WotW Awards Season 5: Best Supporting Actor – Preliminary Round

season5 awards

We started with the ladies, now we’re continuing with the gentlemen for the next category in the Watchers on the Wall Awards! Today we’ll be voting on the Best Supporting Actor for season 5 of Game of Thrones.

But first up, we’d like to announce the Best Actor nominees! In a situation similar to the one with the Best Actress category, the field for lead actors is quite narrow. So we’re going to skip the prelims for this category, and go ahead with presenting your Best Actor finalists as:

John Bradley

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

Stephen Dillane

Peter Dinklage

Kit Harington

script async src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js">

Onto the Best Supporting Actor voting!

In the preliminary round voting, we need to narrow the selection down to a top 5. In order to find your top 5 picks for Best Supporting Actor, we’re asking that each of you select up to FIVE nominees from the poll. You can choose fewer if you like, but you cannot choose more than 5.

At the end of 72 hours (Saturday  8/22/15 at 9:00AM EDT), whichever five actors have the most votes will continue on to the finals. (Note: in the final rounds, you will only have one vote to cast in each category!)

The results of this poll will be revealed when it’s time to choose the final winner of Best Supporting Actor, in a few weeks. For now, campaign for your favorites and debate the candidates in comments. And it’s a long list- you should have plenty to talk about!

*Reminder: you may choose up to five nominees in this poll!*

Bonus shout-out to Greatjon of Slumber for tallying the nominations!

Haven’t voted yet for Best Supporting Actress? You still can! You have one more day, until Thursday at 9AM EDT. GO VOTE!

85 Comments

  1. “You can choose fewer if you like,” A slight prod towards whom should be voted best actor??? ;-D

    As for supporting actors– too many good choices, damn it!

  2. This has got to be the toughest category ever. With all those male characters who actually do stuff, the field is simply swamped with outstanding choices.
    Shoutout for Peter Vaughan for his moving death scene and Alexander Siddig for managing to make Doran intriguing in the otherwise underserved Dorne-storyline.

  3. This one was hard. Glen gets in for that throw alone. Mclhatten gets a vote. I can’t not vote for Flynn because he is Bronn. Pryce was excellent he gets a vote. I might be mad but I’d like to see Owen teale win this one, I know he stabbed Jon but all his scenes this year were very strong. Can’t believe I could not fit Alfie Allen in sorry.

  4. My vote:
    Alfie Allen
    Aidan Gillen
    Kristofer Hivju
    Iain Glen
    Iwan Rheon

    But I love these actors …

    Peter Vaughan
    Ben Crompton
    Jerome Flynn
    Liam Cunningham
    Owen Teale

  5. I’m partial to Aemon. Vaughan nailed him, especially this season. He’ll be missed. RiP.

  6. Jonathan Pryce
    Iwan Rheon
    Ian McElhinney
    Iain Glen
    Alfie Allen

    This is much harder than the ladies! As much as it pains me to leave out Jerome Flynn, Owen Teale and others, I had to go for those 5.
    Of those I’d go for Jonathan Pryce just ahead of Alfie Allen. Alfie was his brilliant self all season but I don’t think he was quite as great as he was last season. Pryce dominated every scene he was in and brought a real sense of balance to the religious zealous of the Faith with his calm but immovable ethics. The fact he actually made some points and stances that struck a chord with me (and other viewers I hope) amongst the puritanical fervour is a mark of not just good writing but great execution.

  7. Wow! Few things! First, somebody doesn’t know the alphabet. Beatie comes after Allen. And speaking about Alfie, why he isn’t in the Best Actor category, yet again, is mindblowing.

    What a grand list, but why in the heck do we have Olyvar on the list, but no Grey Worm? Is this for real?

    My picks are:
    – Alfie Allen as Reek
    – Joel Fry as Hiz’up so Low’rack
    – Iain Glen as Ser Jorah Mormont
    – Jonathan Pryce as High Sparrow
    – Eugene Simon as Brother Lancel

    Alfie, Iain or mr Pryce as most likely winners. I put Joel Fry up there because I nominated him in the prelims, outside of abnormal dodgy hair in the books, he’s 100% accurate to the character described there and should get recognized for his portrayal. Eugene slipped my mind in the prelims, but Brother Lancel was one of the supporting cast that definitely made an impact on me this season. Normally, I would push for Davos, but Liam didn’t really do much other than what he normally does: interact with Shireen and talk logic. Where in previous seasons Davos was winning, he now lost every discussion he was in, which didn’t stress Liam’s acting capabilities enough in my eyes, so I went with Jorah, who I normally ignore, but Iain stepped his game up yet again.

