Updated photos from Magheramorne Quarry, and potential casting news!

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Game of Thrones activity continues at Magheramorne Quarry in Northern Ireland this week.  The old quarry and buildings there serve primarily as the backdrop for Castle Black and the Wall, and recently new sets have sprung up on the grounds surrounding it.

Once again, WotW reader John has provided images of the sights around Magheramorne. These pics were taken yesterday, showing the progress made in the area.

More painting and construction has been done, and green screens are now in place. It appears in the photo above that some sort of walkway or bridge has been made between two entryways, in the new set.

We’ve tucked the rest of the photos and more casting and filming news after the cut!

But first up- we’ve been able to confirm, thanks to the Dubrovnik News, that the photos posted yesterday online from Dubrovnik are not from Game of Thrones filming. NBC is shooting their new series Emerald City in Dubrovnik, causing the confusion. Sorry about the mixup!

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Sources tell us that Lena Headey (who’s been spotted in Belfast this week) has actually been around since last week. They say that Tuesday of last week, the actress was shooting scenes for Game of Thrones up at Shane’s Castle in Northern Ireland.

Shane’s Castle has been used for many things on GoT, but last year was featured mainly as the site of the High Sparrow’s simple sept where he confronted and arrested Cersei.


NeilLastly, there’s a casting rumor going around today.

Indian star Neil Nitin Mukesh has been reported in some publications as nabbing a role on Game of Thrones as a “royal” in season 6. 

It doesn’t appear that the casting is solid yet though. When asked about the rumors, the actor clarified, “Nothing is confirmed so far. All I can do is keep my fingers crossed. Though Game Of Thrones is one of my favorite series.”

HBO has declined to confirm a potential casting at this time.

Sue the Fury
Susan Miller, Editor in Chief of WatchersOnTheWall.com

86 Comments

  1. MAN I wish they hadn’t written out Garlan Tyrell. Although if he’s Indian he’s probably Dornish if anything.

  2. No more Hodering, first post already taken.

    Now….Emerald City….I wonder if that is a reference to Seattle. Shooting overseas? Interesting. But I could have it wrong.

  3. Sue the Fury:
    JCDavis,

    Pretty sure it’s a reference to the Emerald City most people think of- the one from Oz, like the Wizard of Oz.

    Yup. Just Google’d it. And indeed it is about the Oz series. That will be good too…..Seattle is known as the Emerald City, so I had hoped, being from the Pacific NW here. But I am a Baum fan as well.

  4. Emerald City filming in Dubrovnik – nice!! That piqued my interest enough to check out the pilot whenever it airs.

    Hope this new actor is cast. Season 6 seems to be full of male eye candy – what a welcome development! 😀 I wonder if it’s an Essosi royal from Volantis or Pentos.

  5. Looks like the second picture from the bottom shows huts and tent like structures. Maybe a makeshift camp.

  6. I’m going to say that the new casting is maybe for a Yunkish noble. I know they’re gearing up for a big Dothraki scene soon; what if it’s Dany arriving back in Meereen with a Dothraki charge on the besieging Yunkish? It would make sense that we’d be getting casting for Yunkish nobles at the same time all the Dothraki actors are showing up then, more sense than a Dornish character, who appear to be done filming for all intents and purposes.

  7. Wow. That’s certainly a rope bridge between two stone buildings. I always say we shouldn’t jump to the most obvious things just because they resemble something from the books, but… Damn it if that didn’t make me think of Pyke and Balon Greyjoy.

    As for this new actor, I don’t know who he could be, especially if he’s playing a “royal”. Maybe they meant nobleman? That’d make more sense. He could be a Dornish or South Essossi nobleman, given his appearance.

  8. I’m really, really sceptical about that casting. Someone’s coming to speak to him at the end of the month, which means whatever he’s filming will have to be done in the first two weeks of December (assuming filming finishes around then), which seems to be cutting it quite close. Fair enough, they may not have released the casting call for his character, but it doesn’t match any of the calls we’ve had so far. It says the role was offered by Greg Powell, the stunt coordinator, not the casting director, or the producers… could be he’s in for a brief action sequence, or they’re using him as a stunt-man, but I would have thought if he had an actual, speaking/acting role, that it would go through the casting people.

