Filming has just begun on Game of Thrones season 7, and with it, a very timely casting announcement!
The big news comes to us courtesy of Entertainment Weekly: Academy Award-winning actor Jim Broadbent will be joining Game of Thrones in season 7!
The British actor has had a lengthy and wide-ranging career, with credits in films such as Moulin Rouge, Iris (his Oscar-winning turn), Time Bandits, Gangs of New York, and the Bridget Jones series. He becomes another Game of Thrones cast member that’s also been part of the Harry Potter universe, having played Professor Slughorn in two Harry Potter films.
And what role is Broadbent playing in season 7? That hasn’t been announced yet. The powers that be are playing it close to the vest once again, but EW states that his role is “significant.”
Several new roles in season 7 did leak a few weeks ago, via our sources, offering some possibilities for speculation. However, there may be other possible roles for Broadbent, as not all casting notices come our way. Broadbent isn’t an exact match for any of the roles on the list we saw a while back, but then, these descriptions aren’t written in stone. But none of them come across as significant enough for an actor of Jim Broadbent’s caliber.
So what do you think, readers? Are we still hoping for Howland Reed (the older version) to make an appearance or are your minds heading in another direction? Speculate away!
Wun Wun
He is the the Old Town Maester in person…
Surely the Archmaester…..
The Archmaester at Oldtown? You don’t cast Jim Broadbent for an insignificant role.
Perhaps there’s still hope for Brian Cox?
“Your predecessor assumed rural policing was easy.”
I expect him to be Marwyn, especially as his role is listed as significant. I expect a quite oldtown heavy early-season with various characters turning up there.
That being (some ADWD spoilers)
Yes, I agree an archmaester would be a great fit for him.
Priest, in his 60’s. He’s a venerable priest with moral authority and gravitas. The show is seeking a white actor, using an RP accent, with characterful face for this part. He’s scheduled to shoot one week, from September 22nd.
And you say JB isn’t an exact match for anyone? 🙂
As many have said, I think the Archmaester in Oldtown is the most logical choice. I guess his role will be somewhat similar to Max Von Sydow’s in S6; teaching/helping a student (Sam) find something important for the endgame
Yep, soon as I saw that face I said Archmaester!!! Glad to see others thought the same.
Forgot about Reed too.
Totally Marwyn though, awesome role for him.
Hopefully an awesome character; hoping we get glass candles!
Tywin of the Hill,
The “significant” in the article made me think the role is longer than a week. I think even MVS would have been longer than the time frame for that role.
There is one other option for his role though…. Harys Swyft, Cersei will need characters to interact with and Harys would be perfect I’d say. Broadbent also fits Harys’ description close to perfectly.
A reeaaaaally stressful day is behind me and I’m pleased to hear this news. Professor Horace Slughorn, inspector Frank Butterman, professor Diggory Kirke, dean Charles Stanforth… I’m sure Jim Broadbent will do great.
Has to be either Howland or Marwyn, I think its more likely to be Howland – given that we saw him at the Tower of Joy and the name drops has had throughout the series – there’s no way he would be playing a new Winds of Winter character- I hope we get to see both Howland and Marwyn in season 7, no matter who plays them!
HouseMartellBitches,
I expect him to film mainly indoors so a week is enough time to give him 3 or 4 episodes…
EW calls it a ‘significant’ role. The only new one I can think of is archmaester Marwyn. After all, Sam needs someone to interact with at the Citadel. I hope Broadbant has loose lips like Ian McShane and let’s slip some juicy info.
Greywind’s ghost,
No way. The actor is much older than 60 (67) and Howland should have the same more or less age as Ned (Sean Bean) who is at least a decade younger.
If he’s Howland Reed, the last 20 years have not been kind to him. ?
Greywind’s ghost,
Too old for howland. He was about the same age as Ned and Robert.
So excited about this- I love Jim B! When I first saw the announcement, I thought that they had recast Wyman Manderly but now I think the Maester is more likely. How will we wait all these months to find out!?
He’s too old to be Howland Reed. Howland Reed is of an age with Ned, this guy is of an age with Tywin. I agree it’s the Archmaester of the Citadel.
Omg Professor Slughorn how nice!I agree with the masses that it might be Marwyn but it’s wonderful that the show is bringing another great actor into the mix.
really good news! great actor! I don’t even care which role he’s gonna play.
Marwyn? Hope so.
That seems to be our Marwyn, or whatever the show equivalent will be. Weird scholar seems like a good fit.