  8. Iain Glen was just f*cking amazing! I thought he was absolutely fantastic this season. I really hope he wins. The man is a phenomenal actor doing his own stunts and all! His puppy dog eyes get me every time!

  9. Alfie Allen as Reek/Theon Greyjoy
    Kristofer Hivju as Tormund Giantsbane
    Iain Glen as Jorah Mormont
    Jonathan Pryce as High Sparrow
    Peter Vaughan as Maester Aemon

    This one was really hard!

  10. Wow that was hard!
    Iain Glen
    Alfie Allen
    Jonathan Pryce
    Peter Vaughn
    Conleth Hill

    Love that Bradley is in the Actor list! Don’t think he was before….

  11. Man, this just shows how great this show is…that was tough. I could have easily voted for ten! Had to include Peter Vaughn tho. Loved his depiction throughout the series.

  12. Alfie Allen as Reek/Theon Greyjoy. Probably the winner, let’s be honest.
    Conleth Hill as Varys. He’s always just so fun.
    Kristofer Hivju as Tormund Giantsbane. Same thing. Always a pleasure to watch him.
    Anton Lesser as Qyburn. A small role, but a personal standout for me. He’s the embodiment of dark humor in Game of Thrones. He’s so funny and creepy at the same time.
    Jonathan Pryce as High Sparrow. Kinda obvious, but… yeah. A good, meaty role for the season.

    I’d have also loved to vote for Iain Glen as Ser Jorah Mormont in particular, and others as well. But I’m sure other people will vote for them 😉

  13. My votes

    Owen Teale as Alliser Thorne
    Michael McElhatton as Roose Bolton
    Kristofer Hivju as Tormund Giantsbane
    Alfie Allen as Reek/Theon Greyjoy
    Iain Glen as Jorah Mormont

    Some runner up’s..
    Jonathan Pryce
    Peter Vaughn
    Conleth Hill
    Aidan Gillen
    Alexander Siddig

    And a few more… 🙂

  14. I wanted to vote for a few more actors here, but yeah, just five, so they’d have to remain as honorable mentions, so here’s mine:

    – Michael McElhatton, Lord Roose Bolton. Though not challenged enough throughout the season actingwise, this was a big season for his screentime and I really liked his monologue towards Ramsay about his mother. Will probably vote for that in best overall quote if it made the cut.

    – Alexander Siddig, Prince Doran Martell. Couldn’t give him a vote as there was no real plot to him this year. He only had to play the content father and restrained anger. Not challenging enough compared to the ones that did get a vote, but his presence definitely deserves a honorable mention. Looking forward to his return.

    Than a short list of actors that are always great, but were not stepping their game up any higher than previous years. Iwan Rheon, Kristofer Hivju, Owen Teale, Liam Cunningham, Aiden Gillan, Conleth Hill, Jerome Flynn and Peter Vaughan. Definitely topnotch actors, with outstanding portrayels of characters which they have absolutely grown into, but I struggle to see where their material stretched them abilitywise, while they did make their usual waves on the screen. I did not see a notable improvement with these actors this season. Some have Best/Funniest Quote-material, but I wouldn’t give them my vote here.

  15. This category is completely impossible!
    I think Alfie Allen is the best of an amazing field.
    I also thought Peter Vaughan was amazing and under appreciated throughout the seasons, and his death made me tear up.
    I tried to think about just Season 5 material when voting, it’s hard not to mentally include previous seasons. Like Conleth Hill brought it 100% as always, he’s absolutely perfect, but I couldn’t vote for him this year just because I didn’t feel his performance was one of the 5 essential to the season.

