We interrupt the frenzy of Kit Harington #HairWatch to bring you another piece of Game of Thrones casting news today!
According to the agency CV of actor Ricky Champ, he’ll be playing the role of Flynn on Game of Thrones next season.
We know from a previously leaked casting breakdown list that Flynn is an outlaw, part of a band using religion to justify extorting the people of the countryside. The character was listed as appearing in 2 episodes in season 6.
Champ played the regular role of Paul on the British sitcom Him & Her for four seasons. He’s had stints on Crims and Youngers, and appeared in films such as The World’s End and Mortdecai.
![776465_509_promostills_1400158453[1]](https://watchersonthewall.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/776465_509_promostills_14001584531.jpg)
Game of Thrones cleaned up in the Emmy Award nominations department, but we’ll have to wait and see how they do when it comes to the actual awards ceremony. For now, here’s a tidbit of info- the Emmy submissions for a few of the contenders, courtesy of Gold Derby.
Diana Rigg will be submitting the episode “The Gift” for her nomination in the category of Best Guest Dramatic Actress. In “The Gift,” the Queen of Thorns takes on the High Sparrow and meets with Littlefinger. Rigg previously won an Emmy in 1997 for
Rebecca, in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Special.
Emilia Clarke will be submitting “The Dance of Dragons” for her Best Supporting Actress in a Drama nomination. The episode featured the chaos in Daznak’s Pit, and Daenerys mounting Drogon for the first time. Clarke was nominated for GoT in the same category in 2013.
Going up against Clarke, Lena Headey is submitting “Mother’s Mercy,” the episode featuring Cersei’s devastating walk of atonement. Headey was nominated last year in this category.
I actually thought that Emilia would submit a different episode – sure this was her big ‘action’ one but I preferred her actual acting in the episodes where she deals (not very well) with Ser Barristan’s death or even her chat with Tyrion.
Oh and sorry – Hodor
Daeryssa,
Agreed I though it would be that episode you are referring to as well.
Same here.. But since she falls in the same category as Lena, no matter what episode she submitted it will still be Lena (hoping). So better luck next year for the Mother of Dragons.
Has Lena been nominated before?
I hope she wins.
Lena was nominted in Season 4.
Here’s to Lena and her awesome season. Fingers crossed for luck.
Lena should win. I think she might, too.
No offense to Emelia but GO LENA!! 😀
Have there been theories as to who the outlaw band is? A new creation for the show, or yet to appear in the books?
Its Lena’s year.
Sword of the Morning,
May be the brotherhood for all we know.
It’s difficult to guess, without TWOW in our hands.
Sword of the Morning,
They sound like what’s left of the Brotherhood without Banners to me. I’m guessing Beric and Thoros are gone and the remaining members have descended into pure banditry.
Although I’m not sure what purpose the BwB could possibly serve at this point without Stoneheart.
Robb Snow,
It seems to be religiously-inspired banditry, according to the character descriptions. Even without Stoneheart, it’s easy to see how the religiously awakened brotherhood from season 3 could have taken a dark turn since then. So, if the Brotherhood is back, I cannot imagine that Thoros and/or Beric won’t be back with them. It’d be strange if they were absent. They and Anguy were the only faces of the brotherhood, and only Thoros and Beric represented the fanatic side.
As for their narrative purpose… well, whatever they will do in TWOW, they’ll do in season six, presumably, even without Stoneheart. There are plenty of theories around. Why is it tricky to imagine they’ll serve a narrative purpose? In season three they already were religious fanatics fighting against the warring Houses; Stoneheart isn’t needed to follow that thread.
Nice, let her submit the Gift. By letting the Emmy persons watch these scenes, they’ll realise how scandalous it is to not nominate Jonathan Pryce.
Two episodes? Sounds like a bit part, probably along the lines of the BWB, or an offshoot. The Brotherhood only served two purposes that I can see in the show – putting Arya/Hound together, and putting Melisandre in proximity to Gendry and Beric’s resurrection – so I’m guessing this is a more connective tissue that unites two larger, already seen, plot elements.
Luka Nieto,
The casting sheet says “Lachlan” is the leader of the outlaw band, which could mean that Beric at least is dead or otherwise indisposed. I admit Thoros and/or Anguy could still be around though.
Yup, this guy looks like what I had imagined when the casting came for a rogue soldier who has turned on what he has sworn to protect.
Soooooo:
– Podeswa gets U,U,U nominated
– Olenna gets The Gift nominated
– Emilia gets Dance of Dragons nominated
– Lena and Nutter get Mother’s Mercy nominated..
What is Peter submitting? And I still can’t get over why Sapochnik got robbed..
I think Lena deserves to win as well, but it seems like the odds are favoring Christina Hendricks right now.
Moonlight,
Christina was really good in the second half of season 7 (the final season). But, Lena was better and I really hope Lena gets it.
Not biased at all 😉
Lena should win for her cell scenes alone. Lick the floor, bitch.
