SXSW is just around the corner, with the annual festival taking place in a few weeks in Austin, Texas. Once again, we can expect a strong Game of Thrones presence there, and this year, more cast members will be joining in the fun.
Entertainment Weekly reports that stars Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams will be taking part in a Game of Thrones panel featuring showrunners David Benioff and D.B Weiss. The panel is currently set for March 12th, at 3:30 p.m. Central Time, so save the date if you’re heading for SXSW this year.
In addition to revealing Turner and Williams’ participation in the event, EW shares that we’re unlikely to see any sort of trailer for season seven coming out of the SXSW panel, stating that “we’re hearing the festival will still be a bit too early for that.”
Given that it’s February, everyone is gagging for a trailer already. The delayed filming has pushed out all dates further, however- something to consider when getting antsy. Comparing this to our season 6 waiting period, we saw the “The Ink is Dry” teaser in December 2015, around the time shooting was wrapping, but it featured no new footage, only a new voiceover from Max von Sydow (Three-Eyed Raven) and Isaac Hempstead Wright (Bran). The effective Battle Banner teases came along in late January last year and there was a teaser with the Hall of Faces that contained no new footage, released last February.
It wasn’t until March 8th, about two and a half months after season 6 filming completed that the first trailer was released. This year, filming is finishing up in late February. Therefore, going by Game of Thrones‘ established track record, it might be May before we see a full trailer for season 7, though we can keep our fingers crossed for an intriguing teaser in the interim.
Arya!
Nothing to contribute, but that’s just a gorgeous picture of the two of them. ?
Obviously some new meaning for the term ‘gagging.’ Where I come from, that’s what you do when you try to swallow something that tastes revolting.
Pigeon,
It really is a gorgeous picture. Maisie = Lovely Girl
Sophie looks stunning in this picture.
Vincent Stark,
They both look great. It’s odd that they’re about 1 year apart in age, but Sophie looks 30 and Maisie looks 17. I’m talking about their faces, not height or clothes. Anyway, I’m delighted to hear Mophie will be at SXSW, but I don’t think I can afford to go. Hopefully, the panel will show up on Youtube or somewhere public.
Though we won’t be seeing any trailer, there’s bound to be some interesting information coming to light. I hope the questions won’t be as uninspired as they were last year at every GoT panel. If I hear another Trump joke like the sh*t they pulled at the Emmys I will be very dissapointed. They had Sapochnik there and they didn’t ask him anything. What a waste.
Stark Raven’ Rad,
That’s what I’m relying on, being from Europe.
YouTube as always.
Stark Raven’ Rad,
Oh, It’s true, they both look lovely. Maisie’s face sometimes reminds me of a little doll. 🙂
I can’t recall seeing a picture with Maisie looking anything but lovely. It’s her spirit which illuminates them… and her good taste in clothes and accessories, both elegant and casual.
Well “gagging for…” something is more often used in a sexual context, as is “ganting …” ( I’m pure ganting furrit…”;)
Maisie does look rather nice there, and with a slightly different look yet again.
I feel like it’s been three years since the season wrapped up.
Irina Stark,
I agree. Most questions at GoT panels are “uninspiring” – and redundant.
I’ll find myself gagging and wanting to retch if I hear some audience member waste time asking one of the same, stupid questions asked over and over, like:
• [To cast members]:
“If you could play another character, who would it be?”
“Who do you want to sit the Iron Throne?”
“Where in Westeros would you want to live?”
“Would you rather have a dragon or a direwolf?”
“Who would make the best king/queen?”
“Whom should Jon Snow marry?”
• Like you commented, even when the showrunners and a director like Sapochnik are present, hardly anyone asks them questions – and those questions that are asked are fluff.
Let’s hope Benioff & Weiss don’t show up openly drunk again. As they did for their own San Diego Comic Con 2016 panel. And to the Oxford Union panel the year before that.
Come to think of it, Benioff and Weiss have only appeared at two public hourlong panels in the past three years, and showed up openly drunk to both. I wonder if they’ll go 0 for 3.
You said it, Ten Bears, even GRRM is tired of the unscreened and thus uninspired questions: “Who is my favorite character? I’ve been asked this at every convention for the past six seasons! For god’s sake, Tyrion! Arya a close second! Just google a god-damned report on my last 20 convention appearances!”
I mean it just goes on.
Why not something like “Why did your change Dorne so significantly? We’d like to be even-handed and hear your own take on things.”