Copying my comment from the previous post: He’d be a good fit for the maester role. He’d probably be too old to play Howland (I’m still waiting for him to appear lol).
I think the “one week” line is what they mean. It’s supposed to be significant and they can’t cocktease like they did with Ian Mcshane last year.
He’s got a mischievous maester look about him.
I absolutely love this guy!!! So excited I can’t even contain myself!
He was amazing in Cloud Atlas, which is probably my favourite movie. Hopefully he won’t get offed after like three scenes like the three eyed raven and that priest that patched up the Hound and Doran Martell.
Just like they did with Jonathan Price (who played the High Sparrow) they really need to use these big names.
I think even though Jim is ten years older than Sean Bean, what we’seen in the past when it comes to casting someone for a role, as long as they are right for the part, their age hasn’t been an impediment to them being cast – the casting of Tyrion, Euron and the current version of the Mountain proves that.
In saying that however, I do believe that Marwyn could be the more interesting character- I have a feeling that the Oldtown storyline is going to be an unexpected highlight of season seven – we know so little about the place but there are so many ways the story can go depending on which characters join Sam and Gilly there – I’m loving being in the dark again and having basically no idea what will happen next season – it actually me feel more hyped than I have been in the past when I was sullied and as I’m now more emotionally invested in the show than I actually don’t mind if season seven spoils Winds of Winter.
Yes, that’s what I meant. EW described the role as significant. If Broadbent’s role is significant, he really should be filming for more than one week so it doesn’t fit with the roles listed.
Woot! Woot! This news makes my day. Jim Broadbent is one of my favorite British character actors. I’ve seen him in a million movies and he is always a riot. Besides all the roles already mentioned, he played Jonathan Pryce’s mother’s plastic surgeon in Brazil, the prissy wife’s pornographer husband in Enchanted April, W. S. Gilbert (as in Gilbert & Sullivan) in Topsy-Turvy, Fenoglio in Inkheart, Margaret Thatcher’s husband in Iron Lady, five different characters in Cloud Atlas, a priest in Brooklyn, the blackmailer in The Lady in the Van…and on and on and on. He even won an Oscar for Iris, though I managed to miss that one somehow.
Physically, he doesn’t have the gruff, tough, street-scrapper, bulldog look of Book!Marwyn, and better fits the Archmaester of the Citadel, but the latter isn’t a “significant” role (so far). It would not surprise me at all if D & D decided to conflate the two characters into one, like they did with Septon Meribald and the Elder Brother to get Brother Ray. I’m not sure how it works politically in Westeros to have the guy in charge at the Citadel also be the rebel maester who likes to play with magic, but I could see them taking that shortcut if they’re not going to find time to incorporate the hypothetical “Maesters’ Conspiracy” subplot.
In any case, deviation from book canon or not, I think I’ll thoroughly enjoy whatever role they cast Broadbent in. He’s a catch more than worthy of Nina Gold’s high casting standards.
Third Brazil (one of my all time favorite movies) veteran, after Peter Vaughan and Jonathan Pryce to appear on the series:)
Probably a Maester at the Citadel. Doubtful that he is Marwyn, though.
O-ho! Very excited. I need more Slughorn in my life.
Charles Dance. Julian Glover. Diana Rigg. Ciarán Hinds. Jonathan Pryce. Ian McShane. Max von Sydow. Now, Jim Broadbent. God, that’s an incredible roster of all-time talent. For most television shows, being able to land even one of those thespians for a supporting role would be a signature accomplishment. For Game of Thrones, it’s just one the perks of being the biggest show in the world. You get to book an Oscar winner for a supporting role, and rather than being flabbergasted, people say “yeah, that sounds about right.” Nina Gold FTW.
I agree with the general consensus so far – the most likely role for Broadbent would seem to be an Archmaester. That could mean Marwyn or an equivalent character, or it could someone less … unorthodox. But regardless of who he’s playing, I can’t wait to see him on screen! He’s one of the greats.
Morgoth,
There’s got to be a role left for him somewhere in the last two seasons, right? After Jonathan Pryce was cast in Season 5, and again after McShane and von Sydow joined the show Season 6, my friends and I asked ourselves which beloved older thespians who hadn’t yet been on Game of Thrones could still appear on the show one day. Jim Broadbent and Brian Cox were definitely two of the most prominent names on that list. Well, Broadbent just joined the cast, and Cox has expressed interest. Never say never …
I’m going with Marwyn the Mag, who is sort of a Professor Slughorn who didn’t spend his entire life in academia, while disguising himself as a comfy chair.
