In other news, Conan Stevens has written a new post where he updates us on his Game of Thrones prepping adventures. He is back in Ireland after the riding lessons in England, practising sword fighting (particularly for his duel with brother Sandor), and fraternizing with the cast and crew. Of particular interest is the concluding paragraph, where Conan reveals that his sword practice has been visited by the making-of crew. He hopes they are using the footage to advertise the show before it is released.
Hear Me Roar: Congratulations all around! We made no mistake even on guessing nameless minor roles. I share Conan’s hope to see some of the behind-the-scenes material in the build up to the first season. We are in the fourth week of filming now, and some promotional material of one sort or the other is bound to be ready soon. Fingers crossed!
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43 Comments
Nice job! Wish I was even remotely good enough to help!
Derek SharpQuote Reply
Susie Kelley looks like a perfect Masha Heddle!
Derek SharpQuote Reply
Susie Kelly looks like Masha Heddle from my head. Exactly.
The RabbitQuote Reply
Cast is now 71 actors strong…
LexQuote Reply
Nice job all and sundry. And thanks to GRRM for the bonus casting news! Looks like I have some updating to do…
And thanks again to Conan for keeping us updated on how things are progressing over there. It looks like we were correct in our speculation that McEwan’s tweet was him witnessing a practice fight. Looking forward to seeing the “making of” stuff! It will be cool to be able to see all this behind-the-scenes stuff that we’ve been speculating about all this time.
Winter Is ComingQuote Reply
Lex,
You know, Lex, I would not be too much surprised if that number reaches 80 for the S1.
The RabbitQuote Reply
So only 8 or 9 castings left?
Mirri Maz Duur
Ilyn Payne
Tobho Mott
Tommen
Myrcella
Rickon
Jeyne Poole
Will
Illyrio (maybe)
Is that really it?
izakmoQuote Reply
izakmo,
Walder Frey.
Josh ParkerQuote Reply
Josh Parker,
I ll be brave and add Roose Bolton to that crowd.
And eventually Podrick Payne.
The RabbitQuote Reply
izakmo,
Your list looks pretty right on to me.
Are we going to get flashback scenes? If so, we will need -
Princess Elia and children & the Mad King for the Sack of King’s Landing
Lyanna & Rhaegar
Tower of Joy knights-Dayne, Hightower and Whent
Brandon Stark dueling with Littlefinger (might not need to be included)
Ser Willem sailing away from Dragonstone with Viserys and baby Dany (again might not need to be included)
winterqueenQuote Reply
Agree. And I hope she has a deep voice :)
NymeriaQuote Reply
Josh Parker,
How could we forget Lord Frey? Of course, he needs to be in S1
winterqueenQuote Reply
Any info on Susie Kelley? Can’t find much. Two entries under that name at imdb, both possible matches.
Hear Me RoarQuote Reply
izakmo,
I would add Rosse Bolton and Walder Frey, after that I think they are done.
David TysklindQuote Reply
What about Karstark and/or Maege Mormont? How will they handle all northern banners (and Smalljon kind of characters)?
MartinQuote Reply
It seemed like Greatjohn was being overlooked in season 1 until this sudden casting announcement. Please, please let that be the case for Roose Bolton also. He brought so much to the story from his very first appearance.
Brad SheltonQuote Reply
Martin,
I’m gonna say that both will likely be featured extras this season.
Josh ParkerQuote Reply
Martin,
If we get to S3, Lady Mormont and Lord Karstark will be included for sure….. or so I hope.
winterqueenQuote Reply
I think HBO likes to pair up promotional material with season openers and finale episodes (similar to the trailer we got on True Blood’s opening night.)
So with True Blood ending in the next month and Boardwalk Empire starting in the next month, I think theres a good chance we may see something.
If I recall, the first things I remember seeing about Treme was a behind the scenes sneak peak. They interviewed a few of the cast members and showed them filming a few scenes(which I think were all from the pilot.) Something like that would be awesome, but some real footage would be even better.
ChrisQuote Reply
Meanwhile, The Walking Dead fans are lucky enough to have a steady stream of interviews, trailers, promo shots, etc to keep them busy.
AMC The Walking Dead blog
It would be nice to have that type of feedback when things are closer to airing, but it doesn’t really seem to be HBO’s style. But the GoT type anticipation is definitely new grounds for them so maybe they will embrace it.