Or even (gasp) “Why did you merge Sansa Stark into the Jeyne Poole rape storyline?” (to this day, they just avoided talking about it, or, discussed “after we married her off to a serial rapist, it would have been unrealistic to not have her get raped, so our hands were tied” — not the actual condensation decision made in the first place.
Oh god, remember Oxford Union panel when one audience member actually managed to sneak in, “Hey, was Jaime supposed to be raping Cersei or what? And if he was, why did you change this?”…….and Benioff just stammed out, verbatim, “Uh, we felt he woudl do that, uh, because we thought it was a thing he would do” (while blatantly dodging the question and avoiding the term “rape” to maintain plausible deniability).
Some of you may think these questions harsh, I think they’re necessary, and we can differ on how “polite” that is but…..rather than such “questions of substance” you’d rather have yet another “Who do you think should sit on the Iron Throne?”
Oh god, SDCC 2016, someone again actually managed to sneak in a real question, and I think a non-controversial one: “Sophie, why didn’t Sansa just tell Jon about the Vale army?” “The writers didn’t tell me. There is no in-universe reason. It was just to build up the tension of the Vale army coming and to make the scene Dramatically Satisfying.”
OR they recount the story yet again of how the original pilot episode was a disaster and they needed Craig Mazen’s outside advice to correct its flaws. (Define irony: they refuse to address questions which are outsider criticism like “why is Dorne like this?”….shutting people up and using up their panel time….by filling it…with recounting the one time they took outsider criticism, and benefitted from it!”)
Or would we all rather they stick to questions like “What was a funny incident that happened on set?”
Boy, you guys have hit the bullseye about same ole same ole questions. GoTers would love some outta left feild.. Specially the actors, whove been doing Cons for years and get asked most the questions. Audiences need to throw a few curveballs at them. I bet you guys can do better than these:
o What scene of yours would you give to another character and why?
o If Bran could rewind his time machine to a moment in your characters life and learn something impt from it, what would it be?
o Say something nice about someone your character really hates and something nasty about someone your character really likes.
o If the showrunners turn your character really evil, how would the evil show? And realistically, how would you adopt your acting to the new reality?
o Pick one TV or movie character who would fit into the show and youd like to see turn up and interact with. What would happen?
o If your character dies, what would you like to see written on the tombstone?
The Dragon Demands,
I didn’t know Benioff and Weiss were drunk, but wouldn’t YOU show up plastered if you had to sit there like a dummy for over an hour waiting to hear someone ask the same inane question that’d been asked over and over again on previous occasions ?
They may as well have cardboard cutouts of themselves planted on the dais with a pull-string activated recorded voice saying “You’ll just have to wait until next season airs.”
Same thing with GRRM: “The books are the books and the show is the show”, and “Like I’ve said a million times already, Tyrion is my favorite character, with Arya a close second.”
Abel,
Yup. You said it.
I wouldn’t even mind a few softball questions for the cast members. Maybe something like “As an actor, what was the most challenging scene you’ve had to film, and why?”
Abel,
Oh, and one other thing: I wouldn’t blame Maisie Williams for losing her composure if for the umpteenth time some audience member thinks he’s being clever by asking:
“My name is Joe Blow. Could you recite your List and include ‘Joe Blow’ in it?”
Just once, I’d like her to respond: “A man can go kill himself.” (More than once, and everybody will ask her to say that too. )
I understand frustration at the same questions, as we’re all human, but not many are going to be able to field too much sympathy for them either. These people signed up to work in the entertainment field. No one forced them to do this. They are on a hit show and are well compensated for that hit show. If they don’t like repetitive questions at interviews or panel events that’s really too bad. This reminds me of the musician who signs a major label deal and then says “I never wanted to be famous, it’s such a burden”.
orange,
It’s not so much the actors and showrunners who engender sympathy: It’s the other attendees and fans watching the videos of the event whose time is wasted by listening to inane questions.
I’m sure the actors and showrunners who have the good fortune to create/appear in a hit show are more than happy to be there, no matter what questions are asked.
You are so right about Maisie.
She always looks lovely and elegant.
I think the picture of Sophie and Maisie at the top of this post was from a March, 2015 NY Times photo shoot.
More recently, at the 2017 SAG Awards, Maisie showed up with a wavy hairdo, dark lipstick, and a pink satin dress, evoking classic Hollywood glamor of the 1940s. She looked like Olivia de Havilland with Lauren Bacall’s hairstyle and Audrey Hepburn’s eyebrows.
AMaising. (Sorry?)
People asked substantive questions about failure of plot mechanics or artistic intent, i.e. one of them asked “Why doesn’t Sansa tell Jon about the Vale army?”” — and they just sat there leaving Sophie Turner on the hook to answer, too drunk to respond.
