Barristan the Bold on Board

Is Oliver Powell ruining the fun for everyone else with these confirmations? Not that I'm complaining. Seems like another solid choice. Bring on Littlefinger!

He looks pretty perfect to me.

how old is barristan in the books?

Quite old. Definitely not middle-aged, if that's what you're thinking.

very nice, embraced for more :)

Daenery's knights will both be Ian's…..

The roles/actors he's been announcing are relatively minor, so I don't think it's an issue. They're the roles that GRRM would likely be able to announce with no problem.

I'm thinking that Littlefinger, Tywin and possibly Varys might be higher-profile actors that HBO would prefer to announce through other channels. If Powell spoiled them, he might get in trouble.

So what is your opinion right now?

Are they gonna get every role filled before the start of the filming, or they will keep the pace of casting along the process, as GRRM claimed months ago?

Somehow I think that they will cast now all those roles who will appear in, let s say, first 4 or 5 episodes, and then for the last 5.

He does look the right age, doesn't he? He IS the right age, at least.

But i wonder about the physical part. Now, Barristan hasn't exactly had many action scenes. No martial arts-like abilities required. Still, though. Would be nice if he was rather nimble. Barristan is supposed to be in kick-ass shape.

*SPOILERS*

He does eventually have the bad-ass fight scene where he kills the Bastard of Titan with his staff.

It would also be sweet if they showed him dispatch the goldcloaks sent to detain him after he's kicked off the Kingsguard

I know, but i remember him fighting that guy with little effort – so no round-house kicks or anything.

True. Although I think the text calls for him to leap from the saddle of a moving horse to confront the Bastard (could be wrong). But they'd use a stuntman for that kind of thing with any actor.

He's 62 and several people have said he's younger than they expected. How old is book-canon Barristan? I swear he was in his 50s or maybe 60s? People in Westeros don't have a typical modern life expectancy and besides the couple of super old maesters , there really aren't a lot of older characters, right? 60 seems pretty old to me.

Agreed! Let's get Gillen on board too! :)

"Vigorous despite his age, near sixty at the beginning of A Game of Thrones, Barristan remains a remarkably capable fighter" – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_A_Song_of_Ic…

I think I aged him up in my head because he's always described in terms of his age (weathered face, white hair, long past exploits…)

He was born in 237 AL, AGoT starts in 299 AL, making him 61-62 at the start of the books.

They'll probably have some stragglers, probably almost entirely contract holdouts that are late to the party or that necessitate offers being made to 2nd/3rd choices. Roles that appear late but that are for longer stretches of time are more likely to be cast beforehand. Roles that are for one episode only (the equivalent of "guest stars" are generally going to be more free-form, since the contracts themselves are more generic and the necessity of absolutely nailing the role with the perfect actor isn't quite as crucial.

According to awoiaf.westeros.org, Barristan is 61 during AGOT.

Maybe people expected him to be aged up because most other characters are? But while Sansa and Dany needed the aging so their storylines wouldn't be quite so horrible, aging up Barristan doesn't really seem to serve any purpose.

Not even a little bit. Was never a big fan of the guessing games. I prefer to just be told.

He's gonna look awesome all in Kingsguard white!

Sorry, but… link or it's just hearsay.

Not to mention her benefactor, Illyirio = Ian Mcneice!!!

3 Ians!

I like him a lot, and think it would be great. Although when someone here mentionned Sean Connery and Barristan in the same sentence, I couldn't picture him ptherwise. But Ian McElhinney is a VERY solid choice I think.

Sean Connery was also supposed to be Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings movies, at the aggressive request of the studio. Thank goodness Peter Jackson refused.

I thought he was asked, but declined?

On topic: Sean Connery is just way too old now anyway.

This is a perfect choice and I could not be happier.

Oh, wait, yes I could. If they'd just HURRY UP and give us Littlefinger, Varys, Tywin, Renly, Jeor Mormont, Bronn and Shae. I certainly wanted to know about Selmy, and I'm super-excited they've announced him, but the preceding names are the ones I'm salivating for.

Yes, Connery declined, but Jackson was also strongly against the idea.