ChrisQuote Reply
Right now I am not able to imagine how it will work out. Then we will not see them in any Rob’s war cabinet, only greatjon and maybe bolton is there. And suddenly in S3 the will show up from nowhere!?
I just have to wait and see, although I am sure they will make it somehow work.
MartinQuote Reply
winterqueen,
Crap, I forgot the Freys. Any guesses as to how many Freys they’ll cast as speaking roles in S1?
I hope they keep flashbacks to a minimum (though I’m guessing I’m in the minority on this one). Adding a bunch of dead characters to an already expansive cast will be too confusing for watchers unfamiliar with the books. We know there will be at least one flashback with Jon Arryn. I could see Lyanna as a potential flashback character since her dying plea to Ned might be crucial to the future plot of the series.
That said, the Flashback to the fight at the Tower of Joy is one of my favorite moments in the books…
izakmoQuote Reply
I would love to see Jaime’s big moment with Aerys and Ned on horseback as far as flashbacks go. That is such a critical moment to establishing Jaime’s character, I hope they don’t just refer back to it rather than show it, even if it is very quick glimpse flashbacks…
persephone88Quote Reply
izakmo,
I would say Walder Frey for sure and perhaps one of his sons?? Maybe Lame Luthor or his heir Ser Stevron ( one that dies in ACOK). that “welcome” Catelyn at the Twins? Maybe the rest of his huge family could be featured extras? The whole scene at the Twins is about Catelyn getting Lord Frey’s consent to cross the river. Lord Frey kicks everyone out, so it’s just Catelyn and him hashing out their agreement.
winterqueenQuote Reply
I forget: Do we have confirmation yet that Walder Frey is in the first season?
sjweningsQuote Reply
Concerning the roles yet to be cast (announced), since the first block of episodes covers 2 thru 4 and that entails departing Winterfell and the journey south, arriving at Castle Black and K.L. and of course the Tourney, we know Rickon, Myrcella, Tommen and Jeyne Poole are in at least episode two, so those roles have been cast unless they are featured extras. We know Ser Ilyn is in that shooting block so he is cast. That leaves
Roose, Mirri Maz, Tobho, Mya (F.E.), Donal, Will, Lord Frey, Illyrio (hopefully not recast), Kevan?, Chella (hopefully, she is so cool), Wildling leader, Lord Karstark and I am sure lots of featured extras.
By the way what determines featured extra from a minor role, is it more than two lines of dialogue or something similar.
TysnowQuote Reply
Tysnow,
how about Meryn Trant?
byrynQuote Reply
sjwenings,
Not in so many words, but it’s never been said he’s not.
Josh ParkerQuote Reply
byryn,
You are right I forgot the Kingsguard, so there’s Ser Arys, Ser Boros, Ser Mandon and Ser Preston besides of course Ser Meryn, Selmy, and Jaime. Allthough some Kingsguard might be featured extras.
TysnowQuote Reply
Tysnow,
By “some” I think you mean “most”. Other than Meryn Trant (who comes for Arya) and Mandon Moore (who needs to be established as the most dangerous before he tries to kill Tyrion), I think most of them will keep their visors down and we won’t know which is which at all. Trant and Moore might–MIGHT–be featured extras. The rest won’t even be that much.
Josh ParkerQuote Reply
Tysnow,
Well, do we know that they are shooting everything in order? I would be VERY suprised if they were just shooting everything for episodes 1-4 and then doing 2-8 and so on. I would imagine, that since principle photography will be finished before the first episode airs, that they will be shooting all Kings Landing together, all Castle Black together, all Winterfell together, and so on. I mean from what I have gathered, Winterfell hasn’t started yet, so I would not think that Jeyne, Myrcella, Rickon, Tommen, etc are necessarily cast yet.
PutterQuote Reply
I suspect Lord Frey & his brood might be out until season 2.
Maxwell JamesQuote Reply
Incidentally, let me just say that I think the 4 new actors all look PERFECT. I can totally picture Susie Kelly chewing sourleaf, I can totally picture Simon Lowe flattering Dany as he sells her some wine, and I can totally picture Lalor Roddy creeping into Bran’s room. Even Mark Lewis Jones will look perfect once they give him long hair and a beard.
Does Nina Gold have freakish mind-reading abilities, enabling her to see our mental images? Get out of my head, Nina!