    If we had unlimited picks, I would pick nearly everyone:
    Ian Beattie (just because I love him, and his death was ridiculous, we will miss him!)
    Alfie Allen (because OBVIOUS)
    Dominic Carter (for being such a convincing prick for all those years and his epic beheading)
    Dean-Charles Chapman (just for his sex scene with marg. omg)
    Ben Crompton (Fuck Yeah Dolorous Edd)
    Liam Cunningham (not his best season but loved the scenes he was in, as usual)
    Jerome Flynn (ALWAYS, bonus points for singing the Dornishman’s Wife this year)
    Ian Gelder (his scene walking out of the small council with Cersei, just amazing!)
    Aidan Gillen (ALWAYS!)
    Iain Glen (ALWAYS, especially taking the news of his father’s death from Tyrion, and quivering like a puppy in front of Dany)
    Conleth Hill (because he’s Conleth, the perfect Varys)
    Kristofer Hivju (the Hardhome situation required him to be convincing and badass, and he was, walked the line well as wildling leader but ally to Jon. Bonus points for real beard)
    Michiel Huisman (the ass was spectacular, once again)
    Finn Jones (because I love him)
    Anton Lesser (because he is the creepiest, so understated and perfect)
    Michael McElhatton (telling Ramsay about his mother, nothing brought chills more this season)
    Ian McElhinney (because of his epic death and how much we will miss him!)
    Brenock O’Connor (the kid is good, he was totally convincing, created an entire internet meme!)
    Daniel Portman (because there has never lived a more loyal squire)
    Jonathan Pryce (Serious acting chops required and he exceeded our expectations!)
    Iwan Rheon (because OBVIOUS)
    Alexander Siddig (amazing with the few seconds of screen time he was given, hoping for more in the future. Also I love Dr Bashir til I die)
    Owen Teale (completely convincing/hateable when required)
    Peter Vaughan (because he’s an amazing actor, so much gravitas, and his death was so touching!)
    Tom Wlaschiha (the more Tom, the better!)

  16. Ser Oromis Locke,

    I agree, normally I am pushing hard for Liam, but the material this season didn’t seem to warrant it. Iain Glen however brought it, and hard. Totally agree.

  17. Aemon
    Lancel
    Kevan
    Barristan
    Reek

    Eugene Simon’s dedication to method acting this year was amazing. From his interviews, apart from bulking up in size to appear more intimidating, he went barefoot the *entire* time during filming, even between takes (which Jonathan Pryce thought was hilarious), and when his head is being carved with the symbol of the Faith Militant, he actually grew out his fingernails long for months, then weakened them by cutting strips into them, so his fingernails would ACTUALLY break on-camera when he gripped the handle of his chair in pain as his head is being carved.

  18. I am torn between a Vote for Olly campaign and a “Why is Olly on the list” rant. 🙂

    Iain Glen for the scene with Tyrion when he finds out his father is dead. That was some of the best acting I saw all season.

    (I updated the Production in Spain thread with NCW (probably) on his way to Belfast spotting.)

  19. God, this category is insanely competitive. I could make a case for everyone on this list, and even a few who aren’t! For example, someone pointed out above that Jacob Anderson isn’t on this list. That’s because no one put his name forward in the nomination stages, but he was very good as well this year. It just goes to show you just how ridiculously deep this show’s roster of supporting players is.

    This is one of the few categories in which I don’t think there’s an obvious favorite to win, at least at this stage (perhaps one will emerge later). That should make the final round of voting even more entertaining! Ultimately, I voted for the following:

    Alfie Allen
    Iain Glen
    Jonathan Pryce
    Iwan Rheon
    Tom Wlaschiha

    Michael McElhatton, Kristofer Hivju, and Peter Vaughn were particularly tough omissions for me. Regardless, whoever the five nominees wind up being, they will be supremely deserving. Picking a winner in the final round of voting should hopefully be an easier task … if only because there will only be five extremely worthy people to consider, not 30.

  20. Seven hells, it will take hours just narrowing that list to half. And that’ll still be a far cry from just five picks…

  21. As much as I love Peter Vaughan (and I can’t think of a whole season without him </3)… Alfie Allen deserves to win! Honestly, he deserves to win in every category, he's just the best.

  22. Allen
    Flynn (pretty much the only intentionally entertaining element in Dorne)
    McElhatton (criminally underused this season)
    Pryce (the highlight of the KL scenes)
    Vaughan (will be missed; he brought a lot to the show)

  23. This was tough to order but eventually I was able to distill it to impactful scenes for me.

    1) Alfie Allen as Reek/Theon for sure.
    2) Conleth Hill as Varys.
    3) Liam Cunningham as Davos.
    4) Iain Glen as Jorah.
    5) Peter Vaughan as Aemon.

  24. The look on Iain Glen’s face when told of his father’s death should allow him to be rewarded with a full sweaty body massage, and it is only one example of why he deserves this award.

  25. Ser Oromis Locke,

    Anderson isn’t up there because no one nominated him. Funny, I almost did, I figured someone else would anyway.

    Also not up there is Toby Sebastian. Wondering if anyone cares.

  26. Sue the Fury:
    Ser Oromis Locke,

    Anderson isn’t up there because no one nominated him. Funny, I almost did, I figured someone else would anyway.

    Also not up there is Toby Sebastian. Wondering if anyone cares.