Mine too! That's a great idea. Would solicit opinion again A+++++

Whoa whoa whoa. How can everybody be so excited, we don't even know if he's read the books yet :-P

Two Ians and one Iain, but it still comes down to the director yelling for "Ian" and getting "What!" from three different sources. Pretty funny.

Thank you, thank you so much! I needed that. I really did.

Mike wins the thread.

This will hopefully be a week of mighty casting announcements.
LET THE FLOODGATES OPEN!

I know, right? Okay, rampant fangirl speculation – Matt Lucas for Varys and Ed Harris for Tywin lol Because that's gonna happen.

I don't even have any Littlefinger preferences I just want him cast

Good choice. Definitely looks the part.

Great choice lookwise, as always. :)

I hate to say it, but… I don't know if the Blackfish is essential in any way. I can't think of one instance where he's necessary (not even at Riverrun in Book 4, where he could be replaced by some other minor Tully bannerman).

I highly doubt they'll cut Aemon, however. Why could be gained from that?

The Aemon thing scares me. I am definitely not a purist and dropping characters or story lines altogether doesn't really bother me.. but Aemon? They're casting (evidently) speaking roles for Rast and might drop Aemon? We have Jory (sorry, AGOT is my least re-read book and I honestly can't remember what in the world he does besides die) and we might not have Aemon? Perhaps they are trying to get a well-known actor and the contract process have been going on for some time now and/or isn't working out?

Well, I'm gonna start mentioning this again. We still have lots of time before Craster appears (one episode in season 2, one more in season 3?). Dourif has worked with HBO before (Deadwood). I think it's more than possible!

BRAD DOURIF FOR CRASTER! :)

I have a feeling the Blackfish will have a larger role later in the series, after his great escape from Riverrun. But yeah its true, aside from being a really cool character he isnt really necessary in the story so far.

From the description of the Opening Credits we get to see Aemons (though not his face) as he releases a Raven.

CLOSE on a pair of ancient, gnarled hands writing a message
on a small parchment scroll. The old man (we never see his
face) tightly rolls the scroll, binds it with a black ribbon,
and ties it with a leather strip to the leg of a BLACK RAVEN.

The old man lifts the raven off his desk; it flaps its dark
wings and flies out of the open chamber window.

Not proof of course that Aemon is in the show but it certainly indicates it.

Also, I do believe some of the above actors may just be skimming certain sections (e.g. Miltos and Conan). As for the Stark children, it sounded to me like their parents were giving them a very rough summary at best.

Yeah, FaB always knows what I am thinking of..:D

I must admit that I am little bit nervous about the fact that there is possibility of lack of both of them Aemon and Blackfish.
It would not be end of the world if it turns out like that, I am not going to bash anybody, but I still would be pretty sad.

Yes, Mormegil, I recall that from the script, and I am thinking lately about it a lot :)

edit: there was no word of Robert Arryn too, and of Walder Frey and MMD (thogh both of theam appear much later)

I can't see them getting rid of Aemon's character… they COULD do without him but it would change the dynamic of the Wall's story so much – Jon and Sam's especially.

The look he was sporting in "Humboldt County" was straight Craster. Well, not as depraved, but the look would work.

I whole heartedly agree with this suggestion.

Brad Dourif for Craster!

I agree completely.

You're demanding a whole lot from a 62 year old man in just a few months…

Was that tweet before or after the re-casting? I know it happened around March…

Hmm. This makes me kind of sad that she left, even though I'm happy with Fairley. Sounds like Ehle was really excited. Now I'm REALLY curious as to what happened…

If that tweet was after the re-casting, it sounds like she's at peace with the decision and excited to watch the show, which is cool.

Aemon adds a connection to the past and is a very interesting part of the story, but I would not be surprised if he's cut from the show. I don't think he's actually essential to pushing the plot forward. He is, in large part, a mentor/surrogate father figure, both to Sam but more importantly to Jon. However, Jon already has a more important mentor at the wall, The Old Bear. I think it's more likely that the roles of The Old Bear and Aemon will be somehow combined.

