George R. R. Martin confirms in his recent Not A Blog post that auditioning is currently underway. Interestingly he mentions LA as a location that they are holding auditions, as well as Ireland and London. Could this mean we may get another American actor after all? Below is the excerpt dealing with the auditions. Be sure to read the whole blog post though if you want to see some funny South Park/Game of Thrones-related humor.
Yes, HBO has been holding auditions for the pilot of A GAME OF THRONES. In London, in Ireland, even in LA.
Winter Is Coming: I’m not sure what to make of this news. Perhaps Benioff and Weiss didn’t like some of the UK-based options for a certain role and wanted to look in the States as well? Or maybe they want to find those actors that live in LA but are from the UK and have an Equity membership? Someone like Sasha Jackson, for example.
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87 Comments
Sasha Jackson . . . interesting choice. Maybe, Dany? She certainly has the looks for the role. Can she act, though?
AnonymousQuote Reply
"Perhaps Benioff and Weiss didn't like some of the UK-based options for a certain role and wanted to look in the States as well? "
It's much more likely they just wanted more options.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Please, Sasha Jackson does not look like a young girl.
AnonymousQuote Reply
She is pretty hot… brunette her up and she could play a fairly decent Tyrell (whats the name of Loras sister again?). But Dany? Too old…
João MarceloQuote Reply
I agree with above. I would, as i am sure many others, would be extremely irritated if they cast her as Dany. Same goes for the other Characters, and out of place Castings.
AnonymousQuote Reply
I don't understand why everyone thinks all these actors are going to be "exact age" to the characters they play. Hello? This is HBO. There will be nudity (and in the case of Dany, alot of it.) Therefore, I think it's obvious that they will cast a young woman 18-20 for her part.
AnonymousQuote Reply
i'm pretty sure they already said most but not all actors would be UK-based. so it's not a surprise that they're holding auditions in LA.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Please Sasha Jackson cannot be cast! Her eyes are totally misaligned. I thought we established that.
AnonymousQuote Reply
I wouldn't imagine Equity membership means they have to be from the UK. If you're a working actor and are cast I imagine it wouldn't be hard to get your union card.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Maybe they are casting a big name in L.A. for the role of Ned…
gabalQuote Reply
Or maybe you could stop being jerks and realise that some British actors live in LA. and we are just as good as any Yank.
Or, y'know, it could have been a joke, considering the rest of the content of that post.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Finally, they are considering Brad Pitt for Ned (they'll dye his hair duh). Benioff must be asserting his influence.
Anonymous RomanticQuote Reply
"I don't understand why everyone thinks all these actors are going to be "exact age" to the characters they play. Hello? This is HBO. There will be nudity (and in the case of Dany, alot of it.) Therefore, I think it's obvious that they will cast a young woman 18-20 for her part."
Uh, Hello? You totally missed the point. I understand the people who are cast wont be the exact age. What I said was that she does not look like a young girl. Sasha is full figured and doesn't look young enough, therefore she should not be cast as Dany.
AnonymousQuote Reply
As suggested in the other thread, he may well be referring to Dinklage when he mentions casting taking place in LA, as opposed to new casting decisions being made.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Sasha Jackson was my Cersei for a while. I was never totally happy with her in that part. She looks too modern. I have Sophia Myles now.
As for the role of Dany, obviously they're going to cast someone over 19 for it, but a 29-year-old? No way. She's got to have at least a little innocence of youth. My Dany is Gemma Ward.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1801841/
JoshQuote Reply
Man Australia is great.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Seeing people propose Sasha Jackson for both Dany and Cersei is a sure signal to me that she's not right for either role. Dany is a young girl just past puberty while Cersei is a voluptuous woman in her 30s. Simply put, Cersei could be Dany's mother and any actress proposed for both roles is clearly wrong for either role.
AnonymousQuote Reply
gabal: I like the way you are thinking. Some potential big-name actors for Ned that are LA-based, UK-born:
Daniel Day-Lewis
Sean Bean
Gary Oldman
Jeremy Irons
I'm sure there are more.
WinterIsComingQuote Reply
WIC: Big name actors doesn't mean movie stars. It's a TV show. You should thinking about TV stars. There are many talented and well known TV actors as well.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Good picks Josh. Gemma Ward has the innocent & young look I'd like to see them cast for Dany even though she's old enough for risque scenes.
http://fashionista.com/images/Gemma%20Ward.jpg
ValonqarQuote Reply
There are tons of ex-pat actors from the UK and Ireland living and working in L.A. A good friend of mine from Ireland has been there a decade and is a very good working actor (he could easily play any number of roles in the series, really).
