It’s official: Gemma Whelan to play Yara Greyjoy

I think her looks are fitting for the character…..I think she’ll play off of Alfie pretty well and she seems like she could have a smartassy look about her!

No problem with the casting, but I do not like the name change. Still referring to her as Asha.

I always saw Asha as having a very playful side with steel underneath. The kind of person who is always laughing and having fun,but has no trouble flipping from silly to serious in a second. I think she’ll be fine, and there’s no issue with the name change for me. Things read in print and said aloud are very different issues.

As others have said before, they should have just changed Osha’s name – especially since it hasn’t been uttered on the series yet, has it?

I approve.

Still don’t like the name change. If Osha and Asha are too similar, then how come Arya and Yara aren’t….

Anyways she looks like Asha, no idea on her acting skills though. In Nina Gold we trust.

Still hate this name change. I don’t think it was necessary at all, which just makes me hate it more. Love the casting choice, though.

Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think Osha and Asha sound anything alike. And Yara rhymes with Arya. Ugh.

Anyways, like the casting. Should be some entertaining scenes between Theon and her.

Great choice. She really looks like my mental vision of Asha/Yara. Personally, I do not care about name changes. It is a TV show and there need to be some changes made. Just like the Lord of the Rings movies.

Now they need to send Gemma Whelan to the gym to get ripped and to weapons training so she is scary with a battle/throwing ax.

Game of Thrones isn’t just a collection of cool names. We’ll get over it.
I like Whelan’s look. Looking forward to her…Yara.

Yara.. okay :S

HandmaidenofDany:
Welcome Gemma!!!

this

Jessica C.: Still referring to her as Asha.

  

of course. Exactly how we all refer to the “white walkers” as “the HBOthers” :)

ND: And Yara rhymes with Arya. Ugh.

no, i don’t think so.
Arya is pronunced “ARE-yuh”, while i’m sure “Yara” will likely be pronunced “YAR-ah” or just “YOH-ra” (like the english pronunciation of “Lara”)

Elena Amici,

Although “the white walkers” is actually canon as they’ve been referred to by that name several times in the books.

Why didn’t they just rename Osha the Wilding?

Asha Greyjoy is a more prominent character in the overall book series.

If they have to change it…make it at least sound like a woman’s name… Ashanna Greyjoy or Tasha Greyjoy would at least remind us all of who she started out as in the books. Yara just sound silly.

I presume The Viewers Guide will be updated with Asha’s new name before Season 2 starts or people will be even more confused.

If she can say ‘nuncle’ without laughing she’ll do fine

It may not have been Azshara, but I guess I’ll have to deal with Ash-Yara.

Where do I get a “Team Asha” shirt? Friggin’ ridiculous.

I’m not a nitpicker at all…

But I definitely think changing Asha to Yara is a stupid move.

Wrong on so many levels. ( e.g. Osha is nearly insignificant, Asha is important. Asha sounds awesome, Yara doesn’t. Etc., etc.)

I think we all agree on this one… Take notice HBO!

Flouride,

Yes, Arya becomes Yara if you move one letter. But they DON’T SOUND ANYTHING ALIKE. Meanwhile, Osha and Asha, as spoken by a Brit, would be virtually indistinguishable. Theon even thinks to himself that the names sound the same! They really aren’t comparable.

People being all melodramatic over a name change dont cut yourself, please.

Dont give a sh*t over the name (ohhhhh) change just hope the actress does a good job in the role.

LL,

Agreed. I wasn’t quite sold until I looked at the smile and eyes. Very playful like she knows something you don’t and is definitely having fun at your expense. I hope she can just turn up the badass too.

Mormegil:
I presume The Viewers Guide will be updated with Asha’s new name before Season 2 starts or people will be even more confused.

Haha, she was Asha on the guide before casting. WOOPS. Cogman what happened there? Haha. Just add a “D,T or Y” in front of Asha for us. Pretty please. And tell David and Dan. Most of us think the name change is either unnecessary or just add a letter before her real name to keep it as close as possible.

Osha/Asha
Arya/Yara

i h8 name change, don’t dumb the show down for the masses.

Very interested to see what Gemma brings to the character. Welcome to the show!