You DO NOT show up drunk to your own SDCC panel. I mean they announced at the beginning “Hi, we’re very drunk from vodka shots, don’t ask us any questions for the next hour”. Yikes.
Imagine if Tim Cook showed up openly drunk to a new Apple device rollout panel, and not just “drunk” but “so drunk he announced he wouldn’t participate but handed it off to someone else”. Yikes.
I live in Austin so hopefully I can get a sighting in.
The Dragon Demands,
I stand corrected. I did not know they actually volunteered right up front that they were too sh-tfaced to participate. Nor was I aware that they left Sophie T on the hook to give an explanation/excuse for Sansa concealing the Vale army from Jon.
Look, I think 90% of what GoT does is brilliant – which is pretty remarkable considering that even the best TV shows invariably suck after the first two seasons.
I’m impressed with most of GoT’s showrunners’ deviations from the books and show-only material (like the Arya & Tywin scenes). I don’t begrudge them their occasional misfires. However, if an audience member asks for clarification of an ambiguous scene or character’s actions, I don’t understand why they would deflect it to Sophie T. (I’m not being critical of Sophie T, but her acting method, as I understand it, does not involve in-depth analysis of her character’s motivations before filming her scenes. So it’d be kind of unfair to let her twist in the wind when it comes time to answer the fandom’s questions.)
Perhaps at this year’s SXSW convention there will be lots of well-framed questions that elicit some informative answers, without inebriation or evasiveness. .
Ten Bears,
Sophie was half-cut as well. It was a weird panel.
Ten Bears,
“AMaizing” is just perfect! You created an epithet which describes her as it should!
I loved how she looked in the pink dress! So different from her recent teenage outfit at a film premiere (Star Wars or something): a short skirt resembling a kilt (missing her buddy Rory?) and a little scarf around her neck. I have a folder where I save pictures connecting to GOT which I like, but unfortunately I couldn’t save the one I have just mentioned, that’s why I don’t remember her shirt and/or jacket.
About Maisie’s Audrey Hepburn eyebrows: I should have noticed myself, as Audrey is one of my favourite actresses.
Shy Lady Dragon,
➡️ Shy Lady Dragon:
•. I’ve got such a folder too, many of which I use for insertion in text message and e-mail replies, eg angry Arya: “You’re the worst s–t in the seven kingdoms!” ; ( for trying to reach someone I know is there but getting routed straight to voice mail): “I’ve tried to reach you” [insert pix of Lyanna Mormont] “but you refused the call”; and for an incoming text message turned into gibberish by Dragon-transcription and Auto-Correct, a picture of Dany on Drogon to accompany my response: “I’m sorry. I don’t speak Dothraki.”
…………..
(To be cont.)….
Shy Lady Dragon,
➡️ Shy Lady Dragon (cont.)
Maisie’s eyebrows resembled Audrey Hepburn’s in pictures I’ve seen of Audrey Hepburn, including a photograph of her holding her Oscar statuette.
I know AH’s “signature” film is “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, with that iconic black dress and long cigarette holder, but I wasn’t bowled over by the movie itself.
However, I really loved her in one of her later films, “Robin and Marian” with Sean Connery (1976). It’s a bit dated now, but it picks up on the tale of Robin Hood 20 years later, after Robin (Sean Connery) has returned home from fighting in the Crusades for Richard the Lionhearted, and learns that Maid Marian became an abbess (?) in a convent. Anyway…
Without giving too much away, Audrey Hepburn as Marian delivers a speech to Robin that had me sobbing it was so beautiful. (I’m gonna try to put it in spoiler coding if you haven’t seen it):
… Darn it. Didn’t work. Lemme try again …
Shy Lady Dragon,
➡️ Shy Lady Dragon
– Audrey Hepburn as Marian in “Robin and Marian” (1976).
Ten Bears,
I haven’t seen Robin and Marian and now I’m going to look for it.
I liked Breakfast at Tiffany’s, especially her monologue in the rain, at the end of the film, where she’s looking for her cat (named Cat!), which she has just let go. It is said that Capote was disappointed with Audrey being cast (he felt that Marilyn Munroe would have been a good solution), but finally he was charmed by Audrey’s personality.
I myself adore a silly comedy where Audrey and Peter O’Toole steal a statue from the Louvre (How to Steal a Million), Sabrina, Roman Holiday and My Fair Lady. *blushes* Wait until the Dark put her in a completely different environment, “full of terrors” and proved she can be more than an elegant, adorable woman.