    I am surprised about Jacob… but Toby Sebastian I think you can safely leave off the list without complaint 😉

  27. Hard choice:( I voted for these actors: Alfie Allen as Reek/Theon Greyjoy, ( the farther, the better), Liam Cunningham as Davos Seaworth( the more I see Davos in the show, the more I like this character, Conleth Hill as Varys , Iwan Rheon as Ramsay Bolton, Tom Wlaschiha as Jaqen H’ghar( the last three actors are just amazing: Ramsay is a psychopath, still can’t decide whether I hate him or I’m afraid of him, really good work, and Jaqen H’ghar is completely beautiful – I’m glad that Tom Wlaschiha is in the show again.
    P.S
    A pity that I can’t vote for 2 more actors but if I could, I’d choose Ser Barristan Selmy(portrayed by Ian McElhinney) and Ser Alliser Thorne(portrayed by Owen Teale): this season they were completely brilliant!

  28. Alfie Allen as Reek/Theon Greyjoy
    Joel Fry as Hizdahr zo Loraq
    Iain Glen as Jorah Mormont
    Kristofer Hivju as Tormund Giantsbane
    Jonathan Pryce as High Sparrow

    But really, another 20 would still deserve to win.

  29. Alfie Allen (It would feel really weird not voting for him at this point. As repetitive as his storyline has been, I’ve never found it to be a “great actor doing same thing every year” situation. I always feel like there a new interesting elements in his performance you can pick up on.)
    Ian McElhinney (I didn’t like how he went out, but he did a great job bringing the character to life, and had some of his best moments just before the end.)
    Michiel Huisman (It seems like a lot of people still shit on him for being a recast, but personally I think he’s been doing great work. He’s kept Daario’s untrustworthiness but added a dash of genuine cool and likeability. I can understand why Dany would fall in love with this version of the character.
    DeObia Oparei (With the subtlest of acting choices, he turned what could have been a bland background character into an interesting figure, and maybe the best character in Dorne.)
    Jonathan Pryce (It’s Jonathan fucking Pryce).

  30. This is nearly impossible…Alfie Allen and Jonathan Price, of course. Then there is Liam, Iain, Conleth, Aidan, Joel Fry, Owen Teale, Hivju, Flynn, etc.

    Maybe it is time to create a WOTW Hall of Fame because picking one actor/category/season gets more difficult each year.

    Jaime’s girl: … but Toby Sebastian I think you can safely leave off the list without complaint

    Agree.

  31. Alfie gets my main vote.

    Jonathan Pryce was great too. And the Star Trek DS9 diehard in me remains pleased Siddig was brought on and can only hope he has more to work with going forward.

  32. This was incredibly difficult. I voted for Hill (my favourite character performed by a wonderful actor), Allen, Glen, Pryce and Vaughn. I would have really liked to vote for Teale, Rheon, Hivju and McElhinney as well. What an embarassment of riches.

  33. Stephen Dillaine is going to win the best Actor – ONE TRUE KING!. He was best actor whole series along with Chralse Dance – literally every scene with them and every word they said was GRANDIOSE.

    Here however it’s ridiculously hard cause there are too many great actors who performed phenomenally this year.

  34. Come on peeps. Vote for Vaughan. He derserves it the most of all. I didn’t like him, but voted for him anyways. Although its really close between him, Glenn and McElhinny. Now i think of it, its a real shame i didn’t vote for my fellow countryman Michiel Huisman.

  35. Definitely the most competitive category, I honestly have a hard time thinking who will win this one at the end (Allen or Pryce?).

    My top three were easy to pick. Jonathan Pryce had such a meaty role with more than one great monologue. Alfie Allen was great again playing what is probably the most challenging role on the series. And Iain Glen had his richest season in years, communicating so much silently.

    Peter Vaughn got my next vote. Always good, but this was definitely his best season. Some really strong scenes relied on his performance, especially the most thematically resonant moment of the year, the “Kill the Boy” speech.

    My last vote went to Liam Cunningham. He’s always good and he had a couple really good scenes, especially his last scene with Shireen. But I honestly wouldn’t be disappointed in the slightest if he lost his spot to Eugene Simon, Kristopher Hivju, or Iwan Rheon.

  36. As others have stated, this was really tough. In the end I’ve gone for:
    Alfie
    Kristofer
    Anton
    Jonathan
    Peter

    Owen just missed out, but there were so many more who could have got the pick. It just shows what a great cast GoT has.

  37. I think Owen Teale is incredible and will probably not win as many votes as he deserves because he is so great at playing a prick, people don’t want to vote for him.
    (No, I haven’t checked the results yet so that’s not a hint.)