Luka Nieto,
I would bet that they are associated with the High Sparrow, not the Red God. Chances are pretty good that the thuggery in Kings Landing is happening elsewhere, too. Moreover, it is not unreasonable to suppose that Cersei is going to strike back at the Church: and that could inspire all sorts of rebellion throughout Westeros given the populist overtones that the Sparrow (both in book and on show) adopts.
Given how many Emmy nominations this show has snagged, I cannot see any scandals of that nature arising! Remember, for all the popular and critical acclaim and praise, some people will still just see this as escapist swords and sorcery more about magic and monsters than about people.
Can we just get a casting video already please!
Still can’t believe Emilia was nominated for Best Supporting Actress, what a joke.
TFT,
Pryce would have to have been submitted to be nominated (though given the overall smallness of the part, it’s not like there would have been much chance of that).
This is entirely subjective, but “Flynn” just doesn’t sound like a Westerosi name to me.
glad to see Emilia sumiting ep09, would have done the same, lots of scemes in that episodes for her. i say’d on other post i consider Emilia a outsanding actor, in GoT i should say i did tought her performance in terminator was a bit inconsistant.
but i do think that she is a very good actor and unlike many people say i think she has a great deal of emotions she can act.
her slight luagh when Selmy tells her off Rhaegar.
when selmy dies
when she hears jorah in the fighting pit….etc
of course also expected choice of lena to submit ep10, outstanding performance there
This guy seems like this season’s Malko. Not important in any way.
From his looks alone, I think he looks a bit Thenn- but that doesn’t really fit the whole religious part.
Wasn’t most of Lena’s walk of shame a body double though?
Sean C.,
remenbar that in last season there was character cast for Gondry, one of the guy who fought stannis i belive, we may never even hear his name said in the show.
but they must call him something, they can’t say bandit number 3
EDIT: i would say his name would fit a lowly peasent soldier. he is not high-born so i think some fancy name would actoully be more jarring
jentario,
yup something like that most likely.
on the looks i would say that a bit of make-up, some armor and he has the deserter soldier look down.
Da King in Da Norf,
come on, the double, i forgot her name my apologies, did the walking it was Lena who did the acting. altough both did a outstanding job, not many people can walk fully nude for 3 days while people yell and insult you.
As to the awards. I am afraid (even though PD already did win) all the awards will be given at the end of the show two years from now….similar to what happened with Lord of the Rings. Too bad. Then again, we could have even larger more stellar acting by this crew in the two seasons to come.
Ah.
And as always, none of the better actors are nominated.
JCDavis,
it is truly sad the way some official critics look at fantasy..
This sort of trendy thing to rip into Emilia’s acting skills is the equivalent to thinking humans are the cause of climate changes, her acting is up there with any other cast members. One wrote “She just sits there looking regal” well, that is what she is meant to do in those scenes. I wouldn’t begrudge either winning.
Odd: I’m a scientist, but I have not seen a single research paper suggesting that Emilia is a bad actor…..
Lena will win this year. Emilia next year or definitely during the final season as long as her scenes get better and more emotional
Highly unlikely & does’t really fit but it’d be awesome if this religious group was the Damphair & his Drowned Men w/ their driftwood cudgels.
Daeryssa,
I thought Emilia was very strong in Episode 2, especially the hard-to-watch Mossador execution scene. Not sure why she submitted Dance of Dragons.
Am I the only one who didn’t realize that the nominated actors submit their scene? That is cool. Not sure who I want to win more; I think its just cool that the show is recognized for its acheivements so many times with nominations. Would be nice to get a win now and again tho
To complete the list, Gold Derby is reporting that Peter Dinklage has chosen “Hardhome” as his Emmy submission episode.
http://www.goldderby.com/news/9836/emmys-alan-cumming-the-good-wife-peter-dinklage-game-of-thrones-entertainment-13579086-story.html
Do you think Peter’s submission of “Hardhome” could help Lena or even Emilia, given the fact that both of them had great scenes in that episode as well? especially Lena.. Do the same people vote on those categories?
I agree that “Flynn” is an odd name choice, but on the other hand, there’s a character in the same bunch named “Lachlan”–I guess D&D have been bingewatching Outlander–so it could be worse.
I think Lena’s the only GOT nom with a genuine shot at one of the non-technical Emmys (effects, etc.), and even then it’s a tossup; I can’t blame her for not wanting to do the nude walk herself and using a body double (what with being pregnant and all and not wanting to walk naked with a bunch of strangers heaping abuse on her and throwing things), but that decision will probably cost her the Emmy even if she does have a shot at it.
I’m actually surprised PD ranked a nom, considering how brutally competitive the Supporting Actor category is these days. Seems more like a courtesy at this stage than anything else.
Wimsey,
Now that would be a waste of time for scientists. What there ought to be is a paper on why one of the best actors, Theon Greyjoy, has never been nominated.