About the quotation: impressive indeed! That’s how love should be! I’m definitely looking for the film!
As you can see, I’m too curious not to check the spoilers. But thank you so much for your care! I can fully understand and respect that some people hate to be spoiled.
Shy Lady Dragon,
Sure thing! It was the way Audrey Hepburn said those words that was so beautiful….
I remember first seeing “Robin and Marian” about twenty years ago, and ranked it among my favorite movies. When I saw it again more recently though, the music and plotting seemed slightly…cheesy (?) It’s hard to explain. Maybe it’s because in the intervening years, GoT and movies like Braveheart have redefined the genre. Or maybe it was just weird seeing a whole bunch of actors I’m used to seeing play distinguished older gentlemen (eg Ian Holm, Denholm Elliott, Richard Harris, and Robert Shaw) playing middle-aged but still swashbuckling Merry Men and sword fighters.
Nevertheless, the scenes between Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn are timeless. (I think she hadn’t been in any films for about eight years when she appeared in R & M. Not sure about that. I think I heard that in a trailer for the movie I saw online. It was actually refreshing to see her play a mature woman rather than a Holly Golightly-type ingenue. )
I still had the same reaction to her speech that I did the first time around. ??
Shy Lady Dragon,
➡️ Shy Lady Dragon
One last comment about “Robin and Marian” before I’m lambasted for veering off-topic:
In some respects, the movie veers into GoT trope-subverting territory. I’ll put this under spoiler-coding, not because I’m proud of myself for finally figuring out how to use it, but because it kind of reveals what I felt were common sub-themes. There are some details that I guess are plot “spoilers”, so please refrain from clicking on the greyscale if you don’t want to know what they are.
In a running serio-comic theme, though Robin Hood is 20 years older, he still gets excited at the prospect of a new adventure and another glorious battle, as if no time had passed. But it pains Marian terribly to see all of the scars on his body from all of the wounds he’s suffered through the years. While he’s eager as a puppy dog to fight some more, she’s afraid for him and is worried that his aging body and diminishing skills put him in grave danger – and kind of wishes he’d give it a rest already. (In fact, in an early scene he heroically charges in to “rescue” her when she doesn’t want to be rescued. In another scene, Robin battles his old nemesis, the Sheriff of Nottingham, and after a while the sword fight devolves into two weary men fighting fatigue more than each other – and at one point the Sheriff stops for a moment, looks at Robin and says; “I’m tired.” It’s kind of funny in context: two long-standing adversaries now bound more by mutual respect than old enmities.)
At another point, there’s a poignant exchange between Robin and Marian after he has come back from winning a glorious battle, and asked her to bandage his wounds. After talking with her, it starts to dawn on him that his best days are behind him.
He says/asks: “I’ll never have another day like today, will I ?”
She smiles sweetly while shaking her head.
In a way, these scenes reflect the contrast between the glorification of war and its reality, along with the inevitable physical decline of aging (reminiscent of the Blackfish’s parting words to Brienne, i.e. that he hadn’t been in a proper sword fight in years and hoped he wouldn’t embarrass himself too badly.) There’s even a scene
— like with Khal Drogo and The Hound – where a character gradually succumbs to an infected wound rather than the wound itself.
.
Well, this commentary went on far too long. I hope I didn’t give away too much.
Stark Raven’ Rad,
⏩ Stark Raven Rad *
I wanted to thank you for directing me to the video of the Benioff and Weiss interview by
Marcia Franklin on Idaho Public Television when they attended the 2016 Sun Valley Writers Conference. (Link to that two-part interview embedded in 11-16-16 WoW post.) It took me a while to watch the entire interview a few minutes at a time, but it was well worth it.
Especially since we’ve been bashing insipid audience questions here, I wanted to cite Ms. Franklin’s interview as an example of the kind of informative and interesting answers the showrunners can give when engaged by a literate, articulate and well-prepared questioner.
I commend it to anyone who’s tired of listening to the nonsensical audience questions and worthless responses in convention videos. Among other nuggets, the interview delved into:
•. Their strong personal relationships with and admiration for all of the actors, especially the child actors who have grown from little kids to young adults before their eyes.
They singled out our Lovely Girl as someone who looked like a seven year-old in S1, and has since blossomed into an extraordinary young woman. ?
• Asked about the challenges of convincing HBO and the audience to embrace a show where so many of the good guys, i.e. the Starks, are killed off, they remarked that Jon and Arya are still alive – which I have generously interpreted as a strong indication that Jon and Arya will make it to the end. ?