What we might get instead is more of Sam learning some of the things that Aemon tells us from dusty old tomes found in the library of Castle Black and relating them to Jon, or some of Aemon's stories of the past coming from The Old Bear. I would miss the awesome reveal Aemon's lineage, but it's not key to the story.

Now, that being said, who will be playing The Old Bear. If he's somewhat combined with Aemon, then his part becomes that much more important (and it already was important). We haven't heard a word of his casting either.

Yea, there's no need for a 62 year old man to go through a strict workout plan to get abs that no one will ever see. I understand what you are saying but I think he'll look fine when he is in his Kingsguard armor.

And this guy looks noble!

It's not so much speaking roles as it is moving plot forward (as Brude said). In many peoples' minds, Maester Aemon is important because of the point of view he brings. He soothes Jon in many respects where the Old Bear can't, and the revelation that he is a (SPOILER—) Targaryen helps to give Jon perspective.

Of course it doesn't give him that much perspective, since (ANOTHER SPOILER—) Jon runs away from Castle Black anyway.

Rast–a much less important character in the books–moves plot forward by providing that one ornery voice amongst the Night Watch recruits that sides with Thorne and stands against Jon. Without a Rast you just have a bunch of yes-men following Jon.

The same could be said about any of the antagonists. The villains are much less likely to get cut; the Winterfell assassin, the wineseller assassin, Ser Alliser Thorne, Mirri Maz Duur, Qotho, Janos Slynt, Walder Frey … for plot purposes, these characters would be considered more important than Maester Aemon.

I want him in the series, but I could also see how he could be changed or amalgamated.

Maybe they don't want too many Maesters in the show? They already have Luwin and Pycelle.

Then again, doesn't the Wall NEED a Maester?

Sure, they'll still have a Maester character there even if Aemon is significantly cut, they may even make him very old and call him Aemon and put Sam to work for him, but they may not make him the major supporting character he is in the books. But functionally, as a character, he may just be a background player.

All this is just guess work, but in an effort to reduce the cast, I could see Aemon going by the wayside.

Ian McShane as Craster and Sean Connery as Aemon ;-)

Personally I thought he was pretty terrible in the Tudors; he was supposed to be an Italian pope but his "Italian" accent was horrendous and laughably fake. And his acting overall was nothing to write home about.

While I like most of the big names (Dinklage, Bean, Momoa, etc.) it seems like for a lot of the other parts there is a revolving door from the Tudors (and other like shows) to GoT. This is lazy casting; just because some actor was in another "medieval" series (and wasn't that good) doesn't make him/her a great choice for GoT.

Old enough to play Aemon.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something obvious, but why would Aemon be in the opening credits? If you mean with regard to his family history, wouldn't that be a pretty awful spoiler?

*ahem*

Littlefinger!

HOLY CRAP!!!

This is damn awesome!!!

Spoliers

I love Brad Dourif and he was amazing as Doc Cochren in HBO's Deadwood. I think he would be perfect for Craster, however, I would just hate to waste his acting talents on a character that is probably only in two/three episodes max.

Considering what is transpiring in Dorne during Feast and the possibility of having a larger role in the series, I would like to see Dourif as Doran Martell. But I'll take him as Craster if only for the sake of having Dourif involved in this production.

The character Aemon should be included, and someone like Peter O’Toole or Christopher Lee should play him. Even if its only a few little parts through the seasons.
Ghasson Massoud would be perfect for the role of Doran Martell, and I agree about Dourif being a terrific Craster! Colm Feore would be a great Tywin, Stannis, or Lord Greyjoy.

Based on the last news we had on him, the Blackfish is EITHER completely disposable OR essential to the plot. We can't say which, because we don't know what GRRM has in store for the future.

(SPOILERS) If his escape from Riverrun is comparable to the Gravedigger, he might very well be cut. I'd be satisfied with an open ending to his story and Sandor's story as they are now in AFFC.

HOWEVER, he's just too cool to be overlooked. Please, HBO and GRRM. And how weird is it that I imagined Clint Eastwood as Brynden, rather than Barristan? And the fact that I imagine Brynden and Barristan fighting each other somewhere in future books?

"A trainer can easily lean and muscle him a little in two months."

Not really, no.