    Also, it goes from “I play a Royal in both [Game of Thrones & Prem Ratan Dhan Payo] and also feature in combat scenes” to “Nothing confirmed, keeping my fingers crossed”.

    I’m also somewhat reluctant to take the Mumbai Mirror as a reliable source.

  9. I don’t know if anyone else paid attention to the porta-potties in one those pictures, but now I can’t speculate on what might be going on because I am thinking about the cast and crew having to use porta-potties…….yuk

  10. Newbietothegame:
    Looks like the second picture from the bottom shows huts and tent like structures.Maybe a makeshift camp.

    I wonder if it could be the wildling camp as they head to the

    Battle of the Bastards.
  11. Are those Night’s Watch men in the first photo? And is that the Dothraki main hut in one of the photos beside the small castle-looking building?

  12. Matt,

    And if so, what is that thing they’re standing around?

    I assume they can’t be men, because the nearest man walking with a yellow safety vest looks much smaller, also they would have had to majorly dragged their feet to create their paths in the snow.

    Have we seen the half-built structure to the right before?

  13. Wasn’t there a Bollywood version of Game of Thrones announced a while back? Maybe this “royal” was cast for that series instead.

  14. Newbietothegame,
    Name *,

    I think those were shown in an earlier posting when the new set being built was first announced, and IIRC, they’re the huts that were used in the Hardhome set. Take a closer look, and you’ll probably recognize them.

  15. I’m intrigued by the picture which shows figures in the snow. There are tracks leading from the dirt road onto the snow where 5-6 dark clad figures stand. One of those appears rather hefty. I wonder if they’re Night’s Watch or Wildings or something else. I don’t see any production crew or cameras so maybe it’s not people but statues in the snow?

    The last photo shows 3 structures in the bottom left. 2 look like they could be Dothraki huts but the third one has 4 walls and appears to be made of sturdier stuff. I wish there had been actors around the buildings to make it easier to figure out what is what. Hopefully when they start actual filming things will become clearer. Is it April yet??

  16. The tall structures to the left in the snowy photo kind of look like the rocky spires where the Night’s King did his baby christening.

  17. Very happy for neil if this is true..

    First priyanka chopra now him..

    Give him the wig of viserys and he may very well be our Rhaegar Targaryen

  18. Is Greg Powell even a Game of Thrones Stunt coordinator? He’s never worked on the show before, and Rowley Irlam is returning for season 6 (he was stunt coordinator for season 5). Powell hasn’t been associated with Game of Thrones, at all, ever.

  19. Fienix,

    I think I definitely recognize the Hardhome defenses in the lower left hand corner of the last photo. With maybe the building Wun Wun was hanging out in above the wall. Is that Winterfell’s turrets below them both, to the left of the Dothraki circular one? Or is that something new?

  20. That soap opera remake rumor, the one centered around Daenerys (with Sakshi Tanwar nabbing the role), was proven false.

    And while I’m sure this wasn’t the intuition, there isn’t one “Indian” look people fit into.

  21. Someone pointed out on r/ASOIAF that this is our second suspension bridge sighting after the famous on-location one earlier this year.

  22. HelloThere,

    Well I will be happy if that happened..but i think deepika is busy righf now with other projects …now you mentioned it I got the idea ..

    Deepika ,priyanka and Katrina for the sand snakes would have been way much sexier

  23. The Sand Snakes’ “sexiness” wasn’t the problem, IMO. It was the writing that afforded them little personality. I always thought Freida Pinto would be a great fit for Arianne, but that’s just my fancasting in action there.

  24. Most Indian GoT fans seem to have taken this news as a joke. Already there are plenty of memes ridiculing this guy going around the web. Would be interesting if he is really playing someone in show, though. Either he said more than he was supposed to, then changed to ‘I’m keeping my fingers crossed’, or the whole rumour is completely made up.

  25. Hey, NBC, find a good location on your own instead of stealing exact spots in Dubrovnik!! 😛

    I guess it makes sense if this bridge set is to be used for the same scene(s) as the filming they did earlier at the Carrick-a-Rede bridge. That location is probably difficult to use a green screen so maybe they’ll mesh shots of the two together.