Also, there's no point in entirely limiting themselves from casting U.S. actors – D&D said it was likely most of the rest of the cast would be from the U.K., not necessarily all of them.
The thing I want to know out of that post on GRRM's page is, will we be seeing South Park spoofs (or at least references) of the Ice & Fire series? I'm still not clear if those pics were done by the South Park guys or if it was just a fan creation, or something.
BrudeQuote Reply
But Gemma Ward's eyes are misaligned! ;)
dizzyQuote Reply
It would be an amazingly awesome :) publicity if South Park guys did spoof AGOT. Maybe when the first season begins to air and the show is generating huge acclaim.
ThorQuote Reply
I don't know if Gemma's eyes are misaligned but she's got a much bigger problem. She is got a glass eye!
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3908147200/nm1801841
Can you guess which one? Anyway, she can't be part of this production. Only perfect tens need apply.
Anonymous RomanticQuote Reply
Gemma Ward is very exotic looking….I could see her as Dany but can she act and does she have aligned eyes?…Bardamu were are you LOL
coltaine777Quote Reply
GRRM posted video game info for those interested.
Getting RPG and RTS games. Sounds awsome!
dizzyQuote Reply
I think it would be a huge mistake to hire American actors for GAME unless they have both deep Shakespearean experience and can do a superb British accent like Dinklage. There are a huge amount of Brit actors currently working in LA: James Purefoy, Hugh Laurie, Ray Stevenson, Ian McShane, Damien Lewis, Polly Walker, Kevin McKidd, Dominic Monaghan…in fact, it's hard to think of a current American TV show that doesn't have a British actor in it. When it comes to casting, bear in mind that George Martin's favourite show is the HBO/BBC show ROME so expect a few actors from that show to pop up in casting, especially as GAME OF THRONES will also be a HBO/BBC show.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Did someone mention Daniel Day-Lewis?! He's an amazing actor and i would love to see him get into the role of Ned. I don't think he'd ever jump to a HBO series but i can keep my fingers crossed.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Anon: Yeah, he is my dream Ned. Chances he would be cast are slim to none. Although Parris, George's long time girlfriend, has stated that he is her top choice as well. So maybe she would be able to use her influence to at least get Benioff & Weiss to pursue him.
WinterIsComingQuote Reply
A friend of mine told me they were auditioning in london today and an actor he knows called Tom Payne went in for Vis… Can't remember what he said viseries or something.
AnonymousQuote Reply
To the unhappy British-actor Anonymous:
Please assume goodwill. I don't think anyone was being jerkish at all. Ignorant, perhaps, which you quickly remedied, but I hardly think it's a matter of being rude.
AoedeQuote Reply
I googled Tom Payne and think he could pull off Viserys looks-wise. I wonder what he looks like with platinum blonde hair. He has cool eyes and him and Gemma Ward wouldn't be unbelievable as bro and sis.
http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTIzMTQ4MDE0OV5BMl5BanBnXkFyZXN1bWU@._V1._SX267_SY400_.jpg
There. I've cast my Targaryens.
ValonqarQuote Reply
Agreed, I think Tom Payne has got the gaunt features and the bright eyes for the role. I can definately picture him as a manic, temperamental and obsessive Viserys.
Gemma Ward looks the part for Dany. Is she Brit equity though? Anyone think she is a realistic shot or is it just pure conjecture?
JGQuote Reply
Anon: Assuming that is true, that would be a good choice. I had actually pegged Payne as Theon in one of my earlier blog posts, but Viserys works just as well.
WinterIsComingQuote Reply
Gemma Ward. I like her face: It's void of expression, emotion, and thought. It just says, "play with me", dirty-like.
Her eyes of as big and dumb as Ostrich eggs (and noticeably misaligned).
Her list of credits is really impressive; three roles in 8 years. In one of them she actually plays a named character, with actual lines to "speak".
I have the highest hopes that she will nab a lead role in Game of Thrones to see her nipples getting pinched. But if I end up seeing her in porn instead, well that's fine too.
Shooting too high, but I think Dakota Blue Richards is a fine young actress, and would make an excellent Sansa, though she does have a problem smiling.
bardamuQuote Reply
Daniel Day-Lewis: I'm sure he's an above average actor at least, but I did notice it was not easy for the makeup people to make him look ugly instead of a pretty boy–especially as the lead role in There Will Be Blood, from which he won an Oscar in a minor category–Best acting performance, I think. So yeah, the next logical step in his career is probably an HBO series.