Anyway, just having one of my favorite actors on the show is yet another casting coup by Benioff and Weiss.
Splendid news. Our first Oscar winner. I’d be shocked if he played anyone other than Howland Reed or Marwyn. Aye, Broadbent’s a bit old for Ned’s best mate, but he does have a fey look about him and a sense of mild impishness that would suit the Greywater Watch leader. He even looks like he could be related to Jojen and Meera. I continue holding out hope that Brian Cox, who actually wants to join the show, ends up playing the adventurous, individualistic, and intellectual Marwyn.
So it looks like Isaac or John Bradley will get to act with Broadbent. Though it’s unlikely, I hope Maisie somehow gets some scenes with him–she does so well with experienced older actors. (FWIW, when I first read the books, I pictured Broadbent as the Kindly Man. Wrong!)
Does anybody recall if the show included either of the mentions by Mirri Maz Duur or Qyburn that they had been acolytes of Marwyn? Or are those just in the books?
Marwyn, was my instant thought on first seeing this … but we’ll see. And it may be he’s playing another ‘composite’ character.
Things to look forward too, anyway 🙂
But I do hope that we get Marwyn, whoever plays him. And his acolyte. (Meaning the current acolyte, Firannion.)
I think he will be the Archmaester – he is too old to be Howland Reed – this is a significant role as I think he will help Samwell greatly – I’d be willing to bet he will already know that R+L=J as he knows that Ned would be too honorable to have a bastard
Firannion,
I don’t think there’s anything of that in the show.
I hope to see Jaqen and Euron at the Citadel as well.
As soon as I saw the picture, I immediately thought Archmaester Maryn.
Inspector Frank Butterman in Hot Fuzz is where I remember him from. Hope he runs across some jugglers.
Awesome news!
First thought: An Archmaster of the Citadel (Not Marwyn).
They introduced the Citadel for a reason so I would not be shocked to see more scenes around there next season….
Second thought: Harys Swift
Cersei will need a lot of new players to interact with in King’s Landing and Harys Swift fits quite nicely!
Unlikely, but maybe: Leyton Hightower?
I concur with those who say he’s very unlikely to be Howland. He’s ten years older than Sean Bean, and looks older than that.
The Citadel does seem like the most likely place for him to crop up — particularly since it’s a totally new location and could use a big-name actor to help anchor it.
Mmmm… if Daenerys gets something resembling the Young Griff storyline he could be a version of Homeless Harry Strickland
Jared,
Hey Jared,
You omitted Sean Bean. The only ‘name’ star in the first, somewhat precarious season, he contributed so much to the lasting success of this show we all love.
The most recent I saw of Broadbent was London Spy. His performance was just perfect. I strongly recommend London Spy not only for Broadbents performance but also for Charlotte Ramplings one. And wouldn’t be wonderful to see Rampling as some bitchy character in GOT? Maybe as a certain Lannister?
Akash Singh,
Ian McShane agrees.
Greywind’s ghost,
I think he’s too old for Howland. I’m going a Maester!
I agree with the popular theory. He’d be a great archmaester. Marwyn not so much, at least if they go by how the character is in the books.
WOW! GREAT NEWS! 😀
The Archmaester or someone else with a significant role in the Citadel was my first thought. I see it wasn’t an original one. His look is more nerdy academic than northern lord to me so Howland was not my first thought. I’m still holding out for Howland to put in a non-flashback appearance though.
While all the main players have been phenomenal, this show sure knows how to pull in some amazing top-tier talent this late in the game. I remember being beyond thrilled when Ciaran Hinds was cast as Mance, even if he wasn’t what I envisioned. He was fantastic. Then they go and get Diana Rigg, Roger Ashton-Griffiths, Alexander Siddig, Max Von Sydow, Jonathan Pryce and Ian McShane…my God, they pull in some great character actors. Just looking at the list of names of actors who have come aboard is mind-blowing. It doesn’t matter if it’s a one-off role or something with more meat, Nina Gold and company know how to score amazing talent. Jim Broadbent is so solid, if they brought him in as a recast of Gendry, I would believe him.
Stark Raven’ RAd,
That I did! And you’re right – Bean’s gravitas and star power played an instrumental role in bringing respectability and attention to the show when it was still an unproven commodity back in Season 1.