  38. Sue the Fury,

    Which is especially unfortunate, as it shows just how effective he is.

    Glad to see so many share my opinion of Iain this season! 🙂 What a list!

  39. Alfie Allen
    Liam Cunningham
    Aidan Gillen
    Jonathan Pryce
    Alexander Siddig

    It is tough to pick, partly because there are so damn many of them. I just hope the blunder that is Dorne does not overshadow what I thought to be a fantastic performance by Siddig. Truthfully, his scenes were the only ones I enjoyed from the subplot…

  40. Alfie Allen was absolutely genius this season, closely followed by Jonathan Pryce, Peter Vaughan, Michael McElhatton and Jerome Flynn (in that order). Shout-out to Iain Glen whom I forgot to include. 🙂

  41. Aidan Gillen is a no brainer here, picked Aemon also bc its his final season and he kicked every scene in the dick, Iain Glen was great as always, especially with Tyrion, Peter Dinklage can make still-life dynamic, Ian Gelder even though he was barely in this season, his presence was really strong on screen. Oh and Jonathan Pryce of course, who will probably win this contest (between him and Gillen most definitely.)

  42. Wow that was hard – I actually had to use all 5 spaces because I couldn’t decide but settled on:

    Alfie Allen (he has been brilliant – as per usual it has to be said. He will always be sadly underrated by award panels as he doesn’t play a “major” enough character 🙁 )
    Iain Glen (His best season yet!)
    Jonathan Pryce
    Aiden Gillen

    and I was torn for my last space but gave it to Anton Lesser. He is pretty unlikely to get nominated but he is just brilliantly creepy!

  43. I’ll post my own votes when I’ve discussed with a friend. This is too tough. I want to vote:

    Theon / Davos / Bronn / Jorah / Tormund / Daario / Barristan / Podrick Payne / Ramsay / Alliser Thorne

    We’re speaking now of voting based on Season 5 ALONE. So, it looks like it might be:

    Theon / Davos / Jorah / Tormund / Daario / Barristan / Alliser Thorne

    Theon – His portrayal is so damn good. I actually feel Theon’s pain when he’s playing Reek.
    Davos – Always a credit to see him on screen, playing the angel to Stannis’ Devil vs Angel influence war between him and Melisandre. His relationship with Shireen is so strong too.
    Jorah – The strongest we’ve seen him be, so far. He nailed his role this season.
    Tormund – He could literally only be on screen for 5 minutes with no lines and he would kill the role. In a good supportive way.
    Daario – Since the recast, this has been his most involved season. He disappeared from S4 quite early. His acting abilities really showcased this season.
    Barristan – Without Ser Jorah the Explorer (shout out to Ozzy Man Reviews), Ser Barristan really shone beside Daenerys this season. His entrance to the Sons of the Harpy was also fucking great.
    Alliser – He does a fantastic and great job of getting you to hate him. You understand his actions as well, it’s not just random evil character a la Ramsay Bolton.

    but that’s still far too many.

  44. Alfie was a no-brainier but the rest were so tough to pick from. Aidan, Iain, Kristofer, and Peter Vaughan were my other choices.

  45. Rygar:
    The look on Iain Glen’s face when told of his father’s death should allow him to be rewarded with a full sweaty body massage, and it is only one example of why he deserves this award.

    It’s gotten to the point where I can recognize your posts without reading the name. Bravo. (Also, you should either A) be watching Broad City or B) be writing for Broad City.

  46. This is an incredibly tough category. You really do have a Murderer’s Row here, and even my 5 “honorable mentions” would be good enough to own this category by themselves, which would be:

    Eugene Simon – and I almost did it, too.
    Tom Wlaschiha
    Ian McElhinney
    Joel Fry
    Conleth Hill

    Instead I went with:

    Alfie Allen – total powerhouse. Being the master of counting votes, I will say there was a lot of thought given to whether he belonged in the Best Actor category, but his screentime was deemed in part too limited, and that the greater majority of GOT prelim voters also put him in this category factored into the decision.

    Iain Glen — One of the hardest things I can imagine about acting is doing very physical work – combat, fighting scenes – while staying in character. The champ of this on GOT is probably Rory McCann (with Kit just behind him) but Iain Glen did fantastic stuff this year on that front.

    Kristofer Hivju — Another one that’s really been excellent ever since Watchers on the Wall, when he really stepped it up. (Prior to this, the characterization of Tormund was of someone just more or less a brute, which isn’t entirely on him). So his frenemy relationship with Jon Snow developed very well this year, and hell, he had a real tough job just *reacting* to watching his leader get burned to death.