As for the name change…I can see why some of you are upset and certainly not saying you don’t have a right to feel that way. I just could care less. Never cared for her POV. My only complaint is my “Awe Shit Her Again” doesn’t work with Yara.

Kind of hoping the TV show will change my opinion of the character.

Lex: I’m not a nitpicker at all…But I definitely think changing Asha to Yara is a stupid move.Wrong on so many levels. ( e.g. Osha is nearly insignificant, Asha is important. Asha sounds awesome, Yara doesn’t. Etc., etc.)

You may not be a nitpicker, but in this post you certainly are nitpicking.

Its not a change that matters at all, it won’t affect the story one iota. I can see their point as she and Natalie Tena will be about the same age and have a similiar look, I guess it could confuse some new viewers, who are already bombarded by dozens of names.

Alexander Dubrovsky:
More casting news, courtesy of Westeros guys:
http://www.westeros.org/GoT/News/Entry/Meet_Xaro_Xhoan_Daxos/

i have actually watched Cass and he is pretty good in it …. but talk about a divergence from the book description … he is like a 180 … but i get the concept of going from milk pale to very dark skinned (chocolate milk? i keed, i keed) … both sort of stand out and are visually stark so …

more casting news please!!

She looks like the prototype of an average british girl, I think. Not quite what I (anyone?) pictured Asha like, but at least they didn’t go with a pixie-like little thing.

Hope she works out a bit before her scenes. She does not exactly look like she’s in exellent shape or anything – and she’s supposed to be this very capable warrior.

I think the production team have a perfectly valid reason for making the change – people who say different have no understanding of the process of making television or the difference between print and television as media, or at least are pretending that they don’t – and let’s be frank, no amount of pathetic fanboy whingeing will make them change their mind on the decision at this late stage…

sjwenings:
She looks like the prototype of an average british girl, I think. Not quite what I (anyone?) pictured Asha like, but at least they didn’t go with a pixie-like little thing.

Hope she works out a bit before her scenes. She does not exactly look like she’s in exellent shape or anything – and she’s supposed to be this very capable warrior.

The incredible slouching in the commercial doesnt help. Thats for sure. But it may have been part of her act.

I’m sure she’ll do great. I’m certain they’ll get her looking proper for the character. There isn’t much easily found online for her as of yet is there. I’ve only seen Wolfman one time and I admit that I don’t even remember “Gwen’s maid.” Doing well in this series should change that. :)

She must be a friend of Emily Blunt’s or something. She’s been in two theatrical movies, both of which Emily was the lead actress.

She is so annoying in that Footlocker commercial (as intended). He shoulda punched HER! XD

Love her already. Hope she gets to be more than just ‘comical’.

I think i like this casting, she looks like she can do a proper smirk. The name change is not neccesary in my opinion but I don’t mind Yara, i actually know someone with that name so it doesnt strike me as a particulary strange name.

She has an amazingly expressive face. She is untraditionally sexy. Impish or something. I think she looks convincingly similar to Theon and has a similar body type. I like the name Yara just fine. I suspect it will be pronounced Yar-uh with the ‘yar’ sounding like ‘yard’.

Altongate. Yaragate.

I’m getting sick to death of all these “gates”.

The only “gates” that matter are huge changes in story or character development, and so far there have been precious few of those. Name changes clearly don’t change the story, unless there’s a significant meaning behind the name.

I do not see the strength of asha

in this actress

and even less in the new name, baaaaaaaaaad

Jericho,

Oh, of course. Because a picture tells you everything.

I’m beginning to think I should read the books, watch the show and ignore the sites/message boards.

Who Is Jacopo Belbo?: i have actually watched Cass and he is pretty good in it …. but talk about a divergence from the book description … he is like a 180 … but i get the concept of going from milk pale to very dark skinned (chocolate milk? i keed, i keed) … both sort of stand out and are visually stark so …more casting news please!!

I wonder if all Qartheen are going to be dark skinned or will there be a mixture of skin tones in the city.

I see Kerr Logan as Davos’ son Matthos has been confirmed as well.

I’d really like to see her in profile, as it’s the nose that counts to me.