This guy is obviously playing young Vary in a flashback scene
https://twitter.com/derryjournal/status/624285946658357249
I think the band is the kingswood brotherhood and we will get a lot of flashbacks to arthur dayne and eventually tower of joy we did get that casting call for what has to be dayne
It may be what is called “tall poppy syndrome” – wanting to belittle somebody who has gained a certain amount of celebrity. Personally I have never found any problem with her acting. If it was criticism coming from other actors I might say it was because she got this relatively big role straight from drama school, but it isn’t so I guess “different strokes for different folks”. There are some actors (of both genders) though not on GoT who gather praise which baffles me but it would be a bit churlish of me to mention any names so I’ll keep silent.
Thanks to the people who run this site for the snippets of casting information.
Greenjones,
Magilligan was a rural area location site last year for filming where Emilia was sighted. https://watchersonthewall.com/closer-look-game-thrones-dubrovnik-filming-emilia-clarke-sighting/
So it’s possible they’re going back to shoot the continuation of the season finale scenes, with the Dothraki or Drogon. There are several GOT signs popping all over the place this week, N.I is hopping.
Da King in Da Norf,
So? Acting is in the face and the expressions, and not just being able to walk down a street naked.
___
Laura,
As someone who hasn’t read the books, but been spoilt on LS, I think her inclusion in the show at this point would be lame. No interested in seeing that
Sue the Fury,
BTW, Sue, the previous article’s links about Garron Point said that filming there was last week. Was there some shooting done then, second unit stuff perhaps, (IIRC there was some last year the week before the cast showed up) or did it just start this Monday?
goodkinghenry,
Actually, given the number of strong performances from this series, it is a wonder to me that it gets any actor/actress nominations. When people vote on things like this, they tend to categorize: that is, they consider the best from A, the best from B, the best from C, etc. If A has a lot of potentially good choices and B has only a couple, then the good candidates from B often have a better shot at getting the nomination.
What I’d really like to see for the Emmys (and the Oscars) is what SAG and (I think) BAFTA does: Best Ensemble Performance. Very few great performances are done in a vacuum after all; as someone noted with the Peter Dinklage tape also showcasing Emilia Clarke, often times two good actors will make each other look even better. (I think that definitely was the case for that scene: of course, I was getting the fan-boy heeby-jeebies as I had been anticipating that scene at least since the end of Swords back in 2001!)
Oh, and, yeah, it would be a waste of our time! 😀 (And, of course, people who didn’t like the results wouldn’t believe us because, of course, they know science better than we do…..)
An article in the Zeit magazine uses Game of Thrones -inspired illustrations. Here is the English version.
http://www.zeit.de/zeit-magazin/leben/2015-07/eurozone-crisis-greece-graphic-novel
I would like to see Emmy and Oscar offer a “Best Ensemble” award as well. In productions with huge casts like GOT, it is very difficult to isolate one or two performances, especially because screen time is limited. Having said that, GOT has been nominated for SAG’s Best Ensemble award and has never won.
Article about Kit in Belfast: http://www.vulture.com/2015/07/jon-snow-lives-kit-harington-spotted-in-belfast.html?mid=twitter-share-vulture
Sue the Fury,
Oooh, interesting! It’s possibly Daenerys and the Dothraki plus Drogon (in which case, tons of horses and extras filming there, Dothraki-looking extras), and there could also be a separate scene of Jorah and Daario scouting the place and finding her ring.
In terms of winning, this year is actually the strongest chance GOT has ever had. The new voting rules will help favor shows with popularity.
Also, twenty four nominations…. They were falling over to nominate GOT in not just technical categories, but in all the major categories!
We got a writing nod, two directing nods, four acting nods including a shocking return of Emilia Clarke (in a pretty lite Dany season)…
Goldderby and other premier emmy prediction sights are actually giving Game of Thrones a slight advantage over Mad Men in odds to win best drama series (Though I still believe Mad Men will win).
But GOT is leading the odds to win best directory for Mother’s Mercy (just barely),
and although Uzo and Christina Hendricks are strong contendors, Lena is considered the favorite to win supporting actress. Peter submitted Hardhome and Diana submitted The Gift, which both feature other amazing scenes for Lena, which could boost her chances further.
Im mostly anticipating Lena’s win!
Im so excited for Emmy night. The hype of the last 3 episodes boosted this season quite a bit
Laura,
Lol!! That’s funny 😀
mariamb,
The nomination is the key thing. There are, after all, a lot of good casts out there.
I was reading this article and scrolling through the comments and I noticed someone put up the interesting question “Oh, so she’s not in Belfast with the rest of the cast for the read throughs? Interesting…..” Was she in Belfast during the readings? I don’t remember seeing her picture. They surely aren’t going to just drop the Tyrells?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3172254/Game-Thrones-Natalie-Dormer-goes-make-free-puts-leggy-display-summery-blue-skirt-blouse.html
anon,
It’s a very short flight from London to Belfast. Sophie’s already back in London herself, so I wouldn’t worry about Natalie here. The Belfast shoot goes from now until December, so they don’t have to be there every day.
