Celeb roundup: George R.R. Martin interviews author Joe Lansdale, and more
By Dan Selcke
The success of Game of Thrones has been excellent for George R.R. Martin’s career. After the way it exploded, other authors are doubtlessly hoping that TV networks will adapt their long-running novel series. Case in point: Joe Lansdale, the author of several books revolving around Hap Collins and Leonard Pine, two friends who live in South Texas and find themselves solving a variety of unsavory crimes, is having his novels adapted by Sundance TV as Hap and Leonard, which will debut tomorrow. Martin is apparently a fan, as he sat down to interview Lansdale about the show, as you can see above.
Obviously, there’s no talk about A Song of Ice and Fire or Game of Thrones here, but it’s neat to see Martin stumping for a fellow author. Surely he can offer Lansdale some advice about managing his time now that he may have multiple commitments.
In other Game of Thrones celebrity news, we have a follow-up to the story from a few days back that Finn Jones, known to Thrones fans as Loras Tyrell, had been cast as superhero Iron Fist in a new Marvel Netflix series of the same name. Setting aside concerns from fans about how Jones will manage to juggle filming Thrones with playing the lead on a new show (knowing Game of Thrones’ reputation for killing characters, at least one morbid possibility suggests itself), his casting has rubbed some people the wrong way. Among those is comic book writer Marjorie Liu (Dark Wolverine, X-23), who took to Twitter to express her displeasure that a white actor had been cast in the role. Here’s what she said on Twitter:
"Iron Fist is an orientalist-white-man-yellow-fever narrative. Asian actor would have helped subvert that offensive trope, and reclaim space."
In the comics, Iron Fist (alter ego Danny Rand) is a white man who uses the power of the Iron Fist to focus his chi. We’ll see if Jones’ casting causes any more fallout as the series debut gets closer.
Finally, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (Gregor “the Mountain” Clegane) may soon get another opportunity to perform ridiculous feats of strength, as has become his custom every few months. According to the Herald Sun, Björnsson will compete in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Strongman World Championships, which will run from March 18-20 in Melbourne, Australia. “Thor is a lovely man,” said promoter Tony Doherty. “He’s also in peak condition and raring to … (win) the world’s strongest man contest.” Expect him to tear apart a ship with his bare hands or something later this month.