A few words on HBO's Game of Thrones adaptation

I tweeted this recently, but thought it was worth repeating here: I think HBO have done a stonking job casting this series.

It's great to see that they've not been afraid to cast unknown actors and actresses who have little to no experience of acting for TV or film. But more importantly, it's hugely encouraging to see how much effort they've put into casting the dozens of roles (I'd forgotten how big a story this is, and how many characters it involves, until I read the news of all the castings).

Wert (yep, him again) has done some great posts on the recent castings: here, here, here and here. In terms of looks, most of these actors/actresses look spot on. Only castings I'm not convinced by are Jerome Flynn as Bronn (he could certainly pass for the sellsword, but can he pull off the dark wit?) and Gethin Anthony as Renly Baratheon (he looks a bit young, though it might be an old photo). But otherwise the casting is excellent - James Cosmo as Jeor 'The Old Bear' Mormont and Aiden Gillen as Littlefinger are particularly good examples.

Such has been the excitement since the project was first revealed, even the mainstream is sitting up and taking notice: there's a piece on The Guardian website about the series:

"With feelings so high there is a danger that the show will be unable to live up to the hype. But all the signs so far are positive. It's being made by the same team that made Rome – so the BBC has a stake in the show. It's being shot mostly in Northern Ireland and the cast – including the aforementioned Bean and Lena Headey – looks great. Much fan excitement surrounded the "perfect" casting of Aidan Gillen from Queer as Folk and the Wire as machiavellian puppet master Littlefinger. (Yes, that is the second character I've described as machiavellian – it's that kind of story.) Buffy writer Jane Espenson is part of the writing team, as is Martin himself. It seems that the adaptation is going to be solid and faithful to the text – no wily re-imagining. With source material this good, that's no bad thing."

While it's cool to see the coverage the series is getting, I have to take issue with a couple of things in the article.

Firstly:

"For the uninitiated – that is, people who don't gleefully buy 600-page books from the nerd section of Waterstone's – A Game of Thrones is the first book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series."

Ah, mainstream coverage of something related to the genre wouldn't be complete without the usual snipe. Seriously, what's the point? The whole "nerd section" nonsense could have been left out of that; it's totally irrelevant. Still, we've come to expect this sort of snobbishness from the mainstream.

Also:

"A Game of Thrones is high fantasy; although with a lot more swords than sorcery. It's a world of prophecies, exiled princesses, talking crows and magical trees."

Sheesh, what a crap way of describing the series - talk about making it sound like something it's not. High fantasy? No, not really. A Song of Ice and Fire is a series in which the primary focus is on the feuding of several different families - with the focus very much on the characters; it's been described as the War of the Roses with dragons, and that's not a bad description. Certainly, the elements mentioned above are minor elements. The 'magic trees' description particularly pisses me off, as it's not really accurate. All things considered, Martin's world is relatively low-magic, so to definite it as above doesn't do it justice.

Ho hum...

Anyway, for all the latest news on the production, check out the excellent blog Winter is Coming. 

First glimpse of HBO's 'Game of Thrones'

And it's literally a glimpse.

The teaser doesn't reveal much, but we do get a look at the haunted forest - and I think they've totally nailed the atmosphere, which is encouraging.

Plus, Sean Bean looks totally boss as Eddard Stark.

Early days still, and it's hard to draw any serious conclusions, but these hints are promising.

GRRM confirms Sean Bean is Eddard Stark

Finally, some more official news on the casting for the HBO adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire.

Rumours had been swirling around the interwebs that Sean Bean was being lined up to play Eddard Stark, and now GRRM has confirmed the accuracy of those rumours.

From his Not A Blog:

"Well, Reuters has the story out already, so there's no longer any reason for me to keep mum. Yes, the rumors you've been seeing all over the web the last few days are true. Another huge piece has fallen into place for the HBO pilot of A GAME OF THRONES -- we have signed Sean Bean to play the part of Lord Eddard Stark.

For the movie fans out there, Sean Bean needs no introduction. I mean, what the hell, he was Boromir and he was Sharpe, he was terrific in both roles, and in a hundred other parts besides. I can't imagine a better Ned. The deal took some doing, so my fingers have been crossed for a month now (and boy, that made it hard to type), but now it's done, and I'm thrilled."

That's not all - GRRM also confirmed that role of Jon Snow (thought by many fans to be the key figure in the entire series) has gone to a young actor called Kit Harington (left).

King Robert Baratheon will be played by British actor Mark Addy who internationally is probably most widely known for his appearance in A Knight's Tale. Also confirmed are Jack Gleeson as Joffrey Baratheon, and Harry Lloyd as Viserys Targaryen.

The casting of Bean as Eddard Stark is a very sound one - as a world-famous actor, he'll lend some serious credibility to the series. Furthermore, he's got the right look and is certainly more than capable of bringing the stoic, brooding Eddard to life. Exciting news, for sure.

As for the other appointments, I've never bothered to watch A Knight's Tale all the way through and don't recall seeing Mark Addy in anything else, so I can't really comment on his acting abilities. Perhaps an odd choice, but in terms of appearance - if you slapped a beard on him - he'd look about right.

No idea what Gleeson and Lloyd look like, so can't comment. I do think though that Kit Harington looks perfect for Jon Snow. Again, no idea on the acting ability but he certainly looks the part. It's so crucial that they get the Jon Snow role nailed, so I'm certain this appointment would have had plenty of thought behind it.

Looks like this production is starting to pick up momentum...

Jeff Bridges as Tywin Lannister?

While watching Ironman the other day, I suddenly thought that Jeff Bridges would make an excellent Tywin Lannister in the TV adaptation of GRRM's A Song of Ice and Fire. Not only does he look like the leader of the Lannister clan, but he can also handle the gruff, serious persona.

Check out the pics below and see if you agree!

Tywin Lannister

Jeff Bridges