Greenjones,
Filming with the cast started this Monday. We don’t really know if there was any second-unit filming or stuff without the cast last week. It’s possible, but it could’ve just been production still setting up.
Lena can submit any episode she appears in, and still win. Brilliant performance as Cersei!
Sean C.,
Preach! Why would they name characters such ordinary real world names like “Flynn” and “Lachlan” when they’re such original Westerosi names like Robert, Ned, Brandon aand Jon!
Sue the Fury,
Thanks. 🙂
goodkinghenry,
And I really doubt we’ll hear anyone refer to him as “Flynn” in dialogue either. These names are mostly just place-holders in the script.
Lena wasn’t pregnant whilst filming her WOS. Why do people keep saying she was? Even if it were a 12-month pregnancy she’d still have only been 2-3 months, it doesn’t show at all until around 4-5 months.
Anyway Angelina Jolie was pregnant whilst filming Beowulf, it’s why her boobs were so full.
She just didn’t want to do it, which is fine by me. Who would?
Ashara Dayne,
And it’s not because she’s averse to nudity even. She’s done it before (and apparently will again in a movie called Zipper she’s co-starring in with Patrick Wilson that premiered at Sundance). But it’s the difference between filming on a closed set with minimal crew and filming outdoors in front of hundreds of extras and she understandably opted against it. Which IMO didn’t diminish her performance at all. Just so long as she thanks Rebecca van Cleave when she gets her Emmy.
goodkinghenry,
Er, as I said, it’s totally subjective. There’s no real objective difference between “Flynn” and “Robert” in that regard, but the latter ‘sounds’ right to me, and the former doesn’t (in the case of this specific name, I had the same trouble with Tangled, for the record).
EMMY FOR LENA!!! Ok, now that I got that out of my system…
I’m also surprised Emilia picked this episode as I thought she had stronger work in others.
I’m in agreement- there should be an ensemble category, GoT would nail it.
I just hope they actually bring home some acting Emmys, they get so many nominations and I feel like the quality of the production gets noticed, and they get nominations across many categories, but not so many wins for the performances. I realize the competition is tough in Drama but hopefully with some other big shows over now, and this season’s True Detective not as much as a threat (so I’ve heard… need to watch it myself still) there will be more breathing room for Thrones! Fingers crossed!
Speaking of “Hardhome”, why didn’t Kit Harington get nominated (not that this is the only episode that suggests he must be)? Just because he has fight scenes does not mean his dramatic skills are not worthy of recognition.
Wimsey,
Yes, there are lots of great casts but a win would be nice.
lady chanca,
Well, the Television Academy obviously feels differently. I personally also don’t think Kit’s acting is all that great, though his stunts and fighting are pretty good. He falls flat everywhere else though.
This whole “Emilia can’t act” thing is getting so old. I still see all the sides of Dany in her portrayal. Whether its power, naivety, petulance, stubbornness, insecurity, I don’t see any of the many sides of Dany missing in her portrayal.
Overall These are the big categories game of thrones has a big shot at according to goldderby and other emmy sites
1. Outstanding Drama Series
2. Outstanding Supporting Actress – Lena Headey
3. Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series – David Nutter “Mother’s Mercy”
Diana Rigg is a stretch win.
Peter Dinklage has no chance IMO. “Hardhome” is actually a far better showcase for Emilia and Lena. Dinklage should’ve submitted “Wars To Come” IMO
I’m sorry guys, I love both Lena and Emilia, but I really hop Tatiana wins. I do feel conflicted, however.
MaesterofMasonry,
Tatiana is under best actress
Lena and Emilia are competing for supporting.
MaesterofMasonry,
Tatiana Maslany is nominated for a lead actress whereas Emilia and Lena are nominated for supporting.
I don’t think Emilia is a bad actress but she isn’t exactly fantastic either. She isn’t the best actress in the show let alone out of all the supporting actresses in all the TV shows airing in the States. Lena is bloody fantastic and I really hope she wins but I feel the possible division of votes between herself and Emilia (there is no comparison between the two but I dunno people like the Dragon Queen more?) and the fact she doesn’t play one of the most famous (and that most people don’t like her character!) characters will sadly go against her. I think Uzo Aduba will win it.
Peter I think has very little chance of winning. I feel it is almost disrespectful to nominate him for a season in which he has done so little and there were defiantly more deserving candidates out there.
I love Lena, but I think Christina deserves this one, truly. Heck, I like them all for different reasons.
I would find it very difficult to submit myself for an award. Maybe it’s the polite Canadian speaking (hahaha), but I’d feel egotistical. Which I suppose one has to be to make it in the big leagues, but it’s just another reason I’d never be (or want to be) successful on the world stage. Good luck to all!
Eck, HelloThere,
Shoot, totally mixed those two up. Nvm. In that case, I’m hoping one of our queens wins.