But from this view, she does look too soft for the role, particularly in the progression Asha was given in Dance.

Oh nice, Matthos has been cast? That sounds like extra screen time for Davos, and that’s always a good thing!

I’m really disappointed with both name change and the actual choice for Asha…Jesus, Asha is hot, this girl looks not even remotely similar to her depiction in the books…comedian background?? Saw some clips on YouTube, and I’m even more depressed now…and to change name?? Why everything needs to be scaled to satisfy average dumb American Joe….

the Gull: Ryan E

“We definitely need to start a petition to fix her name. Even if it’s not Asha they can come up with something better than Yara. It sounds more like Arya than Osha.”

I have seen similiar posts before, and I feel like I need to point something out… it doesn’t matter one bit if the name is close to Arya, because nobody is going to confuse Yara Greyjoy (a 20-something woman who plays a relatively minor role) with Arya Stark (a ~10 year old girl who plays a major role and is a huge fan favorite).

People, there is more to it than just the name! Her and N Tena look fairly similiar, are about the same age, and both play relatively minor roles which could be easy for a casual viewer to confuse.

Zmajevic: I’m really disappointed with both name change and the actual choice for Asha…Jesus, Asha is hot, this girl looks not even remotely similar to her depiction in the books…comedian background?? Saw some clips on YouTube, and I’m even more depressed now…and to change name?? Why everything needs to be scaled to satisfy average dumb American Joe….

Changing a name is not the equivalent of “dumbing it down”. Dumbing it down would be simplifying the plot and making the story less complex. Changing a name is simply changing a name for clarity.

Did you feel the story was dumbed down last season when Robert Arryn was changed to Robin Arryn?

Josh Parker,

My bad :)

I think she has a good look for Asha. Smirky. I like it.

The name change does not matter. At all. You may like “Asha” more than “Yara” but it does not matter. It changes nothing.

Much softer than I imagined Asha, and frankly not how I imagined Asha at all, but as I said in the “rumor” thread, there’s something very Greyjoy about her smile.

The Yara name change is, in my opinion, completely unnecessary. Osha/Asha don’t even share screentime or plotlines, so I fail to see how it will confuse the same “new viewers” who gobbled up all the intricate backstory and machinations of Season 1. Oh well, not a big deal REALLY…I guess I’m being a purist on this one. :(

She looks so much younger than Alfie…interested to see them on screen together!

Let’s be realistic, if you are worried about it being “dumbed down”, you might as well stop at season one and quit while you are ahead. It’s already been “dumbed down” quite a bit, and it’s going to get worse, not better, because the books get more complex. The name change isn’t really very drastic, but there will be more things which are.

Still, I don’t think it was an important change, as most people I talk to don’t even know anyones names as it is. They just talk about the boy king, or the horse king, or the horse princess, or Ned’s cool daughter and Ned’s snotty daughter, etc. Minor characters like Osha are not even really mentioned – they are just a dialog mouthpiece for the most part.

I’m not impressed with Gemma’s acting as far as I’ve seen, but we don’t know what the producers saw. If she gave a great reading of the script, that matters more than her other work.

Zmajevic,

There are a whole bunch of characters in the first season that were just as different from their book descriptions as Gemma is and even some which differ significantly more than Gemma (the Baratheon brothers for example). Therefor it should be obvious that we can’t expect direct similarity because they need to focus on good acting before exact looks. Going to such hyperbole to explain your displeasure isn’t really very constructive either.

Wow, we have same/similar names-change it, change it, people will be confused….give me a break…

To be fair, these kinds of things ARE more confusing in tv, what with putting up with peoples accents and not being able to pause reading and think about who a character actually is. It’s not that the tv audience is dumber than the readers, (some are, sure, but a large portion of the tv audience was composed of readers or people who became readers) but the tool they are using is incredibly blunt. It’s the difference between a hammer and a scalpel. There are a lot of different precise cuts a scalpel can make, hammers just bang.

Michelle R.,

I was just thinking that. In my dating (and once-married) life, I had a string of guys behind me just royally pissed off that I was with the woman they wanted to be with.

And in every case I think my gf (and ex-wife) would be called “fugly” if she were to be cast in any role on this show.