LexQuote Reply
Yoren love:
His part is a whole lot bigger in season 1 than you’d expect, as he ties every story thread but Dany’s together. He travels with Tyrion to the wall, attends the eating hall where Tyrion duels Aliser with the crab fork, then back down with T to Winterfell and to the Inn where Tyrion gets caught by Cat, then delivers the news of the capture to Ned in Kings landing, and finally smuggles Arya out of King’s Landing.
This minor character gets more screen time than just about all of the rest: definitely more than Gregor, slightly less than the Hound, more than most of the major lords, including LC Mormont, Tywin, Lysa, and Walder Frey. Definitely more than Jory. I’d say he gets about the same as Viscerys, if you can believe it. Yoren is a large minor part.
Critical GeekQuote Reply
I think that Walder Frey has to be in the first season because of the fact that in order to get into the Riverlands you have to go through the Twins to get to Tywin and Jamie which I think will be near the end of the season. Of course the vast majority of the Freys will be extras or glorified extras but there will be a few who have a minor role. I’m thinking Stevron and Black Walder because they are at least somewhat important. Also I think that they need to establish The Late Lord Frey’s character so that the Red Wedding makes sense because if we don’t really know Walder we don’t know why he would do such a thing.
GrimtuesdayQuote Reply
Chris,
End of True Blood S3 – heavy promoting of Boardwalk Empire, so I guess trailer + invitation to the set + maybe GoT teaser, the same.
End of Boardwalk Empire – heavy promoting of GoT, trailer etc.
nskQuote Reply
Of those outstanding, Walder Frey is the most indispensible, and so is Tobho Mott, and Miri Maz Duur. Lord Karstark comes next, followed by Roose Bolton and Ser Kevan, but any of these might be postponed until next season. It seems that this has happened with Beric and Thoros (actually to Season 3). What Critical Geek says about Yoren is true also, the recruiter should not wait. They’ll need -one- of the Kingsguard other than Jaime, and Mandon Moore seems the most likely.
Tommen, Myrcella, Rickon, and Jeyne Poole are bound to be there, but they might all be non-speaking parts or nearly so; on the other hand, having a speaking Jeyne would add a lot to some of the Sansa scenes, and Myrcella’s line about being childish is so good that it would be a shame to lose it. Ser Stevron is pretty likely unless they have old Lord Walder ride out to meet Robb and Catelyn instead of waiting for somebody to come inside to talk to him.
Tywin’s War Council needs Kevan as well as the messenger whom Gregor bullies around; it would be good to have Ser Harys Swyft there too but he can wait. And as much as I’d like to see Mya Stone, I think that we’ve been told about all the Vale characters we’re going to see. Maybe she’ll rate an appearance as a featured extra, but I’ll bet that Ser Vardis Egen is the one who escorts Catelyn up to see her loving sister.
Maester_TcostQuote Reply
Perhaps they’ll hold many of the flashbacks til Season 2. Jaime’s scene with Aerys might work better there for Jaime’s sake anyway. It also lends the possibility of seeing more of some of the season 1 characters. Hard to be circumspect innit?
Also, taking the point about not confusing viewers new to the story by adding lots of sumptuous flashbacks with new faces; those viewers would I hope be ready for more backstory by the second season.
FlayedandDisplayedQuote Reply
Dammit, check WiC every day, and huge clues come out on the couple of days I take a break from the computer. :/
Not that I’m complaining (much) though. I imagined Masha Heddle to be more hag-ish, honestly, but I’m just happy she’s included at all. Also very glad that we get to see the Greatjon. Robb’s scenes wouldn’t be the same without the lorｄ ｏｆ Ｌａｓｔ Hearth.
PeltastQuote Reply
Good Job all! That was very impressive!
OldGranQuote Reply
Crossing my fingers that Winter is Coming will be included in the Making-Of. :)
Melanie BuiQuote Reply
Oh, come on guys. You’re jonesing too much for more characters. Let’s face it, the story is going to be simplified. It has to be, even though this is a series and not a movie. I agree that Walder is a key character, although will he be in s1? Good question. You just can’t go cannon though. I agree also that Miri Maz Dur is also a key character. Others? I think not.
SekhmetQuote Reply
Hey Sekhmet…are you the same Sekhmet on HA?
MongerelQuote Reply