I didn’t include him on that list because I was specifically thinking about the famous older actors that Game of Thrones has managed to attract, and Sean Bean is one of those actors who I perpetually think is younger than he actually is. Granted, he’s 57 now, and he turned 52 on the day the series premiered back in 2011, assuming that IMDB has his birthday correct (April 17th). But unless I check myself, my first instinct is always to think that Bean is in his 40s, which is closer to the age that Ned Stark probably would have been back in Season 1 (going by the timeline of the show – not the books – I’m assuming that Ned was in his early 20s at the Tower of Joy, and that 17 years passed between the end of Robert’s Rebellion and the start of Game of Thrones).
Basically, in my mind, Sean Bean hasn’t aged since he played Boromir in The Lord of the Rings. 😉
Jim Broadbent is 6′ 2″. Howland Reed is described as a small man, a crannogman.
Norm,
The crannogman height is strictly a book thing. On the show, Jojen was not small, and neither was the actor who played young Howland at the Tower of Joy.
I think Broadbent’s age is more the concern than anything when it comes to casting ideas.
Likely an amalgam of Marwyn & Archmeister. they do that a lot in adaptations & I can’t think of anybody who could embody the citadel like Broadbent could. If he is in that role, it’s yet another casting coup.
OMG what an amazing news! I adore this actor, not only for his Harry Potter role but for his many roles in Cloud Atlas (my favorite movie and a masterpiece, if you haven’t watched it, do it).
When I thought what role he could play in Thrones I thought Holland Reed, but yeah, he would be a great Marwyn too. Amazing.
Oh this is wonderful! I’ve seen him in many films but my all time favorite was his role as the husband of author Dame Iris Murdoch in ‘Iris’. What a moving and powerful performance. Can’t wait to see what he does on GOT!
I was thinking about that as well…. Maybe Marwyn and Walgrave?
Physically Broadbent is far closer to Walgrave than Marwyn the Mastiff! XD
Stark Raven’ RAd,
Oh yes that would have been perfect!
Reading the above comments I gotta agree with him as ArchMaester in Old Town. Perfect, really. Id love to see him interact with Bran and Sam, and maybe even Jorah.
Agreeing too about all the wonderful elder brit thespians that have been on the show . Nina Gold knows how to get them, not sure how, but its magic! (now get Dame Judy Dench on and I’ll be even happier. )
Re Cloud Atlas – while I agree he was great in the movie but , I was so disappointed in the adaptation of that wonderful book that I’ve sorta pushed it out of my mind May need to do a rewatch.
Not sure if Nina deserves the credit – every UK actor is trying to get a piece of this wonderful series – her credit should be all the wonderful new actors she has found
Glass candles anyone?
Holly shit! Even for the amazing cast that we’ve had up to now…this is quite something…getting Jim Broadbent is an excellent choice and accomplishment unto itself!
Can’t wait to see him in action! Thank you Nina Gold and Robert Sterne!
I take your meaning: the only Spice Snake I ever cared about!
There’s obsidian candles that need burning. He’s playing someone at the Citadel.
This does get the mind racing about whom else they might cast in the time that’s left, and in what role. If that snarky gate guard could be an old veteran soldier, it might be a good opportunity to put Bill Nighy’s talents to use! Or he could play Lord Hightower, if he’s going to be in the story.
I loved Cloud Atlas – thought they did as good a job with an ‘unfilmable’ novel as might be hoped. But not on a par with the book, of course. That’s my second-favorite novel of the millennium so far (after American Gods).
Ah but of all the movies you mentioned, you didn’t mention his role as Harold Zidler in the 2001 version of Moulin Rouge. This man can play anything, and part of the charm of Zidler was that he could be wild and rowdy one minute, and sinister and somewhat shady the next, all with perfect aplomb. So if one of those roles is of a stern rule-master, he’s quite up to it. But I loved him also in Cloud Atlas. He was ditzy and hilarious – the escape scene from the old-age home was one of my more favorite portions of that movie.
So happy to have him in the cast, for whatever part he is cast. He is joining a stellar crew. Can’t wait for the season to start. How long now? sheeeeeeesh …..
Was the book that good? I just might have to kill some off-season time reading it then. I liked the movie, once I got used to the switching of centuries every few minutes. Tom Hanks was stellar in all his parts, even and especially the wily and borderline creepy ones like the Doctor and the Author. I never pictured Hanks playing such parts before that, and he was masterful.
It’s a worthwhile thing to watch, especially now that J Broadbent is in GOT cast. If you are enticed to watch that movie for the first time, stick around and watch the credits at the end, when they show each cast member in their various roles, and demonstrate what can be done with makeup. The last pic of makeup they show had me flabbergasted, because I never realized which actor was under it while watching the movie.