MAC:
Flouride,

Yes, Arya becomes Yara if you move one letter. But they DON’T SOUND ANYTHING ALIKE. Meanwhile, Osha and Asha, as spoken by a Brit, would be virtually indistinguishable. Theon even thinks to himself that the names sound the same! They really aren’t comparable.

So it’s a accent thing? Americans don’t understand british accents? They just need to pronounciate Asha AY-SHA and it won’t sound like Osha.

Maester leuwin said it in the theon, maester, osha scene…. I think bran said it as well
Jerry Glonek,

not sure if I can see her as Asha since there are only like two pictures of her floating around online. We shall have to see. We need a profile shot to see her nose :p

Zmajevic: Ryan E, If producers believe that viewers will be so confused with Asha/Osha names that means they are thinking that most of the viewers are indeed dumb…And I think the same about the Robert/Robin change. Although it’s a lesser problem since he’s been referred as Robin, and he’s nowhere near as important as Asha…Wow, we have same/similar names -change it, change it, people will be confused….give me a break…For the Gemma as a choice, I’m saying I’m disappointed with her looks, since she’s not even close to character in the book, in my opinion…Unless she’s really terrific actor, I think that this choice is an epic fail…

Well, I disagree that simply changing a name dumbs anything down. The spoken word (especially in accents) and the written word are two different things, its a simple change to avoid two names for two minor characters that sound nearly the same for two characters who look similiarly and are approximately the same age. The change is for clarity, not simplification or dumbing down. It has absolutely no effect on the complexity of the story, or actually the story whatsoever.

As for her looks, she looks a little nice/cuter than I expected, rather than rougher/sexier… however all I have seen is a head shot or two, which clearly is much different than the final product will be. So, I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt, especially since I firmly believe that acting is 100x more important than matching the mental image I have from the book, or even matching GRMM’s description of how a character looks.

Jens: I second, third and totally support any petition to change this name back to Asha. I am totally supportive of Producers adding scenes to the story to explain off the page activities such as the brilliant Tywin Lannister scene or the interesting Littlefinger scene. I’m even fine with them focusing only on one of Dany’s bloodriders. But, when you start changing names and deleting characters (cough, Blackfish, cough), you get into a habit that will change the entire story. This book is ALL about the details, details, details. Every page has a hint or an allusion to other chapters, which is why I was very disappointed that they didn’t give their Targaryen’s colored contact lenses to reflect their lilac eyes, which are there as clues, clues clues. Sometimes I wonder if the producers even read the books.

You are correct that the book is all about details. However, it is completely impossible (and would result in a boring, incomprehensible mess of a TV show) to try to include ALL, or even most, of the details from a series that is 5+ approximately 1,000 page books.

Changing a name does not “change the entire story”, it is the exact same story with “Asha” replaced by “Yara.” If you had the entire series in a Word document, you could simply find and replace all of the “Asha” with “Yara”… and it would not change the story one iota, it would be the exact same story with one relatively minor character named differently. So your simply wrong on that account. As far as the Blackfish, I’d love to have im in there but you people are crazy if you think they will be able to fit all of the characters of his level of importance (very minor) into the TV series.

Jens: Perhaps it won’t change the story, you are correct. However, you missed my point. If they start changing too much, they’ll get themselves in binds which they could’ve easily avoided by not chaning anything. That is what I’m saying. For example, lets say (and this is just a crap point) all three bloodriders are vastly important in one chapter in “A Dream of Spring” … oh wait, they’re not even in the tv show. oh no, what do we do. If you start changing too much, then you’re screwed.The name change is just plain dumb, however. Who else here thinks “Yara” sounds like a Romulan? Engage cloaking devices people, the Klingons are coming. Give me a freaking break. Yara … pft.

You are right that does sound like a Romulan name.

But as far as the bloodriders go, you can simply introduce them as 3 of Khal Drogo’s former bloodriders who ran off after he died. Audiences will not care if they don’t remember them from the first season. I’ve read the books 3 times and I can’t remember a single one of their names. Its just not an important detail that would have a negative affect on the TV series.

We’ve already had this stupid fucking argument.