    Jonathan Pryce — Fit the show’s ethos and overall acting sensibilities the moment the High Sparrow steps on screen.

    Peter Vaughan — We’ll miss him. He did a lovely job as Maester Aemon, he gets a lot of excellent stuff, and his death is heartbreaking. I really hope he doesn’t get overlooked in getting to the top 5 this year, even though his chances of winning are slim.

    Separately, as to this:

    Sue the Fury: Anderson isn’t up there because no one nominated him. Funny, I almost did, I figured someone else would anyway.

    Also not up there is Toby Sebastian. Wondering if anyone cares.

    It’s funny, I’m surprised no one threw a vote to Jacob Anderson either, and I thought about it too, but then spaced out, for some reason. I will say he’s a very underrated actor (judging by this, certainly) and also probably gets a miss because he’s not playing a terribly flashy role.

    As for Toby Sebastian, the lack of enthusiasm for Dorne was definitely evident in the preliminary voting – no votes for Toby Sebastian, just 3-4 for Indira Varma, who was an easy nominee last year, and just 1 vote for each of the 3 Sand Snakes, two of which came from Sue, and the other from me. So that’s telling.

  47. Sue the Fury:
    I think Owen Teale is incredible and will probably not win as many votes as he deserves because he is so great at playing a prick, people don’t want to vote for him.
    (No, I haven’t checked the results yet so that’s not a hint.)

    I was actually surprised (and disappointed) that Owen Teale didn’t get a nomination *last year,* a year I felt he had the stronger material to work with, and really shone. For Season 4 I put him 3rd behind Pedro Pascal and Alfie Allen, just ahead of Aiden Gillen, and what I thought were more ordinary seasons for Liam Cunningham and Stephen Dillane still got them nominations. (Teale finished 8th…wow.)

  48. I only voted for 3. This isn’t because I only thought 3 were worthy, but because the first 3 were easy for me to choose, but I kept going back and forth about the other two.

    The 3 for whom I voted are:

    Peter Vaughn
    Jonathan Pryce
    Alfie Allen

    Greatjon of Slumber,

    Thank you for all your work on this!!!

  49. Sue the Fury,

    He’s one of those I wanted an additional vote for as he’s doing a damn good job for several sasons, same as with Liam, both ‘Bolton’ actors, Peter Vaughn, Tom Wlaschiha, …

  50. This is a very tough choice to make and definitely almost all of them had great performances this season.
    I did vote for five but given that Alfie is not considered for best actor it is the least we can do for him to let him win this category. Of course he should have gotten at least an emmy nomination (and win) for his phenomenal Reek this year.

  51. It’s gotta be Ian Glen … That 1 scene alone with Tyrion where he finds out his father is dead was better than anything I’ve seen from the other male actors … It’s one thing to express emotion with dialogues but what he did without saying a word was astounding

  52. I voted for Alfie Allen, Iain Glenn, Peter Vaughan, Jonathan Pryce and Michael McElhatton.

    As much as I love Liam Cunningham, Jerome Flynn, Aiden Gillen and Kristofer Hijvu, I didn’t find this season presented something different or additional to season 4. On the other hand, the ones I picked had very strong or memorable moments in S5:

    -Theon’s reaction to Sansa’s rape summed in a look the horror many of us felt.
    -Jorah Mormont’s reaction to his father’s death was pure gold.
    -Peter Vaughan gave us some of the most memorable lines of the season (his advice to Jon to go ahead and do what he thought had to be done, “Kill the boy and let the man be born”, the Egg reference…). He was also instrumental in what happened at the Wall and beyond. Besides seeing some die a natural death was amazing, for a change!
    -Jonathan Pryce’s scenes were excellent with both Lena Heady and Diana Rigg.
    -Michael McElhatton gave us a chilling parenting lesson and was the only one who controlled his son Ramsay.

  53. Further Iain Glen ‘facial expressions worth a thousand words’:

    -barely repressed annoyance prior to thumping Tyrion into silence
    -mild surprise when Tyrion tells him that he killed Tywin for sleeping with Shae.
    -when he sees Dany at the practice pit (hope/love/determination)
    -looks between he and D at Daznak’s Pit (well? You gonna save me? No? OK then…), and prior to the magical javelin precision throw.

    But over all of those, the expression on his face when we first see him looking at the greyscale on his wrist. Broke my damn heart a little. THAT is acting.