Greywind’s ghost,
If this guy is HW then D&D have some explainin to do;)
dothrakian raven,
He was superb in London Spy. He made his character complex, but with a harder edge.
Oh boy…from now till whenever this guys ends his time on GoT, we will get 500,000 tweets from Bryan Cogman saying how much he admires him and how he’s his favorite actor of all time and how it was his dream to work with him and how he’s amazing on set and references to all of his old films (which he probably only recently rented) and blablablablablablabla.
Nina Gold is indeed a casting genius, gods be thanked. But it is relatively easy to cast known quantities, experienced and especially older veterans who are predominantly trained theatre actors and have deep and rich CVs proving their talent. More difficult, finding a young actor sufficiently like the familiar Sean Bean to do justice to young Ned. She got her man, Yorkshire accent included. But I am absolutely gobsmacked at how prescient she has been in her choices of CHILD actors. So many to choose and so many ways the choices could go wrong. Most of them had no previous experience and little training. Yet Jack Gleeson and Maisie proved spectacular, Sophie very good, Isaac and Art, Terry Ingram and Hot Pie etc–just fine. Even more challenging was how they would look and sound as they grew up. A few child actors were replaced (Tommen, Myrcella), but this fairly unpredictable variable could have produced disaster upon disaster with major characters. To wit, it might have been Maisie who had spurted up to nearly 6 ft and Sophie who had stayed petite and tiny. They might have looked incongruous as their stories developed. Even Isaac, who;s grown almost three feet in the six seasons, got away with it because he spent a lot of time on the ground.
Nina’s ‘get’ of Jim Broadbent is full of promise. I hope Sarella/Alleras is cast–that should be a challenge. And if they do a flashback with Rhaegar–well, she will find the right actor. In Nina we trust.
As I wrote earlier today in the other thread, I think he’d make a great witless Archmaester Walgrave. What we’ve read of that character so far isn’t significant but we dont know that he can’t or won’t become such (for the show at least). He could be a bit of comic relief if they so choose and Broadbent would pull that off fantastically.
Thronetender,
David Mitchell is never less than good, in my view. Cloud Atlas is probably the work most emblematic of his oeuvre, whether it’s a person’s favourite or not (Black Swan Green, the most atypical of his works, is another personal favourite; The Bone Clocks almost achieved the same level, but I have some quibbles with the final segment).
OT: Just watched Pedro Pascal on Seth Meyers. He told the story of getting the part of Oberyn. Very cool!
Give me an Archmaester Marwyn. Give me the Glass Candle & the Valyrian steel rod & the redgold mask. Give me the brawler’s physique & reference to training Mira Maz Derp.
& give me Dragonbinder
Wow, fantastic casting news! I loved Broadbent in Blackadder and Potter.
Ren Snow,
I also thought of Harry Strickland, when I first saw it. I dunno. Despite that storyline being cut, the Golden Company might still appear (it’s been mentioned in S4), but yeh … I doubt it. Probably a maester but not necessary Marwyn?
Please, please no Dragonbinder. I haaate that cliche power-leveling element of the story.
You’ll get Marwyn but I do think they’ll ‘miss’ if they cast Broadbent for that part though. Not a miss in performance of course as I’m certain he could pull it off, but at his age and appearance he doesn’t really match the description. Since he’s so good at being a goofy eccentric I’ll keep hoping for an adaptation of Walgrave.
http://thegotparty.com
Jon won the GoT elections 😀
They say they”ll officially announce it soon.
He’s obviously playing Rhaegar Targaryen.
Professor Slughorn! Definetly Marwyn the Mage.
Cox would be a perfect Marwyn. Straight out of the books! He’s constantly defined by how uncharacteristically un-measterly he is; he looks like a street tough. I mean, they not only call him “the mage” but also “the mastiff.” That says it all, doesn’t it? Brian Cox would be perfect if D&D decide to go that route. If Broadbent is playing a maester, he seems more suited for a Walgrave type; affable or aloof.
Hopefully they pick up other Blackadder alumni along the way, by the way. Last year it was Tim McInnerny, this year Jim Broadbent. Atkinson, Fry & Laurie may be a tad too recognizable, but perhaps Tony Robinson should make an appearance!
Marwyn IS an archmaester. There is more than one. The word you may be looking for is “seneschal.” That would be Walgrave (though reportedly his position is in name only, because he’s too old.)
Marwyn IS an archmaester. There is more than one. The word you may be looking for is “seneschal.” That would be Walgrave (though reportedly his position is in name only, because he’s too old.)