As a geek I’m often lumped in with some pretty embarrassing fandoms, but this single issue is the worst one ever. Bitching about such an insignificant things as this name change is beyond pathetic. Grow the fuck up.

GaR,

:) Yay we agree on something! We should declare this a holiday.

Jim Cross: Maester leuwin said it in the theon, maester, osha scene…. I think bran said it as wellJerry Glonek,

Not that it matters, but no, he doesn’t. While at work last week looking at clips on this topic I only found the scene with Theon and her first scene. Neither of them has her name mentioned. Never found time to watch her other scenes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HetNyRLskOE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS0fF8Er-mk

Clob,

It is definitely 100% true, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that if they’d changed Osha’s name, we’d be having this same bloody argument with the names reversed.

Wait wait wait…

From Hibberd’s quote above: “Yara defies the Ironborn traditions of her family by commanding her own ship and leading men into battle, as well as having a penchant for axes.”

Commanding a ship, leading men into battle and having a penchant for axes is defying Ironborn traditions? Those are pretty much their three favourite things! Chuck in raping, piracy and pretending they’re not slavers when really they are, and you’ve got the full set. o_O

Lex,

You can’t be serious. You’ve been posting here for a long while, you’ve seen the frothy-mouthed madness that takes over whenever a deviation from the books is announced. It doesn’t matter if it’s completely inconsequential, necessary or even an improvement; a shitload of people cry their eyes out anyway.

And yes, I include this thread in that.

Ryan E,

Yet again you elude my point, Ryan. Please reread the sentences prior to this comment … not to say that I disagree with your comments on the Freys. Why change the more important character? Osha’s a wildling and really only serves as “female guarding lost prince.” Asha will become an important character as the story goes on … ludicrous.

At least we can agree that she has become Romulan.

Jens,

This is very easy to answer.

Osha was in season 1. Now she is established they won’t change her name. They have people whose job it is to prevent that.

If they’d both been itnroduced in the same season, then maybe Osha would’ve been the one to lose her name. But, she were here first.

For the 14th time though: Who cares? What a dumb thing to care about.

Elena Amici,

Yeah, I was being deliberately obtuse there.

Is it such a weird thing for an Ironborn woman to be a hardarse who does piracy and fighting? I mean, yeah, Theon gets upset by it, but she does make a fool of him and taunt him mercilessly. He’s also been chilling in the North for a decade, where women aren’t encouraged to be all hardarse to the extent that the harsher Iron Islands might allow (Bear Island perhaps excepted).

I haven’t read Feast for a long time though, so maybe I’ve forgotten something that makes me wrong on that.

Luke Palladino,

They’ve done it twice, by my count (I’m not counting Rhakaro). The named cast numbers more than a hundred by now, so this represents less than 2%.

As for the reasons why: They renamed Robert Arryn to prevent confusion with Robert Baratheon, and they renamed Asha Greyjoy to prevent confusion with Osha. This has already been explained, of course, but maybe you missed that.

Chris77:
Casting: Great
Naming: Fail

Even though changing a name does changenothingin the story, It still feels like dumbing down the story, because the Producers fear that the audience is too dumb to keep two drastically different characters apart. If you keep in mind how the book sales spiked in the last few month, you can be preety sure that most of the audience is familiar with the show and new viewers will most likely follow their example and read the books. Therefore the namechange will piss off a big chunk of the audience and it is totally unnecessary. I think no one will complain about two names that sound a bit similar, but as you can see in various threads, a lot of people will be bothered if they change the name… If there is no oher way, please only add a letter so we get Dasha, Tasha, Yasha, Sasha.

Somehow, I feel itis not D & D’s fault ( I trust these guys immensely) but rather some CEO at HBO who ordered it…

Word!

Exept I feel like its totaly D&D`s fault.

The first season is not even close to the awsomeness of the books. The show is just OK so far, and stupid name changes mean things are not looking up for S2.

If anything the name change is more confusing than not changing it. Book readers will continue to refer to her as Asha (I know i will, just to spite D&D if nothing else), and TV viewers will be like; Who the f… is Asha?