    Along the same lines are:
    -Kristofer Hivju as Tormund watching the Walkers kill his people, and the ‘I got this’ between him and Mance at the burning, and the scene when Jon removes his chains. And the stone expression when he silently dispatches Rattleshirt.
    -Iwan Rheon’s face when Sansa calls Ramsay out, and when Roose springs the little brother news.
    -Theon’s face when…..ok pretty much always. How Alfie got to ‘that place’, I will never know. He makes you hurt.
    -Alexander/Doran’s annoyed head shake to Areo after Elaria’s rant, so much in that gesture.
    -Tom/Jaqen/Sexy Jesus’ constant half-smirk, which by all rights should be irritating, but fuck yeah because Tom.
    -Edd’s/Ben’s misery when Wun Wun asks him what the fuck he’s looking at.
    -not in this category, but Kit’s expression when Jon kills the Walker, locks eyes with the Night’s King, and the hesitation before Janos’ beheading. Also Maisie as Arya debating giving up Needle (ow ow ow my feelings), Tyrion seeing Drogon, and heck Jaime’s face when he sees Tarth/Myrcella dies.

    So much acting with just a look this season. So much!

    Anyhoo, I voted Iain Glen, Iwan Rheon, Alfie Allen, Tom Wlaschiha, Kristofer Hivju. I could easily have picked 10-15 equally, only Alfie and Iain were slightly ahead of them all.

    Huge props to Eugene Simon, damn. He went from weak-willed little fop to chillingly restrained psychopath, and he did it damn well.

  54. I voted for the actors who played characters I hated. “Ramsey Bolton” I’m talking to YOU.

  55. The Dragon Demands,

    Oh wow, I didn’t know that. That’s dedication. I mean, we’ve heard of such instances before, but I don’t remember ever hearing about method acting on GoT. Can I change my vote? 😉

  56. Wow, this is hard. The Best Supporting Actress was much easier.

    Alfie Allen
    Jonathan Pryce
    Anton Lesser
    Tom Wlaschiha
    Michael McElhatton

    And for the Best Actor: Stephen Dillane

  57. Actually, the more I think about it, the more I want Owen Teale to win that one !

    (And I’ll vote Kit for main actor !)

  58. Sue the Fury:
    Ser Oromis Locke,
    Anderson isn’t up there because no one nominated him. Funny, I almost did, I figured someone else would anyway.

    Also not up there is Toby Sebastian. Wondering if anyone cares.

    Wow.. It’s as if quite a few people almost went there for Jacob, but than probably thought, nah, I’ve got 10 picks here already, somebody else will cover this. And than this happens. Honestly, the one thing Toby did right was emulating Spanish Passion, definitely not his father’s son, but if he was cast as a young Oberyn it would be 100% believable..

    House Pines: DeObia Oparei (With the subtlest of acting choices, he turned what could have been a bland background character into an interesting figure, and maybe the best character in Dorne.)

    I kinda see what you mean. There are quite a few actors on this list (and some that aren’t) that have understated roles. But “maybe the best character in Dorne” is an overstatement. That’s Doran. In part, because we can’t really see a true character in Areo, he’s an observant servant. No real tests of character, such as Doran has when having Jaime appear before him. He has the character choice of going for immediate revenge, or being diplomatic about it – and being diplomatic about the internal discord. Indira does well with Ellaria in terms of acting, it’s just that here material is just so incredibly tacky.

    nick:
    Come on peeps. Vote for Vaughan. He deserves it the most of all. I didn’t like him, but voted for him anyways. Although its really close between him, Glenn and McElhinny. Now i think of it, its a real shame i didn’t vote for my fellow countryman Michiel Huisman.

    Considering that Mieux gets to talk in French (and nobody is really calling this out just yet – or at least I haven’t seen it), I’ll just talk in Nederlands. Dus, ik weet niet of ik een stem moet geven aan een acteur wiens personage dood ging, als ik denk dat er acteurs bij zaten die beter werk leverden. De zogenaamde “laatste kans”-stem. Want dan zit je al aan Vaughan, McElhinney en Beattie, dan heb je er nog twee over? Dat gaat nergens over. Natuurlijk waren Vaughan en McElhinney goed, maar tja, ik zou nou niet vanwege één goed dialoog (in het geval van McElhinney) of een paar (in het geval van Vaughan) op hem stemmen als het materiaal niet consequent de lat hoger legde dan voorgaande seizoenen. I.e. de reden waarom Iwan Rheon, Liam Cunningham en Owen Teale dit seizoen geen stem krijgen van mij, maar vorig seizoen er wel op kon rekenen. Michiel had wel meer te doen in de breedte qua acteren, dus ik zou nog eerder op hem stemmen dan op Vaughan, maar zelfs dan waren er nog vijf die dat niet mogelijk maakte. Ik heb natuurlijk wel op Carice gestemd, vond het heerlijk hoe ze tegen de lamp liep én goed genoeg voor een stem.

