Some more quick items while we are waiting for the fourth episode to air:
- Interviews! Westeros.org interviews Syrio Forel, ehm, Miltos Yerolemou. NEW interview with Conan Stevens, by the same authors. Next, …ology talked to Steve Coulson, creative director of Campfire, who designed the promotional campaign for Thrones. Author Joe Abercrombie conducted an interview with GRRM for The Book Show (part two here). We also have this Bollywood interview with Conan Stevens.
- Comics! One by Penny Arcade on direwolves, one by Half Assed on the “extended script”.
- There is also this very funny parody of episode one, and a Slate.com joke on Obama administration wathcing Game of Thrones. Glad to see the show becoming a cultural reference already.
- Seriously, if you are not following My Mom Watches Game of Thrones, you definitely should.
- Learn to play GoT theme music!
- The Spanish CanalPlus has launched a dedicated Game of Thrones guide and social media tools to go with the Spanish premiere.
- Brienne candidate Eva Damen’s showreel can be found here, and there’s a video of her acting in English as well.
- Last but not least, George confirms presence at the next Comic Con in San Diego, where HBO is going to hold a Game of Thrones panel!
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44 Comments
Can’t wait to see the GOT panel on you-tube at comic-con :D
GrinbombQuote Reply
Brienne’s gotta be one of the toughest casting. Eva Damen could pull it off imo, although I imagined Brienne more like Rebecca Adlington. If only they could get her to act. xD
PepiQuote Reply
There’s a double value to ” My Mom Watches Game of Thrones” – great comments and great gifs. Highly recommended indeed.
Alexander DubrovskyQuote Reply
George Martin and a GoT panel at Comic Con!!! Just the announcement I’ve been waiting for especially since my husband and I are going!!!!!! This just made my day!
CrysaniaQuote Reply
Eva Damen would make a good Brienne. Well, she is pretty, but not in a conventional way. Her ,with shorter hair and uglied up, would be more than acceptable (lookwise). :-D She has pretty blue eyes and with a little bit more muscles she would look convincingly tough enough AND she has an innocent face. For me her hight was never the determining factor.
So if she convinces the casting directors with her acting and gets cast, I, at least ,would be very happy with that decision…
But I guess no matter who they’ll cast, there will always be people who think the actress is too small, too pretty, to weak looking ect…
*listening to Miltos’ interview now*
SchlafmohnQuote Reply
ComicCon is on my bucket list…hmmm, maybe this year?
MetalgoddessAMBQuote Reply
The parody was fucking hilarious.
Convivial EddQuote Reply
MetalgoddessAMB,
Tickets are sold out…they sold out the same day they went on sale…the only chance is in later June/early July when they put the returned tickets back up for sale. We went last year and that was the only way we were able to get Saturday tickets…It is a blast though…
CrysaniaQuote Reply
Just saw these pictures on IMDB I am sure they have been posted here at some point but thought they were interesting…
Eva Damen 1
Eva Damen 2
They were just added to imdb on April 27th so relatively new…wonder if they were specifically for her audition…
CrysaniaQuote Reply
Pepi,
Wow! Rebecca Adlington looks like sure was conjured straight from my brain. Her looks are exactly right.
Eva Damen is my pick out of all the actor suggestions I’ve seen. I hate nitpicking, but I would hope she bulks up just a tiny bit if she’s cast. The first time we meet Brienne she’s winning a tournament, after all, so the audience really has to be convinced that would be possible.
uberstellarQuote Reply
Eva Damen is my personal favorite for Brienne. As others have said she’s definitely pretty, but not in a conventional sense, and with a bit of make-up she’ll more than look the part. Her English accent was convincing too, and I just really the like the general vibe I’ve gotten from the few videos and pics we’ve seen of her. I hope the producers give her their consideration!
koinosukeQuote Reply
Has Eva Damen officially expressed her interest, then?
Meanwhile I don’t see a resemblance between NCW and Michael Jackson…
EleanorQuote Reply
In the context of the show – I’m not so sure that ‘bulk’ / height is so important.
Other than the Cleganes – a number of the other noted knights are not exactly ‘large’ (Jaime + Loras amongst them).
I think it is more important that they look convincing enough, in the way they hold themsleves and their weapons. In Brienne’s case, it is the acting that will be more important: being able to carry off the unease in her body and gait in normal circumstances, yet transform into a confident and sure fighter during combat.
She can’t be played by a waif – but likewise, for met it isn’t important that she is played by a large imposing figure of a woman either. I know the books describe her height etc. it’s just that for me, I’m willing to forgo those aspects in exchange for the acting ability.
Martin EQuote Reply
ZOMG!