Bilbo Baggins the HobbitQuote Reply
Anon wrote: "..it would be a huge mistake to hire Americans unless they have deep Shakespearean experience… and can do a superb British accent "— Prepare to be disappointed a little–c'mon man, it's show business, not theater. They only need quasi-Shakespearean "RPG"-speak, it doesn't matter what the accent is. I mean, what kind of accent will the Sand Vipers have? quasi-Mediterranean English? You bet. And in the East? You've got it all figured out, I am assuming.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Sam Neill's performance in The Tudors–it just fucking killed. If only there were more Sam Neills in the world: With big name, internationally recognizable face, and accomplished, powerful acting ability. That's the kind of guy they need for the short Ned role to kickstart the series. So, yeah gabal, I'm with you there.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Anon: Sam Neill's Tudors character role/script was a drop in the bucket, an excellent role that could be pulled off by anyone with half a brain. So this big name actor read it and thought, why not, we'll do it between regularly scheduled tea time. Is Ned's role as tragic? Depends on the script.
AnonymousQuote Reply
DDLewis is a phenomenal actor, one of my favourites. But the rain on the parade:
a- he's probably too old to play Ned (52)
b- he makes a film every three years, so would he really commit to a season with HBO?
Jakub BlackfyreQuote Reply
Totally dude, GRRM isn't Shakespeare yo.
AnonymousQuote Reply
If they got Daniel Day Lewis that would be a huge coup. All of a sudden it's not just another fantasy it's something that the average tv watchers would pay attention to from the get go. To get an oscar winning actor (a damn good one) as your lead for the show would lend instant credibility to your show. Now do I think they can do that? Probably not, but he would be one of my top choices too.
dizzyQuote Reply
If Daniel Day-Lewis refused to be Aragorn, what makes you think he'd be Ned?
As for age, any actor between 35 (but able to look older) and 55 (but looking a bit younger) would be fine. The guy I kept seeing in my head while reading was Liam Neeson (but he's too old now).
JoshQuote Reply
I think there is no better actor for the role of Ned than Daniel Day Lewis….I think the chances of landing him are slim and none…
coltaine777Quote Reply
I don't think Ned will be a particularly challenging role. If they get a big name for Ned, it will only be for advertising and prestige. I don't know that someone like Daniel Day Lewis, who seems to do all ridiculously challenging work in indie-type films, would be interested in something like that…
wabawangaQuote Reply
fuck this, they will ruin the novel saga. this people need to be more original and dont fuck everygood novel out there…
AnonymousQuote Reply
If Dominic West doesn't play Ned I'll be pissed.
He's perfect for the role in every way.
AnonymousQuote Reply
If my favorite actors don't get a part, I'll have a tantrum. Wah wah wah.
Game of Thrones is perfect for THEM, not the OTHER way around. I'm a big fat baby.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Yes, Dominic West has boyish good looks, but can he act (I'm not sure about the precision of the perfect symmetry of his eyes)?
After all, and I quote (from Game of Thrones): << "This fortnight, I wear Cat's undergarments, to be sure," said Ned. "For it helps me think about honors and duties while galavanting in the godwood." >>
Bilbo Baggins the HobbitQuote Reply
She could play that girl who does Jamie right after his hand is cut off. The one who ends up ganged raped and has her mouth smashed up.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Hewwo, I just wanted to peep my head into here to say hi to everyone!
And guess what? I had a funny thought! I was looking at Sasha Jackson's website and the colors and theme of the homepage reminded me of anti-depressant commercials found between sexy pages of a women's diet magazine, and there in the middle of it was a pic of Sasha. Tee hee! Warning: may cause eye misalignment.
PS. If I was a casting director, I would "Discover" Action Jackson, like, often and plenty.. coz she is SO DAMN PRETTY.
SASHA FOR CATELYN STARK! VIVENT LES IRELANDERS!
bardamuQuote Reply
I am so happy that they are doing a movie for SoIaF!!!! I hope they get signed! I hope the pilot gets leaked on YouTube!!!!
AnonymousQuote Reply
Freakjob-of-the-week bardammu kills me. He's like Brude, except without the whole making sense thing.
He's funny though. Keep posting, man.
About Yea HighQuote Reply
And I just misspelled "bardamu." Maybe if he'd capitalized his name…
(Or, that's just an excuse on my part.)
About Yea HighQuote Reply
I'm a fan of the George R. R. Martin books. Well, my nephews are. But I heard they were great, if you're into that sort of thing. Anyway, I heard a rumor I thought I'd put on the internet in case it is helpful at all.
I heard from a very reliable source that the dwarf in the series had been cast, and also Marie Combs was signed on to play Catelyn Stark.