The Mad King Aerys Targaryen II!
Thronetender,
.
Yes! Well worth reading! The narration was ingenious and the writing sublime. I’ll be interested to hear what you think of it – most people I know who read the book first had problems with it. But seeing the film first then reading the book would be a very different perspective.
One of the few parts of the book the movie got right. imvho
Stark Raven’ Rad,
Oh I totally agree! Recently rewatched all of the seasons, and was amazed all over again by the kids in season one
Clob,
He was also on Colbert, talking about exactly how his character died!
Drakoen,
Oh I forgot about that! And I’d love to see Atkinson but can’t imagine what his role might be.
I totally see him in Oldtown, looks like I am not the only one
I don’t know this dude. I’ve watched HP but don’t have that good a memory for any but the main characters so it’s like, whatev. I’m sure he’s very good. I binged all seasons of Vikings recently Anybody who’s watched this whole series thus far? (If not, warning of spoilers below):
What do you think of Ragnar’s current situation? He’s like a shell of his former self at the moment. The first couple seasons I thought his plot would be heading towards something like where Rollo’s actually is right now minus the marriage perhaps. He was a magnetic character at first and it was interesting how he grew so close to a Christian monk. Anyways, where do you think he’s been all this time and why so angry when he returned?
Corbyn Stark,
Wow I had never thought about Paul McGann but I can totally see him as Howland Reed. Really good actor, great choice Corbyn!
Regardless of the role I’m stoked to have Jim Broadbent in the cast! He’s great and I’m sure he will knock any role out of the park! 🙂
Rhaenys Stark,
What does Reed supposedly look like? I know he’s short in the books but that’s all.
Davy,
They could introduce a new Sand Snake – one that potentially befriends Sam
Honestly in the books she was the most interesting and fun one to read about.
He’s a Maester if I’ve ever seen one.
HouseMartellBitches,
I would say he is a bit old to be Howland Reed.
Greywind’s ghost,
Yeah you are correct age doesn’t matter. However, it is how he looks because of his age. Howland would have aged terribly if Broadbent is playing his character. They could make him look younger but why do that when there are potentially good roles that fit more his look.
Nymphadora Tonks, Argus Filch, Mrs Granger, Aberforth Dumbledore, Cormac McLaggen, Aragog (voice)…
And now Professor Slughorn !
If Jim Broadbent is cast as a priest, it could still be significant, even if it is only for a week. If, as a priest, he performed a marriage service between Lyanna and Rhaegar, then Jon would be a legitimate Targaryen, and that is very significant.
Whatever role he has, I’m sure we will all enjoy his performance, anyway.
ygritte,
I don’t think he has ever been described in great detail in the books, but he’s definitely short, strong and smart according to Meera. But Corbyn Stark is right just look at this https://youtu.be/waxbgMD7flo . The more I look at him the more clearly I see his resemblance to the show’s Meera and Jojen. Oh well, I’m sure whoever gets the part will be great.
Moka,
Wait who was Aberforth on the show?I totally missed that
Corbyn Stark,
Corbyn, It’s probably best to ignore “trolling”.
The Maester role does seem a definite possibility. I wonder if now that the main Tyrells have been killed off we’ll get some Tyrell cousins or uncles (too old for a cousin of course). I wonder if we could get Willas or Garlan only as a cousin of Loras and Margaery rather than a brother. There was a nephew of Mace Tyrell at the Citadel if I remember correctly. I wouldn’t mind Alleras/Sarella (as long as they don’t change her as much from her book counterpart as they did her half-sisters). But then if there are only 7 episodes next year I suppose sub-plots will be kept to a minimum.
Jenny,
Mance!
Give that man a long silver-gold wig and right there stands Rhaegar Targaryen in person.
#truth
#moreflashbacks
Jenny,
Mance Rayder.
I agree with you both – he was absolute class in London Spy!
Upon seeing his picture I immediately thought about a new High Septon or High Sparrow, but the role of Archmaester would suit him even better. I Can barely wait for some existential discussions with Sam 🙂 (or with Varys – gods that would be interesting!)
What a bloody great news ! Jim Broadbent is as great an actor as it gets : he can project such unfathomable kindness and wisdom yet, in the blink of an eye, he can get downright threatening, with those ice blue orbs staring into your very soul…
Rhaenys Stark,
Tywin of the Hill,
Omg yes I totally didn’t recognize him under all that beard lol
Obviously Rhaegar Targaryen!