Elena Amici,

Ah yes, now I remember. Damphair is a religious nutbag though; even in the real world we get his type saying it’s ungodly for women to do certain things (they got New Testament backing on that one, even).

Jessica C.,

Don’t be absurd. You have the right to express your opinion, and others have the right to express theirs; even if their opinion is that your opinion is stupid.

GaR:
Jessica C.,

Don’t be absurd.You have the right to express your opinion, and others have the right to express theirs; even if their opinion is that your opinion is stupid.

I just don’t like someone calling another person’s opinion stupid. It rubs me the wrong way.

GaR,

I’d like to think so. It would be a shame to waste a sign of the End Times.

Lex: I don’t think people would be NEARLY as bothered.

I tend to agree, because in the books at least, Asha Greyjoy is a hot, cool-as-hell big sister, and an ass-kicking pirate chick. Meanwhile Osha is a plain, too tall, uneducated, dirty, unattractive wildling who kind of just goes away.

Speculation: What people don’t know yet (which would really piss Asha fans off) is that the show is going to shrink Asha Greyjoy to a typically tiny (‘just enough’) part. Osha the Wilding is going to be a bigger and more significant part than the book.

The reasons I guess this are:

1. Natalia Tena is a greater than average actor by GoT standards.
2. In Osha scenes in Season 1, they took pains getting it just right (especially in the hair and makeup department)
3. Rickon has already been changed significantly and will not ‘go away’ like in the books.
4. It’s an impossible task to make Asha Greyjoy as cool as in the books. She will be bumped down to ‘realistic’.

/End Speculation

Anyway, I’m glad they have Tena as Osha. She’s great. And as for Asha, I guess we’ll have to see what happens there.

YouTube Gemma Whelan Showreel 2010 YouTube Widescreen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7AHJlqaRrI

Definitely a nice clips collection to get a sense of what our Yara Greyjoy will be like.

cranscape,

Sorry, the site is for fans of the TV SHOW, which (sorry to ruin your elitist day) includes new people. So, in order to be considerate to new fans, yes – the character on the TV SHOW is Yara.

Don’t like it? Tough.

Ser Lurkalot,

K, let me see if I get this straight – You have the right to scold people for scolding other people.

Three cheers for you, since you’re so dang special!!!

Hyp hyp … ocrite!
Hyp hyp … ocrite!
Hyp hyp … ocrite!

KG,

Thank you for affirming my rights. I fail to see how I am a hyprocite since I included myself in the group I was scolding. I do think my comment was futile (like the majority of the stuff written on the internet), but that makes me pathetic, not hypocritical (necessarily).

I dig the casting of Gemma Whelan for Asha. Hope they keep the priceless introductory scene more or less intact.

KG: Sorry, the site is for fans of the TV SHOW, which (sorry to ruin your elitist day) includes new people. So, in order to be considerate to new fans, yes – the character on the TV SHOW is Yara.

Don’t like it? Tough.

seriously, i don’t think anyone is going to call her yara :D

Rinso,

Other than subtitles, interviews, promotional materials, and fan videos on YouTube, you’re right — no one has ever called her Osha. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T0MD9I2PrY

:35 second mark:

“And you will have seen her in the best television show ever, as Osha.”

Only note his pronunciation. (Ah-sha.)

She looks fine enough to me. I have no problem with the idea of her name being changed but the change to Yara is bloody ridiculous. Awful name, hard to pronounce and far too close to Arya.

My main issue with this change is that I can already picture me in a year’s time, listening to discussion from non-book readers about how awesome “Yara” is from my dark corner, while resentfully muttering “Asha. Asha is awesome,” under my breath. (Every few seconds or so I make a little twitchy movement with my hand, which I am using to stroke a hairless cat.)

I don’t want to be That Person. :(

By the way, her french accident is terrible in her showreel… Althoug I do kind of like the other parts of it acting-wise.

I like the actress; she doesn’t look very much like ASHA (call me Cleopatra, Queen of Denial) but I guess she did a great audition. I’d like to see that; it’s hard to judge from some pics and out-of-character videos. I bet she’s great fun at cons.

No, really, Asha. The change would not matter much to me; but it’s so… pointless. As I wrote in the other thread, they could have done literally everything with the pronounciation if they wanted to differentiate her from Osha.