It’s possible they are sitting in for Brave Companions leftovers
I am concerned though about the idea of them being “bandits using religion to justify extorting the countryside” as this sounds like a religion-cynical Hollywood distortion of GRRM’s work
In that case the nobility ravage the Riverlands so the people turn to the other major social institution for recourse. In modern times this is when people look to the Judiciary but back in Medieval times it would have been the religious institutions
Hence the reason why we have the Sparrow movement form and why I find it fascinating as a power struggle
I will apply my usual “wait and see” attitude.
I do think the Sparrows will become highly oppressive as religious theocracies (especially those borne out of revolutions) are indeed the worst (look at Cromwell and Major Generals in English civil war and then Robespierre and his “Supreme Being”) as they delve deep into peoples private lives but not where this comes at the expense of whitewashing the nobility class and a major TV network taking cheap shots instead of exploring it as a power struggle, just look at how people are interpreting the SoH as the KKK and the Masters as Plantation owners ffs. I really hope it is a case of them being Chiscari nationalists/Empirists
As for the books, I’ll be interesting to see what happens with Lancel and co in the Riverlands
HelloThere,
I, too, think Mad Men is probably going to take the Best Drama Award. Between it being it’s final season, and we know how they like to award big shows in their final season, I have to say it was one of the best series finales I’ve ever seen. I usually find series finales of shows I’ve loved quite the let-down, but, imo, Mad Men’s was phenomenal.
They would be distorting GRRM’s work if they provided a positive view of religion! GRRM has not been shy about how unimpressed he is with organized religion.
Is that actually true? I’ve heard it repeated, but are there really all that many cases of this happening? So few shows go out with a deliberate conclusion, after all: most shows that are Emmy worthy keep getting nursed a long for a few years after they lose it in hopes of recovering lost glory.
Dolorous Methuselah,
Who was that? If you mean
At any rate, I doubt that the High Sparrow would care too much about what was done to the Northerners. They are, after all, Infidels who worship trees: and it is pretty clear that he is one of those “my gods are the one good gods, your gods are demons” type. The Northerners can expect no sympathy or help from him.
No. I was thinking of none other than :
Just a thought…this outlaw band could be the show’s way of reintroducing a certain large human left for dead, since Brienne is otherwise occupied. Perhaps he and Meribald/Elder Brother run across these ne’r-do-wells while ministering to the countryside…
EDIT: Great minds and all that, Dolorous Methuselah! 🙂
Dolorous Methuselah,
Ah, right! I’d almost forgotten about him.
At any rate, I don’t think that they really need to debunk the
Westeros basically epitomizes the old saying that “all is fair in love and war….
El-Bobby,
I’m not his biggest fan,but you’re very wrong with current Kit Harington.
This season (last season was good too) was really great from him and he truly deserves to be nominated or Stephane Dillane for that matter. I can’t argue against Peter Dinklage either, because his performances are simply outstanding. It could be Hardhome, Wars to Come or High Sparrow as the best episodes from Kit. This ongoing debate about Kit is very similiar to Emilia.
I think Lena is the only one of the three actors nominated who deserves the Emmy.
Peter Dinklage wasn’t “outstanding” this year and I feel Emilia is sometimes quuuite awkward to watch. Honestly, she did her best work in season 1. She was the most, hmm, natural i guess? Now it often feels as she’s acting. I would’ve picked Sophie Turner or Maisie Williams over her any day (based on the HBO submissions).
I’m also disappointed Stephen Dillane didn’t get a nomination. Or Alfie Allen. Well, like many have mentioned on this site or elsewhere, it seems only the main or main-ish characters get submitted.
Oh and
LSH FOREVER!!!!!!
By now, its pretty apparent its going to take some Olivier-esque scene from anyone not named Dinklage-Heady-Clarke-Rigg to get an acting nomination. And I’m not sure that would even do it: Its commonly known that Michelle Fairley deserved at least a nom for the Rains of Castamere. For whatever reason, the Emmy voting bloc has zero’d in on those four actors, to the point where the others aren’t brought up, or are splitting votes so much, that they can’t even get nominated. And I don’t see “final season” make up nominations coming, either. Prognosticators though that Charles Dance would get acknowledged for his final season, and it didn’t happen.
I don’t usually put that much stock in all this award business. These things are subjective and there are so many good movies/series/books out there so that even the most well-intentioned and informed voters will inevitably miss things.
That said, if there’s one thing that is truly baffling, it’s that GoT never once received the ensemble award. You can love or hate the show, feel it’s a worthy adaptation of Martin’s books or an insufferable travesty, but I can’t see anyone denying that the cast, taken as a whole, is absolutely stellar. Probably one of the best and definitely one of the largest ever seen on television.