I hope this helps. Larry
LarryQuote Reply
No way!!? Larry, did you also happen to hear about how some of the stars of High School Musical were going to be involved in this? Check some of the other comments on this blog, there is a wellspring of insider info here.
ThorQuote Reply
"fuck this, they will ruin the novel saga. this people need to be more original and dont fuck everygood novel out there…"
I would agree with you normally but HBO has a very good reputation for producing very good quality series. I would go as far as to say series-wise that HBO produces them the best. I'm not saying that HBO doesn't flop a show every so often, but it's very rare.
RerQuote Reply
"I heard from a very reliable source that the dwarf in the series had been cast, "
How can you troll the comments and not know this? GRRM even said Dinklage is cast as Tyrion, come on dude! It's even in the side bar of the front page!!?!??
RerQuote Reply
Ugh Rome wasn't even historically correct. Pretty shitty show.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Whatya talking about? Rome was an excellent show (and my favorite). Although I'm not sure many of the actors fit well with GoT. Maybe James Purefoy… Kevin McKidd might make a good Ned, although I'm still rooting for Sean Bean. I'm pretty sure he's in Germany filming a Medieval movie at the moment…
I think Rachel Hurd-Wood should be Dany, not Sansa. And what about Katie McGrath (Merlin)? She's pretty and Irish.
(The Rome theme song just started playing… creeeepy)
SarikaQuote Reply
Rer, i know hbo makes really good series, but i just hate when a good book its sold to the big screen, it just destroys all the characters of the book in my imagination, they corrupt them. An all for the fucking money, its sad. Lets see who will be the next tom bombadil…
AnonymousQuote Reply
"Check some of the other comments on this blog, there is a wellspring of insider info here."
MWAHHHHAhahahahaha… man, that was funny.. that's too much.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Anon: So don't watch the show? YOU DO HAVE A CHOICE
AnonymousQuote Reply
I'm miss the days (about 3 weeks ago) when there weren't as many trolls around here. What gives?
dizzyQuote Reply
When the site was reconstructed it included a lot of bridges?
AnonymousQuote Reply
LOL must be some of the cool Facebook and twitter people creeping in.
ThorQuote Reply
dizzy: Not sure. Comes with the increased traffic, I guess. I've thought about turning off anonymous comments, but I know quite a few regular posters don't have Blogger, LiveJournal, AIM, etc. accounts so I don't want to lock them out as well.
WinterIsComingQuote Reply
I have only been here for the last few weeks, so I don't know what it was like before, and I'm probably one of the awful trolls that are ruining the once peaceful community. But even for some of the really nasty posts, you gotta take the good and the bad and be happy with it. It is the Internet after all. Grrm has a lot of fans with different backgrounds. They can't be all drunken masters of the soiaf arts. At least the comments aren't as dumb as YouTube misstyped incoherent nonsense here. Plus it's kind of lively here even during dryspells. I spoke with the village shaman and he said clouds are coming to water the soil. I hope soon!
AnonymousQuote Reply
I have it from a very reliable source that due to the rough economy Dinklage is playing all the rolls in a one man show.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Hmm, seems that Day Lewis is a popular choice. I guess I just have a clear picture in my mind of Ned being 10-15 years younger than Daniel looks.
That said, he's a phenomenal talent and would bring a lot to the role.
Having a big-name actor for one part would be a huge factor in getting the show signed up, in my humble opinion. And the ideal part for the Marquee name would surely be Ned.
For other key parts, talented lesser/un-known actors would be fine, and in the cases of the Stark kids probably essential.
Jakub BlackfyreQuote Reply
If you think about it, GRRM's post about auditions in L.A. is the best news a casting speculation site could get after being limited to British Equity, because it allows fans to cast anyone they dream again. I think Winter pointed out that Martin could have been joking, but I don't think so.
Before that post, we here had a speculation framework for a bit that included a heavy British vibe, which kind of set a lot of incorrect rumors in motion (if you believe GRRM's LA comment), and because of the fact of the shooting location being Ireland.
Personally from reading the books, I never imagined that Westeros was a United Kingdoms-like land. Definitely medieval, but with a modernity that seemed free of the A Once and Future King vibe–in short, more American, less British. More pedestrian, less noble, less polite.
Now SoIaF is written by an American from New Jersey, and is much more abstract than Once And Future King, and LOTR, though of course it still uses a strong high fantasy medieval theme which is an automatic British accent. But you have to wonder: Will we always tie the imagined medieval language with this type of fantasy?