Did anyone else notice this part in her Eva Damon’s showreel :
Doctor: Foolish girl
Eva’s character: My NAME is Ajteil
Practically parallels:
Jaime: Stupid wench.
Brienne: My NAME is Brienne
userjQuote Reply
westeros has another interview with Conan Stevens that is specifically about Game of Thrones
http://www.westeros.org/GoT/Features/Entry/Interview_with_Conan_Stevens
and little birds tell me he is going to be in two rather big fantasy movies that most Game of thrones fans (and people in general) should be familiar with one is a remake of a very very popular series of movies and the other is a sequel to a remake of a classic…
keep an eye on his sight. http://www.conanstevens.com/
ogbebabaQuote Reply
I give My Mom Watches Game of Thrones a colon followed by capital “D”
Melanie BuiQuote Reply
Go, Eva, go!
Looks the part
Wants the part
and now it appears she is fully capable of handling the part.
AStB!
KGQuote Reply
KG,
Agreed! She’s Brienne!!
ZackQuote Reply
Eleanor,
via a friend of hers we know she really wants to audition for the role.
KnurkQuote Reply
ogbebaba,
Thanks, just read it.
Conan is so cunning, he is the real Tyrion.
drinksTeaInTheMorninQuote Reply
Haven’t seen this posted anywhere, moderately funny GoT parody
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajMzpiyZ4GA
Ricky BruceQuote Reply
I think Eva would make a fine Brienne. If not, then I expect that whoever Nina Gold recommends will be even MORE appropriate – so much the better. :)
Steel_WindQuote Reply
It is posted in the post itself :)
Alexander DubrovskyQuote Reply
Ha, serves me right for only skimming TFA.
Ricky BruceQuote Reply
Man, after reading his interview on Westeros I really want to know what roles Conan has landed after GoT. I’ve always thought he was pretty awesome (even recently saw his film Bangkok Adrenaline with some friends, which was ridiculous but a lot of fun) so I look forward to seeing him in more stuff stateside. Plus tonight for his premiere on Game of Thrones!
koinosukeQuote Reply
Conan’s been dropping hints for a while now. I can’t wait to find out what the movies are!
LexQuote Reply
I agree SteelWind, it’s pretty exciting knowing that someone as qualified at Eva Damon actually WANTS to be Brienne! To me, that means IF they don’t pick her, whoever they pick will actually be BETTER!
Bring on Season Two!
EdQuote Reply
Same here!!! I’m hoping True Blood and Game of Thrones will be back to back!
Megan TeschQuote Reply
Tickets are sold out…they sold out the same day they went on sale…the only chance is in later June/early July when they put the returned tickets back up for sale.We went last year and that was the only way we were able to get Saturday tickets…It is a blast though…
Ooh, great finds!
The linked videos here, and particularly her showreel, convinced me. I could see a good resemblance to the character in some of her previous roles, and those IMDB pictures really completed it for me. I hope she gets it!
Even if she doesn’t, Nina Gold does not disappoint. Can’t wait!
kerningQuote Reply
Megan Tesch,
I kinda hope that GoT isnt in the same room. We showed up last year at noon to get in line to see the true blood panel which was a 5pm. The room was full and they had closed the line. The only way we got in was some people that were leaving gave us their bathroom passes that allowed us to get in. The only reason they picked my husband and I was because they noticed my red hair. If GoT is in that room I will show up to get in line at the break of dawn.
CrysaniaQuote Reply
I loved Eva Damen from her looks (and her reported enthusiasm for the part), and now the show reel cinches it for me. I think she’d be an excellent Brienne. I hope she has the chance to audition.
MelarraQuote Reply
Eva Damen is Brienne, the Maid of Tarth.
Kharn9Quote Reply
Crysania
Yea we got in line around 11 and just made it in too. Getting into most panels is crazy so I rather just have to worry about getting into one lol.
Megan TeschQuote Reply
They may have been reposted April 27th but they’ve been on IMDB for a lot longer.
They (or at least one of them) were there when WiC did his Brienne casting thread.
MormegilQuote Reply
Megan Tesch,
Yea it is pretty crazy…last year was our first year so I feel like we have a better idea of whats going on this year…We will probably still spend all of Saturday in Hall H (mainly the movie hall) since we want to see the avengers panel. It will be interesting to see which room the GoT panel is in though…The Walking Dead (which is new last year) wasn’t in the big TV room but one of the smaller ones so I think it would say something about the numbers they would expect it to pull as to which room they put it in.