That because we’re supposed to feel like Emilia -Daenerys- is acting. She is. Ever since she became a leader she’s been ‘keeping up appearances’. This is especially true Season 3 onwards, which appears to be where Emilia gets most of the flak. Once she embraces her “Mother of Slaves” persona and starts fighting her “Mother of Dragons” persona she starts acting regal, uptight and is largely expressionless.
As others have pointed out, her best acting this season has been in places where his facade starts to crack a little, such as the execution in episode 2 etc.
I particularly liked some of her scenes with Daario, which seem very reminiscent of Season 1 Dany (right down to the hair).
Nymeria Warrior Queen,
One thing going against Mad Men is apparently the lack of a direction nod for its finale… Apparently thats a bad sign according to some places i’ve read…
Im actually surprised that more award pundits on goldderby are predicting Game of Thrones.
I think the character of Jon Snow is kinda generic in nature and might just not appeal to emmy voters tbh. Its a bit different in the books when you are in his head, but just seeing him on the show, hes very much the stereotypical fantasy hero. Its not really a role that the emmys will ever take seriously.
Maybe had they included the more controversial decisions he makes in the books like the baby swapping.
I’m in the same boat… I love the idea of LSH and I wish she’d been included but it would be weird now. I still get the buzz when someone mentions her former self though and I would love to see some Riverlands action in Season 6. I loved the Twins and Riverrun as a setting and feel theres a few loose ends there. I want to see the Blackfish punch Mk II.
I highly doubt these bandits have anything to do with the BwB though but I keep thinking maybe they’ll be a hook so that the BwB can roll in and save the country folk and reveal a MF comeback! Wishful thinking and a long shot! I need that LSH Anonymous group too!
I love that Rigg got a nod. She’s so fantastic and every week I hope she’ll pop up with a thorny one liner, I just wish she wasn’t just a guest! She always seems to be standing up to the nasty big guys too.
Ravyn,
So true. Michelle and Charles were outstanding, as well as Jack (Gleeson). I guess nothing can be done Emmys-wise, but they will be appreciated forever by us audiences.
El-Bobby,
Don’t think Kit’s performance is flat, it comes down to the subdued nature of his character who has a very limited array of outward expression. Thus his performance is down to subtle nuances more than vibrant changes. That despair when he couldn’t save the wildlings at Hardhome was genuine. Anyway, true it is down to the Academy ater all.
HelloThere,
Thus far it is as you say. Let’s see if more (explicit) development will ever come to Jon’s character/Kit’s acting.
I think Emilia ought to withdraw her nomination anyway. There’s more chance of there being a split vote, lessening either’s hope in their category.
Emilia isn’t in the same league as Lena. What precisely did Emilia do in ‘Dance Of Dragons’ to warrant nomination? I see nothing. Lena’s nomination is based on a truly deserving piece of work. (Cersei isn’t my most liked character either.)
ZappaCreed,
Honestly, I think Hardhome would’ve been the smarter choice for HBO to submit for Clarke.
Not only does it have stronger scenes for her than Dance of Dragons, but it also would boost Lena Headey’s chances with those amazing Cersei jail scenes.
ZappaCreed,
That’s absurd. She was nominated by her peers and so she deserves that nomination. Thousands of her peers, who are actors, who study and perform the craft for a living, judged her worthy of this nomination. Your opinion does not trump theirs in this case.
Ravyn,
But wasn’t everyone here saying a month ago that Kit was the shows star and Jon Snow too popular of a character to be killed, that the show would suffer in ratings if he was gone? So then what’s preventing him from getting a nomination? Maybe it’s that his acting ability is not up to par.
Emilia’s nomination is a nice bonus that shows both she and the show have tremendous emmy support this year.
But Lena is the one to root for, and she has a truly competitive entry! But with all the voters being able to vote in every category this year, its hard for me to believe that all the voters will watch all the tapes for every category. This is where Lena could loose some voters. But I have all my fingers crossed for her win! Drama Supporting Actress seems to be one of the most open races atm.
El-Bobby,
I said it previously. Kit might be popular, but his character is not the type to be taken seriously by voters. The show has rarely ever pushed Jon Snow out of the typical fantasy hero role. And as good as Kit is, I don’t think hes ever put his stamp on Jon Snow. In my opinion, he lacks a certain… charisma. He IS good tho.
Vote-splitting is going to be a real danger this year. Too many GoT nominees in some categories…
Mr Fixit,
I don’t think it will be as big of an issue as we think.
We have two supporting actress and two directing nods,
but neither Emilia Clarke nor Unbowed Unbent Unbroken stand a chance against Lena Headey or Mothers Mercy.
Also 4 nominations (out of 7) for Outstanding Cinematography and 2 for Editing.
Imagine a scenario (with made-up numbers): Lena gets 1,000 votes, Emilia 250, and an actress from another show wins with 1050 votes cast her way. If Emilia hadn’t been nominated and had only a fraction of her votes gone to Lena, GoT would’ve won.