•. Their experience as novelists as invaluable in being able to communicate effectively with GRRM and adapt his books.
• The make-or-break importance of a good casting director; a great script can be ruined by a great actor if he’s not right for a certain role.
•. The positive and negative effects of fear and worry.
•. Other TV shows the showrunners consider to be excellently produced and well-formulated from start to finish, eg “Breaking Bad” and “The Wire.”
•. (A valuable piece of advice for anyone in any field): Don’t fear what you don’t know. Specifically, they had never done a TV series before, and were given the advice to not be afraid to admit they were novices and ask for help.
• The positive economic and cultural impact of GoT on Belfast, including changing the (obsolete) perception as the city as the epicenter of IRA violence, to a peaceful, emerging hub of the European film and TV industry.
There’s a lot more covered in the video. It’d be nice if Con audience members took the time to watch how an experienced and intelligent interviewer asks questions, and then formulate their own questions in advance BEFORE they get up in front of a microphone to address the actors, producers and directors.
—————-
* Your 2-15-17, 7:50 pm comment was under the Wow 1/31/17 post entitled “Maisie Williams says that Season 7 will end on a ‘huge cliffhanger'”, but I figured it’d be more appropriate to thank you here, since this post reports on the upcoming appearance of Benioff and Weiss at the SXSW convention next month.
Vincent Stark,
Re: Maisie Williams
I didn’t come up with the following description of Maisie Williams, but I wish I had. (I saw it in a caption in an online article with photographs showing her ever-changing looks):
“The Many-Faced Goddess”
Shy Lady Dragon,
Re: Attribution of Maisie W = “Many-Faced Goddess”
The online article (with some great photos of Maisie) describing her as “The Many-Faced Goddess” was a Jan. 9, 2017 BuzzFeed article by Crystal Ro entitled “Sorry, But Maisie Williams Was Actually the Best-Dressed Person at the Golden Globes.”
Ten Bears,
I was strong and didn’t click on the “greyscale” – proper name as I know you hate spoilers! – before the end of the film.
I have just watched “Robin and Marian”, which reminded me why I like Audrey and Sean so much and stirred again all the existential questions many of us struggle with: everyone dies (“except for this one!” the Hound pointing to Beric Dondarion), but why losing strength and getting old? why becoming poor shadows of ourselves?
It is true, some scenes seem dated, but we want too much from battles and Middle Ages scenery after GOT! I kept in mind the film was shot in the 70ies… and even I am much wiser than the child I was then 🙂
But this film had some interesting stuff. The whole aging and diminishing motif symbolized by the rotting apples made me think at the Shakespearean “we ripe and ripe, then we rot and rot”. Richard Harris’s Richard the Lionheart was far from a hero and the whole arrow and castle siege had a Monty Pythonesque vibe. Robin and Marian’s death seemed like an ending fit for a Shakespearean tragedy. And her monologue made me literally cry, although I had read it in one of your previous comments.
Thanks for recommending me a film worth watching!
Ten Bears,
I went to Buzzfeed to look for the article you told me about. Here’s another one in return:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/kimberleydadds/happy-18th-birthday-arya-stark
Shy Lady Dragon,
I’m glad you liked it. I didn’t want to give away when and under what circumstances Marian gave her “I have loved you more than,,.” speech. ?
I always remembered how I loved the last few minutes:
I can think of worst ways to leave life than together with your beloved ?
On a brighter note, I’ve been compiling a “Concordance List” to help get through The Long Night until S7 begins: Recommendations of TV shows and movies starring GoT actresses and actors. Obviously, we’ve discussed Maisie and her Dr. Who episodes, etc.
For example, one of my Top 5 all-time favorite movies features Tara Fitzgerald (Selyse Baratheon) in her first film role:
“Hear My Song”
It’s difficult to find for some reason. It’s never on cable, and I’m not sure it’s available on NetFlix either.
Shy Lady Dragon,
Hmmm … Spoiler coding didn’t work on my last comment…
Anyway, “Hear My Song” is a 1991 movie. ( There was a more recent film with the same name.)
The cover of the DVD and VHS cassette shows a smiling young man in a tuxedo with outstretched arms standing behind Tara Fitzgerald (in Breakfast at Tiffany’s-type black dress) reclining on a sofa, with a large yellow moon in the background.
The one and only time I ever went out and bought a movie soundtrack is after I watched “Hear My Song,” The movie is based on the real-life Irish tenor Josef Locke.
I guess it’s classified as a musical comedy, so nobody gets burned at the stake or killed in a sword fight.