HBO's Game of Thrones premiered Sunday, April 17th to rave reviews and decent ratings. That combination was enough for the network to officially greenlight a second season. We'll be getting at least 10 more episodes in the spring of 2012, covering the events of the second book, A Clash of Kings.
If you've read the series, you know that means we'll be seeing a host of new characters, in addition to the favorites who managed to survive season 1. I've always been a huge fan of casting speculation, so I'm channeling my excitement for season 2 into a series of posts where I cast the major roles. And don't forget, Sean Bean and Peter Dinklage were the fan favorites to play Ned & Tyrion, so who knows, maybe I'll actually get one right along the way.
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Edmure Tully
Edmure is the younger brother of Catelyn (Tully) Stark and Lysa (Tully) Arryn. He is, as Hoster Tully's only son, the heir to Riverrun. Though Edmure, his father, and his uncle all appear in the first novel, their television debut has been pushed back to the second season. Edmure is hot-headed, but has a good heart. He has never married. He is described as "stocky with shaggy auburn hair and beard and blue eyes." - (from
Tower of the Hand)
Tony Curran
I'm going to be honest, and tell you that I really wanted to work
Damien Lewis or
Kevin McKidd into
Game of Thrones. In my perfect world, McKidd would play Brynden Tully. Unfortunately, that's impossible. For starters, the aging up of the characters makes both of them far too young to play Michelle Fairley's uncle. Second, McKidd is busy on
Grey's Anatomy, and Lewis has a new show filming right now for Showtime. So, let's examine Mr. Curran. He's from Glasgow, Scotland. A year ago, he was probably best known as the Invisible Man from
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, or maybe from the
second Underworld movie. Then he played Vincent van Gogh on
Doctor Who, and now he's on my good list forever. If he can bring the same kind of awesome to the character of Edmure, Tony will be a great addition to our cast.
P.S. - Mr. Curran apparently told some fans this weekend that he's in talks to appear in GoT, but that's all we know. I already had him pegged as my choice for Edmure, but I'm sure some people will think I'm jumping on a band wagon with this one.
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NEXT TIME: I'll probably go back to Davos, but I wanted to get my Edmure recommendation out ASAP just in case they actually start announcing casting decisions.
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PREVIOUS GoT S2 CASTING SPECULATION:
Stannis Baratheon
Melisandre
I really like Tony Curran (his Van Gogh was AMAZING!), and I'd be perfectly ok with him being a Tully. I was all set to complain about this one, too, but that's because I confused Edmure and Brynden, and I want to act like a child and stamp my foot and declare that no one would make a better Blackfish than Richard Armitage. :) And then I re-read your post and realized my mistake.
ReplyDeleteYeah, this is for Edmure, he's way too young to play Brynden :)
ReplyDeleteI'm actually starting to get the sneaking suspicion that there won't be a Blackfish on the TV show. I'm not saying I want that to happen, but I wonder if they won't try to kind of add some of his attributes into the TV version of Edmure. I hope I'm wrong.
Do you think they could really just axe the Blackfish? I mean, yeah, they've dropped him from this season, and his role in the books has largely consisted of actions "offscreen" and related by third parties. But, what with his whereabouts being unknown due to that badass escape from Riverrun, I'm hoping (and guessing) he has a larger part yet to play. But I may be wrong. Regardless, I'd be saddened if they cut him from the story, if only because we wouldn't get to see the conversation he has with Jaime during the seige in AFfC. I always liked that scene.
ReplyDeletePlus, Edmure's too much of a bungler to really take Brynden's place in the story. I'd be upset if they altered Edmure so drastically. He kind of needs to be precisely what the Blackfish is not: a fool. A rather brave, noble, and loyal fool, perhaps ... but in the end, a fool.
Oh, but anyways, to comment on the actual substance of your post: I think Curran would be a splendid choice. He certainly has the look, and he seems to have the chops as well.
And, sorry, but one final question: do we know how old is Mance Rayder meant to be? Is it ever explicitly stated? Because, as far as his casting goes, Ian McShane would do him magnificent justice, but I fear he is too old (just as he also far too old for Stannis--I like your Balon suggestion, though ... my only quibble would be that Balon doesn't have very much to do, so the role would be essentially a cameo). Oh, but what do you think of Henry Ian Cusick (whose name I've seen bandied about on other posts around here) as Mance? He has that roguish charm, I feel. ... Hmmm, I wonder how well he sings?
Thanks for your time, and sorry again for the comment's length! Later days.
First, thanks for the encouragement on the Curran pick, and no need to apologize for the length of the comment.
ReplyDeleteSecond, I loved Mr. Cusick on LOST, and I'm definitely keeping him in mind as I go through "my casting" of GoT. He would be a great Mance.
As for Brynden & Edmure. Let me start by saying that I don't want Brynden to get left out of the TV show, but I think it's a possibility. They cut him from S1, even though he's a pretty major character. We also have Edmure, and he's kind of necessary so there isn't a problem with "who runs the Riverlands?" whenever Hoster finally kicks the bucket. For some reason, I can envision the producers combining Edmure and Brynden into one character who is Cat's brother, the heir to Riverrun, and a super-competent leader of the vanguard. He would be one of Robb's trusted advisor's.
As I've said before, I think that if we do find out that Brynden has been cut from the show, that tells us that his days as a major player in the books are over. If GRRM has big plans for him in Books 5-7, I'm sure he has giver D&D a heads up, and they'll know they can't cut him.
Definitely a fair point--I had actually forgotten that GRRM had been filling the producers in on the general shape and plot of the final books. So, yeah, that does make sense: if Brynden has big things in store, they'll introduce him next season most likely ('cause why would they wait?), if not, Edmure takes on some of his traits.
ReplyDeleteI do think that would be a terrible shame. Edmure is so wonderfully ... fallible ... human. Not that the other characters (excepting Others and wights and giants and 3-eyed-crows, I suppose) aren't well-portrayed in their messy, crazy, and all-too-often melancholy humanity; but it somehow seems important to have someone like Edmure, who is a guy most everyone is likely rooting for (even if only as an important familial/strategic ally to Robb, which puts him, as such, on "the right side" of the conflict) but who is also kind of a fuck-up. Other characters make mistakes, of course. But I have trouble thinking of another prominent player who miscalculates and bungles as much as Edmure seems to (except perhaps for Theon, who we generally don't have too much sympathy for). To make Edmure into a daring master of strategy and leader of men leaves us without the well-meaning but rather inept commander ... which, again, would be a shame. Not everyone can be a Blackfish or a Young Wolf or a Robert Baratheon. Even Westeros needs a foolhardy Custer or two (not that I have any sympathy for Custer ... so, uh, bad analogy).
Bah, I don't know. I'm rambling again and have got to get back to my school-work.
Thanks for your reply, by the way. I'm new to this site, but I'll be coming back around, for sure. Keep up the good work.
I definitely think Book Edmure and Book Brynden are great the way they are, and I hope we get to see both of them on the show. I just have this weird feeling that this might be a spot where they can trim a bit and integrate some storylines.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments, and if you get a chance, give some of our podcasts a listen. I'd be especially interested to see what you think of the GoT ones.
Sure man, will do.
ReplyDelete