair. I shall give him my email address to pass on to Thomas on Saturday and maybe we can chat?
Audition seemed to go really well. All I have discovered is that the pilot is being filmed by HBO? As with most of these you hear if you have got through to the next stage and you hear nothing if you have not?????? Good luck everyone
LEONAQuote Reply
Leona which workshop are you both with?
sueQuote Reply
Hi Leona, would be nice to chat. I will send Thomas with my email on Saturday although I will look out for you outside. Becky.
becQuote Reply
has anyone heard anything yet, good or bad, I have been told it look's like no one from our agency has a part,so my son won't be Bran, quite fedup about that.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Has anyone heard anything yet about who got the part of Bran? My son was also up for it!!!
TaraQuote Reply
Have not heard anything to date. Becky, sorry I missed you catch you when we get back. Leona
LEONAQuote Reply
That is Incredible!! I am working hard now. I am going to check back often! =]
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