Situation is even more problematic in areas that aren’t as personalised, like directing, editing, and cinematography. I can easily imagine voters wanting to award GoT’s phenomenal technical achievements, without being overly focused on any episode in particular, especially when you have in mind that it is a highly serialised show. Vote-splitting may be severe here, which could quite easily result in another show overtaking individual GoT episode votes. Cinematography with its totally over-the-top 4 nominations is extremely “vulnerable”.
I have no problem with emilias work either, though I found her work in other seasons more noteworthy, particularly due to the material. Also, dont remember his name, but the guy who created the languages apparantly named the grey worm actor as the best at pronountiating his fictional words. Of couse the creator is in a better position to due that than me, but to me Emilia Clarke (and perhaps llain glenn) is the best at that. She is so powerful in both valyrian and dothraki. The scene in astapor when she gets the unsullied springs to mind, and also the speech outside the Gates of Mereen. But ultimate, anyone who does not Think she’s a great actress, should watch this scene again: (breaks my heart everytime), However Lena Heady deserves the Emmy this year! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SdEM6j63G-U
Damphairintheshowplease!,
My favorite Emilia scene is definitely season 1
“I am a khaleesi of the dothraki, I am the wife of the great khal and I carry his son inside me. The next time you lay a hand on me, will be the last time you have hands!”
Love it… Still believe Emilia’s best work comes when they adapt straight from the source material. I don’t know if D&D really always nail Dany’s voice when they write their own material. However, “House of Black and White” is an example where they wrote amazing material for her. I felt like they at least gave Emilia some scenes in season 5 to show the cracks behind Dany’s facade.
HelloThere,
I agree, Emilia is great in this role. Personally I think the straight face and lack of expression is just how Daeny actually is… and when you see her behind the scenes, so with Daario, with Barristan, and even the few scenes with the dragons (the fear in her face when she visited her locked up sons) or the light convo she had with Drogon in S5Ep10, you see the other side of her. And then there’s the emotional portrayals of when she saw Jorah the first time and at the pit… and in Hardhome’s first scene. Obviously as others mentioned the execution of Mossador and her reaction to Barristons death.
I thought she has done great in all seasons I can name a bunch more…
I still think Lena should win. I don’t think Emilia expects to win it.
When you look at the strong parallels between Jon Snow and Don Draper, I would say that is not true! The academies love tormented characters who are fundamentally at odds with themselves at all time. (Draper and Snow actually have a lot in common as basic character types.)
Instead, I would look at the ages. Acting is a very “agist” system: it is biased against older women and younger men. If you look at the actress and actor nominations for lead and supporting roles in many years, then you often see that the older women are the same age as the younger men (late 30’s- early 40’s). This starts to balance out when we look at the “guest star” category. Younger men seem to take a while longer to be taken seriously, whereas older women have a harder time staying that way.
Still, when you look at the “best actor” categories, just notice how much forehead you typically see! With baldness comes acting skill, or something…..
Wimsey,
Its also just the lack of “emmy” scenes in general. Yes he had the great execution scene, but he doesn’t have the same level of interesting dialogue that the other characters get. Dany, Tyrion, Cersei, Olenna… all these characters have interesting political dilemmas and strong verbal sparring dialogue and scenes that just appeal to the emmy voters more.
Again, what would LSH have done? She’s not part of the stories for either Swords or Crows/Dragons. B&W cut everything not associated with the story being told in a given season. Now, it’s true that they might have invented material to make her relevant to the story (remember, LSH appears on all of two pages in the books so far): but why do that for anyone other than a lead character?
As for it being “weird” to include her now, only hardcore fans would feel that way. Viewers (and general readers) expect to see things appear when they become relevant, and not before. IF LSH was very relevant to the Winter story (which I find increasingly improbable, given that none of the primary protagonists are anywhere near her), then it would be fine to (re)introduce her now. Remember, general audiences do NOT want to see prolonged setup: in fact, they want the opposite. (Just look at it this way: they want from TV shows what hardcore fans of X want from every TV show other than X!)
It’s not dialogue that gets actors the Emmy or Oscar or BAFTA nominations: it’s how they portray growth of characters. They did that quite well with Jon Snow this year.
However, there are finite nominations. Too often fans look at this as “no nomination = they don’t respect him.” Do not make that mistake! It is not as if there are only 5-6 nomination worthy performances each year: there are dozens and dozens.
(Of course, some fans go completely overboard on this. Many Tolkien fans pointed to Fellowship of the Ring’s and Two Towers’ failure to win Best Picture awards after being nominated as “proof” that people realized that the films sucked. Because, you see, every year sees N movies released, of which one is good and the other N-1 suck…..)
Yes, i understand it should be like that, and that’s how i always explain it to myself, except i thought the Daario scene especially felt somewhat unnatural.
I like her when she interracts with her dragons. She was good with Peter Dinklage. I like her with Missandei. But many times it’s kinda like “i’m not buying” her performance.
It’s not like it’s outstanding how bad she is (hehe, outstanding..like the emmy nomination………:D), but she’s one of the rare actors who i sometimes cringe a bit at.