Sorry so late to the party. I simply cannot miss even one day checking on here or I miss big things like this! I thought Marwyn too, but Marwyn seemed slightly younger and much more spry than the average maester, given his world travels. And last time we saw him in print he was headed down to the docks with Sam in tow. I’ve always thought he was taking Sam, his gang and the book and heading north. It’s been a while since I read it.
Sorry if there has already been discussion about this. No time to read all of the comments.
I’m just going to mention Walgrave one more time after thinking about it more. We don’t know which characters will be significant at the Citadel in the remaining novels and there’s not much to go on so far. D&D are responsible for their story of course. While Marwyn seems to be more significant at this time, perhaps in an attempt to not expand the cast too much they’ll combine Marwyn and Walgrave in a way similar to Meribald and Elder Brother.
One reason why I hope for Walgrave is that he seems like a perfect compliment to Sam, very much in the way of Maester Aemon, but with more life and lightheartedness within Walgrave. Think of Slughorn’s scenes in Harry Potter… He’s a goofy old coot but there’s wisdom behind it all.
Clob,
Very cool indeed! I had never heard that specific story about how Pedro got the role of Oberyn, especially the extent of Sarah Paulson’s involvement (though I knew that she’s a longtime friend of both Pascal and Amanda Peet) or that the opportunity came to Pascal’s attention because his mentee was reading for the same part. Too bad for that guy, but for the rest of the world, I think we can safely say that it all worked out for the best.
Jared,
I know, right! I’ve seen some short interviews of his before but this one was really good. He’s a pretty funny dude. I like the faces he makes too.
My guess is that he will be cast as the maester-in-chief at the Citadel and he will teach Sam how to brew the truth potion (Veritaserum)
Also, Dagmer was Amycus Carrow in Half-Blood Prince & Deathly Hallows Part 2; and Will (the ranger from the prologue, who Ned executed) was one of Malfoy’s thugs in Prisoner of Azkaban.
Oh my, this can go either really good or really disappointing. I know he is an accomplished actor, but his version of Horace Slughorn was absolutely terrible. The movie itself was not a good adaptation of the book, which in my opinion is the best book in the Harry Potter series. I guess we’ll wait and see. He was good in Moulin Rouge though.
Luka Nieto,
(Relatively) little known fact for you Luka, Balon Greyjoy was in the first series of Blackadder. Not many people have seen it compared to the later ones (there have been four) but it also featured Brian Blessed, who some people on here were rather keen to have cast as a character I wasn’t familiar with at time (Lord Manderly maybe?) ?
Lulus Mum,
He was the Tudor king, wasn’t he?
Luka Nieto,
Brian Blessed was the King, yes, while Patrick Malahide was a smaller part Guy de Glastonbury. You are a well informed fan; not sure about outside the UK, but I don’t think the first series is very well known here.
The four BAs between them have loads of actors who’d be known to British comedy fans, although mainly along the lines of “oh look it’s thingy“. I’ll quote myself from another post when Jim Broadbent was first mentioned: “looking through the cast list on IMDB I realise I know King Robert, Dolorous Edd, Thoros of Myr, the Hound, Ramsay Bolton, Hizdahr zo Loraq, Orell, Dontos Hollard, Jory Cassel, Dagmer Cleftjaw, Tycho Nestoris, Robett Glover and Camello (theatre troop Ned) from comedy roles” [and now JB]. A lot of them got into serious (rather than comedy) acting later on and I haven’t seen much of it, so only really know their earlier, funny stuff and it’s a bit of a shock to see them in GoT. Especially the first two series which I watched in a big chunk without knowing anything about who was in it. Bronn’s a bit of a revelation as well for those of us familiar with his cheesy, light entertainment 90s persona.
MUM!! Where have you been? Hope all is well, glad to see you!
Speaking of lines, when either my husband or myself come up with an idea to solve a problem, we usually say ‘I have a cunning plan’, which usually means we are so kidding…Loved that show, wished they had more than just four seasons.
For those of you who, like me, are eager for Brian Cox to be Marwyn–take heart. First, Cox has publicly said he loves the books and wants to be on GoT. Probably more important, David Benioff, who wrote the screenplay for Troy (2004), gave GoT roles to two minor stars of Troy, James Cosmo and Julian Glover, and one major star, Sean Bean, who played Odysseus. Brian Cox also played a major role, Agamemnon. Considering Benioff’s pattern, Cox probably has a pretty good chance of being on the GoT. By the way, even back then Benioff wasn’t afraid to tinker with a book. Almost 4000 years of reverence for the Iliad did not prevent Benioff from making King Agamemnon the chief villain and from killing him off (in Homer he wins the war and lives on).
