Small Council: Reactions to the new casting calls for Season 7

Preproduction on Game of Thrones Season 7 has begun. Last week, casting calls for new roles surfaced on Watchers on the Wall. What do we think of them? Do any of them suggest characters from the books? Who, if anybody, would we like to see playing them? Read our takes, tell us yours, and vote in the poll!

DAN: We’re at a weird point in the show’s lifecycle. Previously, when these casting calls came out, book-reading fans could look at them and recognize characters from the novels. Sure, the calls could be camouflaged, but we recognized a description for Maggy the Frog when we saw it.

We can’t do that anymore. The show is well and truly beyond George R.R. Martin’s novels (importantly, that doesn’t mean it’s adapted everything from those novels), and these calls are probably describing entirely new characters. However, one struck me as a possible exception. Beware SPOILERS.

"Young Lord, in his late 20s. He’s tall and handsome. The producers want a white actor with an RP accent. He’s shoot scenes starting September 20th."

First up, an RP accent is a posh kind of British accent usually associated on this show with King’s Landing. So that’s our first clue.

This description put me in the mind of Aurane Waters, a character who comes to the fore in A Feast for Crows. Young and handsome, Cersei raises out of obscurity by promoting him to the position of grand admiral, aka Master of Ships, aka the head of the King’s Landing navy. Without giving too much away, she comes to regret the decision. It’s another in her long string of missteps as a ruler.

In the books, this all happens after Tywin’s death, but before the Faith imprisons her. When Aurane Waters didn’t show up in Season 5, I assumed he had been cut. But now that Cersei is queen, she’s free to wield her power unwisely again, and she does need replacements for all the Small Council members she killed or alienated. Why not Aurane Waters?

True, in the books, Aurane is a bastard, not a lord, but the show could change that. Also, as a member of the Small Council, Aurane might be called a lord no matter his heritage, like Varys. He might also be combined with some of the other incompetents Cersei hand-picks for the Small Council in Feast, like the weak-willed Harys Swyft or the sickly Gyles Rosby.

I’ve also seen fans suggest that this casting call describe Rhaegar Targaryen, seen in one of Bran’s visions. It’s also possible it’s some new nobody. Anything could happen at this point.

Here come the good decisions.

COREY: The parts that stood out the most to me were the above-mentioned Young Lord and the Warrior. Dan could be correct that the Young Lord is Aurane Waters, but I also wonder if it might be Rhaegar Targaryen. We established last season that Jon’s parents were never who we were told they were, i.e. Ned Stark and some random woman, but rather Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar. That’s not exactly a trivial bit of information. In fact, the identity of Jon’s parents was always the biggest mystery of the series.

So the question now becomes why Rhaegar and Lyanna had Jon Snow Targaryen. To find that out, I assume we’re finally going to see Rhaegar appear in the series via Bran’s flashback powers. And if we’re actually going to see Prince Rhaegar, the best-looking, smartest, wisest, and every other awesome superlative you can think of, guy, I can think of no one better than Lee Pace. Pace was the epitome of regal and captivating in the recent Hobbit trilogy, playing the elvish king Thranduil. If Pace still has his wig from The Hobbit, even better.

Then there’s the part of the warrior, “a tough-looking bruiser with the attack skills of a pit bull” and a lot of dialogue. I wonder if he’s connected to Euron Greyjoy is some way. We assume that Euron will come into conflict with Daenerys as she makes her way to Westeros, and if so, Euron will need a “pit bull” by his side. And not to be lazy, but I have another Hobbit alumni in mind for the part: Graham McTavish. McTavish played Dwalin in the Hobbit trilogy, but also a gruff special forces operator in Rambo. Both roles required quite a bit of dialogue, but also significant physicality. It doesn’t hurt that McTavish is a very large man with an English accent, either.

KATIE: Well, I’m certainly happy that I’m no longer left adrift in a sea of cluelessness. Then again, I’m sure this process is more frustrating for book-readers, who could know what these casting calls meant if the show hadn’t altered and outpaced the books. But that’s really neither here nor there—we’re all suffering in this speculative waiting period together now.

If the role of the Young Lord isn’t Rhaegar Targaryen, well, color me surprised. He’s been discussed at length the past couple of seasons especially, so I figure he has to show up sometime. Now that Bran’s visions are a go, there’s ample opportunity for Rhaegar to appear in a flashback. He has to play a bigger role than one half of Jon Snow’s dead parents, and now would be the time to explore that. (Well, perhaps he doesn’t have to be anything more, but I remain convinced that he does.)

I can’t venture much of a guess as to the other roles, but I’m already warming up to this Gate Guard. His description as a “confident, characterful, straight-talking Northern lad” sounds like a winning combination. Season 6 introduced us to plenty of Northerners, most of whom got on my last nerve in one way or another, so I’m looking forward to one who sounds immediately likable. He actually sounds a bit like Bronn in general characteristics. We can always use more Bronn.

DAVID: Well, well, well. It seems as if the long wait for Game of Thrones Season 7 casting and filming news is finally over, and boy is it a doozy. What interests me the most out of all these casting calls is the role of the Warrior. Here’s a refresher:

"35 – 45 years old. “The character is a tough-looking bruiser with the attack skills of a pit bull.” The actor needs to be an able fighter, and will have a “considerable” amount of dialogue. HBO is open to casting a “top-end actor.” The actor should be white with a “neutral and non-posh English accent.” The role will shoot through October."

We talked about who we’d love to see in these roles on this week’s episode of Take the Black. I chose Jason Flemyng, of Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels fame, for this role. Flemyng has been in many action films and series on the BBC. He’s taken part in massive battles, one-on-one fights, and is literally the perfect man for this role. In fact, Jason Flemyng was actually in a film titled Bruiser. I rest my case.

Jason Flemyng Acrisius Clash of the Titans

ANI: Who are all these people? Why are they important? Are they important?

We assume they’re important because they’re on the casting list. A couple of them sound like they could be—the bruiser fighter, for instance. The note about wanting a “top-end” actor indicates that we’re going to see an A-list level BBC type, because everyone who didn’t get in on the ground floor of the show is now scrambling to hang out at the Game of Thrones catering table. We may also see a B-list level BBC type as the Gate Guard, as well.

But a Merchant? A Priest shooting for a week, who will probably be in all of two episodes at most? Yet another goddamn part for a woman that requires her to doff her clothes?

Even when we were in the earlier seasons, the casting calls weren’t really my thing. “Oh look, they’re casting for child number 2, isn’t that nice.” It’s one thing when there were still major parts to come, like Stannis in Season 2, or even the High Sparrow in Season 5. But now we’re on the backside of the story and the chances of any new major characters showing up are very slim. (Unless they’re some sort of deus ex machina, and then we’ll all howl.) Yeah, I’m just not excited. Especially when they’re insisting the only woman on the list take off her clothes.

Not a major role.