I think that an actor with Shakespearean background is a mark of serious and skillful acting, but an actor's CV can show skill in other ways. We'd all agree we simply want strong actors to take on roles, even if GoT isn't Shakespeare.
Viewers associate the British accent with the middle-ages, monarchies, etc, while the US accent is relatively modern–again, more pedestrian. So it isn't going against the grain too much to put any kind of modern accents while using the script.
I would prefer the GoT series be easily accessible to me, an American, without having to put on the subtitles to understand. I think (or hope) producers know this, and will enjoy placing Americans within a mostly UK ensemble. But, whatever happens, I'm betting it's going to have a British vibe at its core because that is part of the high fantasy aesthetic.
anonymuffQuote Reply
Don't get me wrong Winter, I'm all for more traffic to your site. I enjoy coming here and reading well thought out comments from your readers. I just don't want it to turn into AICN talkbacks but I know that's a losing cause.
dizzyQuote Reply
Maybe they should go with Canadian accents. They are in the North afterall…
dizzyQuote Reply
"The things I do for love, eh…"
dizzyQuote Reply
Was thinking the folks at the Wall should have a Fargo accent blended with some Cockney.
AnonymousQuote Reply
I have read many posts stating that the actors have to be members of the British Equity, what limits the casting. Checking the Equity's webpage I have found that they admit visiting members. I mean, you pay a fee that is 1% of your salary or up to 2000 pounds and you become a de facto member of the equity during your stay working in UK. So, my guess is that the Equity thing is not a problem to cast any actor for a major role. Of course, minor roles are a different issue, but I think that geography is more important in that case than Equity membership.
not so anonymousQuote Reply
not so anon: That is some interesting info. Nice find!
WinterIsComingQuote Reply
WIC: has there been any sort of statement or press release from Dinklage, McCarthy or their agents yet? I'd love to hear their thoughts on the project.
dholdsQuote Reply
"Lets see who will be the next tom bombadil…"
Dude, Tom Bombadil was like, literally gay.
To have him AND the thick Liv in a single movie would have been a deathblow.
But if they were to remove a single major character from Game, I'd say go take Brienne away. This is a character who is fundamentally good, but slow, ugly, and ill-fated… literally–amazing.. Putting it that way, I would be really sad if they took her away, but what the hell–IF YOU MUST.
not so, great digging if not with redundant results.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Tom Payne just posted on twitter about GoT: http://twitter.com/justanactor wonder if any other actors in contention are on there? May have to do some searching….
AnonymousQuote Reply
awesome find Anon….your incredible …..how did you find his 'handle' ?, at his website?…..thanks alot!!!
coltaine777Quote Reply
Oh by the way…love the Canadian accent idea….gotta love Canada !!! EH
coltaine777Quote Reply
Anon: Thanks for the heads up! You wouldn't happen to be the same anon that tipped earlier that he was up for Viserys would you?
coltaine777: You can search Twitter accounts via first and last name. I assume that is how he found it. Everyone start searching for Twitter accounts on anyone that may possibly be up for a role!
WinterIsComingQuote Reply
Canadians don't have accents. We just speak properly.
dholdsQuote Reply
the next tom bombadil…
Yeah, I guess the movie/tv series does sometimes ruin the books (or the vision we had of them), but this particular series, if it were to be sucessful on television, could potentially carry the storyline to the end when GRRM gives up/dies.
I'm not saying that he won't actually finish this shit up. It's possible he already has ;). I'm saying that his track record isn't great. And more importantly, I don't think he cares about this story very much at all. It's just so damn lucrative, he can't stop writing. Anyway, go HBO.
I think a "Which character/ minor storline would you cut if you had to?" post would be interesting, too. I'm curious to hear what the other posters think.
TynanQuote Reply
No American or Canadian accents will be used. Trust me.
AnonymousQuote Reply
I agree with whats been said regarding equity requirements, it doesn't mean the same as it used to in the UK. If you are foreign it may help speed up your work permit application but thats about it, and if you are from the UK or have a right to work here it no longer matters whether you join it or not in fact I don't think it is even legal anymore to insist on equity membership.
As for the mention of LA auditions it is common practice on such a big trans atlantic project to have a britsh casting director carry out the early stages of auditions, he or she will then have sorted the wheat from the chaff so to speak and sent on the very best of the screen tests to LA to be looked at by whoever needs to see them, they in turn pick out their favourites for the recall stage where they will be present to sit the auditions themselves, which seems to have been happening this week.
So technically you could say all the casting is taking in place in LA, personally I doubt they will be running mass auditions in the US and if there are any it would probably have been for a specific role with someone in mind as in dinklage's case.
AnonymousQuote Reply