I think we’re afraid of the slippery slope. Robin Arryn, yeah, ok. Roz, grumble grumble, ok. Ignored Tullys, whine whine, ok, let’s wait for S3. (S3 my ass, I won’t stop whining until S2 is over.) Alton Lannister, meh, let’s see what he does. Yara Greyjoy… why?

The worrisome suspicion is that GRRM, for whatever reason, has let go a bit of his control over the series and D&D are making it more their show than his. I hope that’s not so. Apart from some personal disappointment such as the BloodyGate and my dislike of Roz, I enjoyed S1 enormously exactly because it followed so closely the spirit, if not the letter, of GRRM’s saga. But if GRRM entirely stops caring about the “letter”, I’m worried it could end up like the Harry Potter movies, which, frankly, have failed to impress me, despite the alleged close involvement of JK Rowling.

I’m trying not to be too big a “purist” here. I repeat, one Yara is no big deal. But together with all the rest, it’s disquieting.

It’s been clear she’s pretty much had the part for some time now. Personal trainers, careful costuming, and (if you’re an action movie hero) HGH can do wonders in a short time lol

I don’t know if she can pull off threatening (and you don’t necessarily need to be big for that, I’ve met some very unsettling fifty year old, five-foot tall biker women) but I trust Nina Gold.

Oi!,

This. Thank you. I’m sure the actress loves that everyone’s so hung up on the name change, and no one seems to care about her. /eyeroll

Welcome to the cast Gemma! I hope you have a good time on set and get the full “Game Of Thrones” treament. All the best to you.

Looks too soft

world_dancer: Robbing her of her name when she sets out to make herself special just seems wrong.

I agree! It feels like a betrayal. Utterly irrational of me I know, but still. I can’t help it!

Nichael Bluth: My main issue with this change is that I can already picture me in a year’s time, listening to discussion from non-book readers about how awesome “Yara” is from my dark corner, while resentfully muttering “Asha. Asha is awesome,” under my breath. (Every few seconds or so I make a little twitchy movement with my hand, which I am using to stroke a hairless cat.)
I don’t want to be That Person. :(

I’m with you there, I am so gonna be that person. I was that person the other week when I overheard a couple of people trying to remember the names of the characters. It took all my willpower not to go and draw them family trees!

Well, here we have first big blunder from the producers.

Name change is bad…does USA audience consists of idiots and the name Asha will confuse them ?

Also, casing is terrible. ASha is a warrior not this funny looking little girl.

Well, I guess we’ll see. From the photos I’ve seen she looks pretty in cute, college student sort of way. I always saw Asha as far more rakish. I imagined a young Famke Janssen or a young Linda Fiorentino.

axia777,

People have a right to complain when they like…Yes, sometimes some objections are ridiculous and sometimes they are premature…But the name change is a big freakin deal!!! I’m a long time fan of the books…and ASHA is important character in my mind…so I have every right to be pissed, like many other fans (just look at GOT face book page). And ASHA is a warrior chick, commander of her own ship, and other Iron fleets. We are supposed to believe that when we see this small, cute Gemma girl, who looks nothing of a sort.
Someone said –Famke Janssen, Linda Fiorentino, yes, that’s the look for the role!

axia777,

The amount of muscle mass you can build as a woman during this short time is not nearly enough to transform her to have an athletic look. The best thing we can hope for is that they go with simply slimming her down to make her leaner/meaner.

kakashi:
axia777,

The amount of muscle mass you can build as a woman during this short time is not nearly enough to transform her to have an athletic look. The best thing we can hope for is that they go with simply slimming her down to make her leaner/meaner.

Asha/Yara is not large in the muscles department. She is supposed to be lean, like a light weight boxer. That is not hard to do at all. Building mass is hard. Toning what one all ready has is not that much work really. She does not need to bulk up at all. Besides, three quarters of the performance is not what she looks like but the attitude she projects.

Zack: ……you lost me there.

Why? Lena is awesome as Cersi. She is maniacal, manipulative, and all most psychotically over protective of the kids. How is she not perfect barring a few physical differences of the character from the books.