CrysaniaQuote Reply
drinksTeaInTheMornin,
yeah Conan’s a pretty impressive guy, a card carrying MENSA member (Genius IQ)
and in college he was the raining chess champion and the bear drinking champion (not two titles you often see held by the same person)
ogbebabaQuote Reply
For sooth.
fafhrdQuote Reply
userj,
My thoughts exactly! :)
Lord SnarkQuote Reply
Meh, Eva Damen’s English showreel doesn’t do a good job showcasing her abilities. I stopped watching five and a half minutes in because the pauses were unnecessarily drawn out between phrases – and not in a way that creates tension in the scene but in a way that deflates all the tension very quickly. Part of that is possibly on the actors (and the guy is certainly more stilted than Damen is) but a large part is due to the poor editing which may have inflated the pauses and could easily have diminished them if they were present in the original footage which means I find it hard to judge Damen’s abilities sufficiently from that clip. Places where we should be focusing on her and her reactions, etc will invariably be focused on him and vice versa in that clip. It often cuts back and forth simply for the lines rather than letting the reactions play out on either side. This was most likely shot with one camera, doing the shots of the guy and Damen separately and the way it is cut makes it hard to feel that they are truly interacting with one another in the scene.
Just as an example, 3:36 to 3:50 are particularly awful for the back and forth, rhythmless quick cutting that happens, and it allows too long pauses to linger. The editing also doesn’t allow for one actor to be speaking offscreen while it stays on the other person which would have helped bridge the shots and made the back-and-forth more natural. Both Damen and the guy also seem to have this tendency here to nod towards each other’s direction as they speak which comes off terribly due to the rapid editing, especially in the – “Gentler” “You know what it means.” “No.” Tell me.” – section.
The editing gets slightly better towards the end of the portion I watched – 5:00-5:10 shows that she *might* have some decent acting chops in her as the editing finally settles down to stay on her reaction shot (and she does well) but most of that showreel is a bust. The guy put together some good shots as cinematographer but he should have left the editing to someone else.
I’m not yet convinced that she can play Brienne. While a lot of the problems in that showreel are on the editor, some of the blame must rest with the actors’ choices in timing.
JCQuote Reply
Alright, I bit the bullet and finished the English reel.
In the remainder of Part 1, as it stays on her face through 5:15-5:30, I find I’m not convinced at all that she’s reacting internally there to the what the guy says (“Did you ever love me”).
In Part 2, we get a little more indication of whether she can do this or not as the first portion has the two characters in the same frame and lets it run for a while. The timing is better (though still not perfect) without the cutting back and forth which shows that a major part of the problem is definitely on the editing and not just the actors. But I find the climax of this scene revealing – I don’t find myself convinced that there’s a character there rather than Eva Damen acting as she goes through the details of the sex (“First he went down on me…I was on top and then he f*cked me from behind…”) – it’s not passionate enough and there’s simply not enough weight to the way she says these lines and others here. Don’t get me wrong – it’s not the worst acting I’ve seen and it’s not awful in any way. But it’s not good enough imo for an HBO show.
Even taking away all the editing issues, I don’t find this reel impressive enough on her part.
JCQuote Reply
I still liked the scene, not so much focused on the editing, more on the eyes. As I think that’s where it’s happening and there was plenty of emotion in Eva Damen’s.
Liked the second part of the Closer scenes, as well as the other scenes on that channel.
At least they should audition her!!!
IqouteyounotQuote Reply
As a Dutchman, I would love to see Eva Damen in Game of Thrones as Brienne. I definitely feel she looks the part. I also think that the “Closer” show reel doesn’t really show her acting skills. The scenes in Dutch are better, so I think it’s not so much a problem of Eva not being up to scratch, but rather the director not being able to properly coach his actors. I also feel her co-actor wasn’t very good, which very often works against a better actor.
I think the English show reel is more to show that she can speak English well enough to play a role in an English production.
ChevalricQuote Reply
Not only did GRRM confirm that he’s going to be at ComicCon, but he also confirmed an ADWD book tour!! I am SO there…can’t even wait!! :D
LinaQuote Reply
Iqouteyounot – agreed, she deserves at least an audition for the effort (and it’s nice to see someone so enthusiastic) and she’s certainly not terrible based on what I’ve seen. But neither have I been blown-away-impressed and that’s the caliber of acting she’s going to need to get a role on a big-budget show like this one. All the best luck to her though.
Chevalric – you’re definitely right about her co-actor and the need for a good actor to bounce off of in conversation pieces. He doesn’t give her a lot to react to so I’m sure that’s difficult for her to work with. Of course on top of that, the editing rarely lets us see what she’s thinking as he speaks which works to her detriment.
I can’t understand Dutch of course so I don’t know how good her work is there, but I trust that she’s as good as you say in those scenes.
Either way, I trust Nina Gold’s work as a casting director. She has a pretty extensive and impressive filmography and the casting work she did on Game of Thrones up to this point has been spot-on so if she went for Eva Damen (or anyone else), I’d trust her judgment.
JCQuote Reply