    Sue the Fury:
    I think Owen Teale is incredible and will probably not win as many votes as he deserves because he is so great at playing a prick, people don’t want to vote for him.
    (No, I haven’t checked the results yet so that’s not a hint.)

    He is incredible, but did his material in S5 outshine his material in S4? How many dimensions of playing a prick did he play? He’s extremely good at it, both when acting with the face and line delivery, but it’s just one mode most of the time. It’s still him, being resentful at a young bastard coming in and taking over, and it has been that mode for most of the series, the only time when that really wasn’t present was during 4×09. Don’t get me wrong though. I’m extremely proud that this series has actors that are the perfect embodiment of their roles, but in such a strong field, it isn’t just that he plays a prick that he would get less votes, but he plays a prick with little diversity this season. Dominic Carter even deserves it more in my eyes, because he provided more range to his character this season compared to Teale. The fact that we saw the same range in the previous season means he doesn’t get a vote as well though.

    dee:
    The Dragon Demands,

    Oh wow, I didn’t know that. That’s dedication. I mean, we’ve heard of such instances before, but I don’t remember ever hearing about method acting on GoT. Can I change my vote?

    I don’t think we can, if we could I would’ve added in Kristofer Hivju somewhere..

    I’ve got Alfie, Eugene, Iain, Joel and Mr. Pryce. I honestly don’t know. I do think that Alfie, Iain and Mr. Pryce are the certified Top3, with Vaughan probably ending up on 4th considering the posts here. Kristofer did amazing work in Hardhome, but I found that I didn’t see him enough during the rest of the season, outside of Wars to Come and the scene where Jon removed the cuffs. It’s kind of what Lindelof said in the EW-interview, one good hour makes the rest of the season excellent. Do we really believe that? Does Kristofer in my eyes really deserve a vote for just Hardhome and a few extra scenes sprinkled across the season? I’m very much divided on that. For now, I’m still glad I stuck with Joel Fry as Hizdahr and Eugene Simon as Lancel. As whether you like the characters or not, the actors showed much more of them this season, than in their previous seasons, throughout the season.

  59. umhhh, so hard , so hard, so many wonderful actors

    I’ll go with:
    – Alfie Allen, he is fantastic in every season, and his character’s arc has required very drastic transformations
    – Iain Glen, this was a very good season for him, he portrays a strong and quiet character, yet manages to subtly convey his emotions
    – Jonathan Pryce, great, great actor, his part was small but pivotal, and he nailed it

    now for the other two available votes, I’m really torn, I like:
    – Conleth Hill, but this season Varys’ role was small, so that’s a no, same for Aidan Gillen
    – Kristofer Hivju, again, small role, but awesome
    – Ian McElhinney, I expected great things of ser Barristan, the old knight that strains himself to make sure his queen is safe before old age overcomes him, what a wasted opportunity on the show (and truth be told I highly dislike Jacob Anderson’s Grey Worm, so watching him survive and Selmy die, was.. terrible)

    so in the end, I’ll cast the other 2 votes to:
    – Liam Cunningham, his Davos was a small player this season, but I liked his interactions with Stannis and specially Shireen
    – Anton Lesser, also small part, but his Qyburn is the perfect mix of dark and humor, and I expect to see more of him next season

  60. Hi there,

    Long time lurker but first comment ever (so, I picked a nice non-controversial topic to post too :-)).

    My five picks:
    – Peter Vaughan: “Egg, I dreamed was old”. Poetry, just poetry…
    – Jonathan Price: that look he gave Cersei when she starts the walk of fame…
    – Kristofer Hivju: plays his rough powerhouse of a character with lots of nuances
    – Alfie Allen: Stockholm Syndrom incarnated
    – Conleth Hill: What can I say? Varys is my favourite character GOT character. He lights up the screen everytime he appears.

    (by the way, English is not my maternal language, so do enjoy the occasional bad grammar and weird linguistic constructions)

  61. Arkash,

    Same here. Owen Teale is underrated, or rather I think he doesn’t stand out as one who people want to vote for because he’s not one of the good guys.

    And I hope Harington wins best actor because I think he’s most desrving and I don’t get all the Dillane love.

Comments are closed.