  26. Had a go at zooming in here for the benefit of people who can’t based on comments above. Sadly things are really fuzzy but you might be able to spot something new? Also did a size comparison for the ‘cloaked people’ against a person and car from elsewhere in the picture and they look far too big, unless it’s a group of giants (secretly very excited by the idea, could mean some serious stomping action). Could they possibly be standing stones? Don’t remember seeing any in the show but we have a lot of them here in the UK and that was my first thought when I saw them. The tracks might be from vehicles, especially as they swing around in a smooth arc from the road, the way cars/trucks do.

    Gotta disappear for a while now but if anyone wants me to zoom in and post anything else just reply to this and I’ll add them later.

  27. It’s good to hear about Dubrovnik being used for filming for other shows. Hopefully GOT raised its profile as a filming location.

  28. Lulus Mum,

    That’s great, Lulu’s Mum. My bet is the Standing Stones are the Others’ hangout. We’ll see a teenage White Walker have his bar mitzvah or something.

    And Clob’s point is probably right, this is probably the closeup for the Carrick-a-Rede bridge, which looks similar from google photos.

    They’ll take the landscape and put Pyke into, and composite it with this. In the center Mr. Greyjoy, and his slow-ass fall.

    I hope Jaquen personally jets over there to push him off.

    Can anyone confirm if the castle door and turrets in the last photo are something we’ve seen before, like for Winterfell closeups?

  29. Felt Pelt:
    Can anyone confirm if the castle door and turrets in the last photo are something we’ve seen before, like for Winterfell closeups?

    I honestly can’t tell. I tried zooming in closer but the picture gets too pixelated. It definitely appears to be a courtyard of some sort, as there’s a proper entry/exit arch on either end plus one out to the side.

  30. Felt Pelt:

    Can anyone confirm if the castle door and turrets in the last photo are something we’ve seen before, like for Winterfell closeups?

    It’s the King’s Landing Mud Gate set all the way back from ‘Blackwater’

  31. Deesensfan:
    super OT: I didn’t know they were making HP prequels!

    JKR has said it is not a prequel but AFTER the time of the HP books/movies are set. I think it involves Harry’s kids. I could be wrong, but I have JKR on my Twitter feed. Who we need for confirmation right now is…..

    Wimsey.

  32. JCDavis: JKR has said it is not a prequel but AFTER the time of the HP books/movies are set.I think it involves Harry’s kids.I could be wrong, but I have JKR on my Twitter feed. Who we need for confirmation right now is…..

    Wimsey.

    The film that’s coming out next year with Eddie Redmayne (sp?), Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them that is a prequel that’s about half a century before Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. A younger Dumbledore is gonna feature I think.

    There is a West End play or musical coming out next year Harry Potter and the Cursed Child which will be a sequel to the books and will feature Harry’s kids etc.

    (God I am such a nerd!)

  33. JCDavis,

    *poof*. Whoa, sorry about the smoke. And the smell.

    My understanding is that the main character is Harry’s son. I have not been following it too closely, so I have no idea what the story or plot involve.

  34. JCDavis: JKR has said it is not a prequel but AFTER the time of the HP books/movies are set. I think it involves Harry’s kids. I could be wrong, but I have JKR on my Twitter feed. Who we need for confirmation right now is…

    That’s the play. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. It’smells centered around his son, Albus Severus.

  35. I wish I could make out some of what other folks are seeing in those pictures. My eyes just end up blurring over. 🙁

  36. Felt Pelt:
    The tall structures to the left in the snowy photo kind of look like the rocky spires where the Night’s King did his baby christening.

    I was about to post exactly the same thing! 🙂

  37. Dame Pasty,
    Aaah yeah definitely looks very similar. I don’t remember seeing the photo you linked to,

    the only tents I could think of were at the Riverrun siege and the bright red would surely show through the snow effect.

    That picture really reminds me of going to music festivals in the 80s/90s. Everything starts off shiny and bright but by the morning after it’s finished looks like an attempted recreation of the Somme (horrendous WW1 battle which, as well as producing 7 digit casualty figures, utterly devastated miles of open land).

  38. Felt Pelt: the Night’s King did his baby christening.

    🙂 And with those sharp nails on the NK’s hands, he could have held a bris as well!