The whole show is utterly unknown here, not just the first series. Unless you are a British TV fan, as a Spaniard you have no way of knowing about Blackadder. Here, Rowan Atkinson is exclusively known as Mr. Bean. Sadly, that’s the case with most of the world, I reckon. It’s a pity that more people don’t know about his other roles.
It truly looks like a match made in heaven, doesn’t it? Hopefully it can happen.
Thronetender,
Hi honey *jazz hands waving*. Good to see you too! I’m fine thanks and hope you are. I’ve been here as usual, lurking beneath the surface, waiting for a topic that allows me to ramble on at people, like Luka (above). There are aspects of GoT that I’m either not very familiar with or not that interested in which I just tend to read, but not join in with. I save my full onslaught for the rest! 😀
ash,
Is it as cunning as a fox that used to be Professor of Cunning at Oxford University but has moved on and is now working for the UN at the High Commission of International Cunning Planning? 😀
Luka Nieto,
Do you have to watch everything on Youtube or can you get your fix from a BBC overseas channel? I had no idea Mr Bean was a world-wide hit until he turned up in the opening ceremony of the London Olympics. I’m gonna call the Glovers House Darling from now on *yells “DON’T SLOUCH DARLING” at unconscious man*. The irony is of course that the last 5 minutes of Blackadder Goes Forth is heartbreaking. The piano playing the theme tune when they go over the top reduces me to floods of tears every time.
TFT,
He truly was amazing in Cloud Atlas..can’t wait to see him in GOT.
Marwyn makes the most sense. Also likely they just directly cast him with no audition because he’s frickin’ Jim Broadbent and they didn’t put this role in the casting call at all.
At this point, it seems improbable that Broadbent will be a character that we know from the books. We should be at stuff from the later part of Winter or the early part of Spring by now.
Blackadder was a “cult classic” in the US in the 1990’s. I have no idea if it still is or not.
That stated, people aware of “cult classics” are like the hardcore fans for books series: a small fraction of the overall viewing audiences. So, sadly, Atkinson probably is not too well known in the US: other than Mr. Bean, he probably is most recognizable for his small parts in “Four Weddings and a Funeral” and “Love, Actually.”
Yeah, that was a good way to end it. By the time they made this series, WWI had been over for 70 years, and very few people remembered how awful it had been. After all, trench warfare would have made the Battle of the Bastards look like “fun.”
I had sort of hoped that the 100th anniversaries of the major events in WWI would draw more attention to this. However, it seems that WWII will forever overshadow WWI in terms of “history lessons.” And yet WWI probably had an even greater influence on the evolution of modern European societies than WWII did.
Ciaran Hinds played Aberforth, at least in the final movie. This, of course, upset some hardcore fans, as some set-extra played Aberforth in the 5th movie: and surely that confused viewers, right?
Wimsey,
This certainly isn’t the place to get into a discussion about real wars, but at the moment (2014-18) the various WWI 100th anniversaries are being marked here in the UK and many other European countries. Over the summer we’ve been hearing a lot about the Somme and the horrors of trench warfare. There are the usual official events plus some more unusual ones, like this project to remind people that every one of the huge number of casualties was an individual and nearly all the military victims were just ordinary young men.
Lulus Mum,
We have not been seeing much of it in the States. However, the US was barely in the war (although the US still lost about the same number of men that the US lost in Vietnam), and WWI had nowhere near the impact on the national psyche that it had on those for European countries.
So, perhaps that is part of why I have not seen much. (And, let’s face it: I don’t spend much time watching the telly when I am overseas!) I am glad to see that it is getting its due elsewhere.
Kit Harington did his part in the commemoration, putting in a very creditable performance as Roland Leighton opposite Alicia Vikander in the 2014 film production of Testament of Youth. It was his role in that movie that persuaded me that Kit actually can act!
And of course he first made his mark in the public eye playing the kid in the original London stage production of War Horse, another WWI drama – but that was well before the centennial.
Everyone’s listing off all these impressive roles he’s portrayed but to me he’ll always be Roy Slater, that was the first thing I remember seeing him in as a kid. The face he pulled when Del hoodwinked him through his immunity was pure perfection.
Firannion,
War Horse is on quite near where I work and I often go past it. I only have a vague idea of the story but whenever the cast are mentioned I always imagine they are playing a horse. Found this piccie of The Kit In The North from his WH days when Loras dropped by to say hello 😀