Casting news from the TV series

[Werthead]

Peter Dinklage is confirmed to be playing Tyrion Lannister.

Tom McCarthy (The Station Agent and The Visitor) will direct the pilot episode as well.

 

[DeepThought]

Thanks for the link Werthead. The guy is not far off the mark from how I visualized Tyrion.

 

[AE35Unit]

Hmmm i had no idea what this was about till i looked in that link. A TV series based on A Game of Thrones. Well i've never read any GRRM so this will give me an idea of the kind of stuff he writes. If it is screened here in the UK that is!

 

[soulsinging]

Interesting. He looks rather familiar, I must have seen him in other movies before. That's a heavy load to carry for any actor... he's one of the most central and fascinating characters in the entire series!

Also had no idea Benioff was writing the pilot script. I have his book 'City of Thieves' on my shelf and it's gotten pretty great reviews. He also wrote the 25th Hour. I didn't read the book but the movie was excellent.

Glad to hear it's being filmed in Northern Ireland... that's beautiful country up there!

 

[The Imp]

For those who haven't seen The Station Agent- it'sa terrific film and well worht seeing. Dinklage played one of the lead roles. reat job.. The directing was also top notch

 

[Lady of Winterfell]

I haven't seen a lot of his work, but I have seen some. I think he'll do a great job with the role.

 

[Werthead]

Hmmm i had no idea what this was about till i looked in that link. A TV series based on A Game of Thrones. Well i've never read any GRRM so this will give me an idea of the kind of stuff he writes. If it is screened here in the UK that is!

The BBC is co-producing and it will be filmed in Belfast, so yes, it will be screened on the BBC, hopefully around the same time it goes out in the USA

 

[Boaz]

Thanks, Wert.

We've been discussing Dinklage as Tyrion for four or five years.

Now do we know what will be done regarding accents? Will they try and use various accents of the British Isles? Will the actors all have American accents? Or will the actors use their own voices and provide a mixture of accents as in Kenneth Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing?

If my choice is Kevin Costner's accent alongside Alan Rickman or Keanu Reeves own voice alongside Emma Thompson, then I'll take Reeves and Thompson every time. (Of course, Brian Blessed was in both Robin Hood and Much Ado.)

 

[the smiling weirwood]

Well, I think I'd rather see them use their own voices. The regions of Westeros are supposed to have a mix of accents, so we'll see what happens. It will be interesting to see what's done with Dorne, since GRRM has said they kind of have Southern accents. I'm from Mississippi, so, *I'd* be interested. The rest of you may not be.

 

[Boaz]

We've discussed preferences before (not that I'm against doing it again, mind you), but I was hoping Wert knew something about the patois, dialects, vernacular to be used.

 

[Centurion]

The BBC is co-producing

That is the best news i've heard all day (mind you it's only 2AM)

Never thought i'd be seeing the likes of Tyrion Lannister on the beeb!

 

[C Of K]

It will be interesting to see what's done with Dorne, since GRRM has said they kind of have Southern accents. I'm from Mississippi, so, *I'd* be interested.

Southern gentlemen, no doubt.

Ever seen Gettysburg? The southern accents in that were great, I thought. Some of my favorite characters of all time were the southern generals from that movie.

 

[Werthead]

I thought that GRRM said southern European (Spanish) and Moroccan accents for Dorne, which suits the inspiration and climate as well. Both GRRM and the producers have said they are looking at European accents for the series, and American ones will specifically not be used unless the actor is awesome but can't do accents.

 

[TK-421]

Maybe southern in this sense means Cornish accents...Just kidding.

While Dinklage is no surprise, he's certainly a good choice (even with that unfortunate role in Prince Caspian).

 

[Ghost of Harrenhal]

I'm certainly hoping that the Dornish are southern European and not southern American. I'm sorry but just picture the Red Viper speaking like a Southerner.. Yeah..

I would have thought that the cast would be given accents to adopt, not use their own accents because they would be so varied. In my head I always pictured the Northron to sound like Scots, the Southron to sound English and the Dornish to sound Spanish. This could be because I'm English myself and not American, but we'll see what happens in the series.

I suppose the Jame vs Jamie argument will be settled when the pilot is released too!

 

[Ursa major]

But isn't Jaime, when pronounced as Jamie, a woman's name? (Although perhaps this is not true in Westeros.)


Jaime, the man's name, is from southern Europe; I myself can't see the Lannisters speaking with a Spanish or Portuguese accent. Well, maybe....

 

[chopper]

good casting. i'm figuring they need a south yorkshire accent or two in there though....

 

[the smiling weirwood]

But isn't Jaime, when pronounced as Jamie, a woman's name? (Although perhaps this is not true in Westeros.)

No. When pronounced "Jay-me" it's usually a pet name for James. It can also be a given name.

Really, it's not feminine at all, but "Jamie" has been appropriated for girl's names for a while now.

Anyway, I can't remember what GRRM himself said, but in the books it describes the way the Dornish speak, and they all have a drawl. If they were using a Spanish accent wouldn't he have said clipped and lispy?

Whatever, I wouldn't mind if they had novel accents. I'm tired of every fantasy ever using European accents. It's really odd to imagine this world with an entirely different linguistic tradition developing the same accents as say, England.

 

[Werthead]

'Jamie' is traditionally a male Scottish name, derived from James. It has since become acceptable as the female version of James as well, which is where it is mostly encountered in the USA. Its existence in the medieval period is suspect (the Scottish King James were all called 'James', not 'Jamie'), but to a writer researching European history, the Scottish version is what he'd encounter.

 

[TK-421]

I have an uncle Jaimie. Not an aunt.