  39. Making the 8: Royal huh, Quentyn or Aegon?

    Given what information we have, it will be a small part, and neither of those would be small. (And both are almost certainly cut.)

    My bet is, as others have posited, some Essosian noble/royal with whom Daeny deals briefly.

    Akash Singh: It was the writing that afforded them little personality. I always thought Freida Pinto would be a great fit for Arianne, but that’s just my fancasting in action there.

    The SS didn’t have personalities in the book, either: they were barely developed beyond name, general appearance and choice of weapon. They were/are minor supporting characters in either book or TV series.

    As for Arianne, only Gilda Radner could have done the role properly, but: a) she did it already with Rhonda Weiss, and b) she’s been dead for 25 years.

  40. Wimsey,

    Actually, no. It’s an entirely different story, but set in the same universe. I don’t think there is a single character from the original HP series that will appear, but if someone does, they will be years and years younger (because the story is set about 70 years before the HP movies, so the only options are like a 10 year old dumbledore or something).

  41. I dunno how anybody can see shit in those photos. I am loving the speculation though.

    JCDavis,

    Hello my fellow pacific north westerner 🙂 We live in the land of wolves, wildlings, and SPIDERS AS BIG AS HOUNDS!

    Hodor’s Bastard,

    That is just twisted. Well done, my friend.

  42. This page is for GOT discussions.. Not JKR or the Potter
    .. Or have I gotten something wrong

    I’m hoping we’re seeing Balon and White Walker scene prep in these photos #Hopeful

  43. I think the small entrance in the top left either leads north from castle black or is from another wall location we’ve not seen yet.

    The large stone pillars nearby may be from WW territory in the lands of always winter.. I hope anyway..

    The gated entrance looks identical to that in Hardhome. Even the hut is situated in the same way as S05E08’s hut was, and looks to be where the whights dropped from the cliff face before attacking Jon, the NW and the wildlings.

    The castle may be Winterfell or another northern castle exterior????

    Not sure what everyone else thinks. Any further comments?

    Is it time for S06E01 yet?
    Are we there yet? Waaaaah

  44. RandomSand,

    Are you talking about the Newt Salamander films or the stage play about Harry’s son?

    AboutGOTonly: This page is for GOT discussions.. Not JKR or the Potter
    .. Or have I gotten something wrong

    These things often are related. Harry Potter in particular is the only thing comparable to the Game of Thrones series, as both have been highly successful in two media, and both rose well above the usual tripe that is fantasy literature.

  45. AboutGOTonly:
    This page is for GOT discussions.. Not JKR or the Potter
    .. Or have I gotten something wrong

    I’m hoping we’re seeing Balon and White Walker scene prep in these photos #Hopeful

    Really? It is a few posts replying to a question that was asked in an OT sort of way. I hardly doubt that a crime has been committed. Usually the posters here keep it on topic…except when the news of Star Wars was released, of course. 😛

    For those who replied, thank you. I am sure Deesfan thanks you as well as she is the one who asked the original question.

  46. Sister Kisser,

    Hello there brother or sister of the PNW! (sister kisser = Jaime?) No matter, glad there is more than one of us. I had wondered if I was the lone PNWer about these parts, even though I now live in the very sort of tame Portland. Nary a wolf or gigantic spider about, but I can’t speak for Wildings….they seem to be in abundance. Are you in O or W or maybe in BC?

  47. JCDavis,

    Heya JC- my brotha, my sister? I’m your brother up north, in the Emerald City indeed. I have lots of family in PDX and make it down there quite a bit. Love portland. So many wildlings! lol. And yes- my name was inspired by Jaime. 🙂

  48. Sister Kisser:
    JCDavis,

    Heya JC- my brotha, my sister?I’m your brother up north, in the Emerald City indeed.I have lots of family in PDX and make it down there quite a bit.Love portland.So many wildlings!lol.And yes- my name was inspired by Jaime.

    And I have family in the Emerald City as well….though I usually only make it up that way a few times in the summer to visit Pikes. LOVE that place. And I am a she sort, your typical – old, grumpy and opinionated. But if you are this way and fancy a howdy, first pint is on me. *nods*

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