Still, I miss season 1 Dany <3
I think you’re on to something. The Supporting Actor noms tend to skew older–a lot older in some cases–and Kit Harington’s too young to get a look-in.
With that said, one of the most successful Emmy actors in recent years has been Aaron Paul, a five-time nominee and three-time winner (!!), who was only 30 the first time he was nominated. Just saying.
It’s strange that GOT keeps getting these major noms but keeps getting shut out. Is it the whole sword & sorcery stigma thing?
As for Emilia Clarke, there was an article on Salon posted a while back about the “Julie Taylor” (from Friday Night Lights) test for bad acting. The writer had this to say about Emilia Clarke when listing bad TV actors:
“Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), “Game of Thrones.” This is likely to be a little more controversial than the aforementioned, because Daenerys is a great character, beloved by readers of the books, who just two weeks ago got to burn up some evil slave masters with her super-awesome dragons. But imagine how much awesomer she would be if it seemed like there was someone really smart and sharp behind Emilia Clarke’s very pretty eyes (which are only a little dimmer than John Snow’s very pretty eyes)? Clarke is functional enough to not destroy the show — Dany has too many cool things to do anyway — but if she appeared to have an inner life of any kind she would be worthy of the fan-worship she gets for her work on the TV show, not just residual book love.”
I tend to agree.
M,
Anyone who spells Jon Snow as John Snow, does not know what they’re talking about.
😛
LOL. To be fair to Kit Harington, “stoic, emotionally stable, categorically good guy” is a tough sell for awards shows. There’s a reason Kyle Chandler, who did excellent work as Coach Taylor in Friday Night Lights, only got recognized his last year. In Bloodline, he plays a much more ambiguous character, and what do you know? Nominated right out of the gate for an Emmy.
Whatever you say about Clarke, she has an undeniable screen presence and star quality that many superior actresses do not have. Many people watch the show just for Dany, and I think Dany is a far more popular show character than book character. I would label Tyrion, Arya, and Jon as the most popular book characters, and I would label Dany and Tyrion as the most popular show characters (well… not Dany.. “Khaleesi”).
Btw, I just thought of something that could truly benefit Headey in Emmys. With all the voters voting in every category, there is no way they will be able to watch every single tape for all the actor submissions….
But there is NO WAY they can avoid Mothers Mercy. Its the season 5 finale, and its got both writing and directing nods… Unless the voters truly decide to watch nothing and just vote, they will not be able to avoid watching Lena’s scene,.
The Dance of Dragons was probably not Emilia’s best episode this Season but there will be two reasons her “people” or her herself nominated that episode.
1) She has the most screentime/biggest scene of the Season in it
2) Lena isn’t in the episode. While Emilia actually said last week that Lena probably deserves to win she is still gonna want to win. If you are in the top 6 (i think it’s 6?) you are in with a shot whether you are the best or not. So why would you choose an episode where one of your fellow contenders who despite having 5 minutes of screentime had better acted (and more memorable for me personally I found the while Tyrion/Dany meet up quite anticlimatic!) scenes?
Eck,
She needs to pick Hardhome because I have ulterior motives of wanting Lena to win, lol…
But Dinklage submitted Hardhome
and Diana Rigg submitted The Gift…
Not to mention “Mother’s Mercy” is the most visible episode on nomination list in the top categories….
Emmy voters can’t escape Lena *evil grin*
Mr Fixit,
My guess is that they will do for GoT what Oscar did for Lord of the Rings: wait until its completion to rain down the awards, based on the entire body of work, when each installation of the series was amazing in and of itself.
If the ending measures up, that is!
This transcends Academy awards. Politicians that are (or even just seem) a bit older are taken more seriously than are younger (or younger appearing) politicians if they are men. It gets called “experience”: but, of course, “experience” never is explicitly defined! The same is true in the business world: people will blindly assume that an older-looking male has more going on for him than a younger-looking male (and, of course, that both have more going for them than a woman.)
Similarly, sports writers are very prone to attributing team success to “small things” or “leadership” provided by veteran players, while simultaneously exaggerating the effects of poor play by younger players, even when the performance statistics show very conclusively that the veteran players are not helping that much (or even hurting the team) whereas the “errors” by the younger players have small effects and/or are swamped out by their positive contributions. Now, I’ve never seen a breakdown of whether this is different in men’s or women’s sports: but given that women’s sports get much less coverage and given that many women athletes retire much earlier (the professions are far less lucrative, and unlike men, if they ever want to have kids, then they cannot play into their late 30’s), this almost certainly reflects how we view men.
Even in academia, there can be a bias this way. Although most of the cutting edge research is done by young men and women, institutions frequently look to older (and sometimes behind-the-times) men to “verify” it!
Well, given how many Tolkien fans insisted (and still insist) that the beginning, middle and end all failed to measure up, some would dispute that!
However, the fact that GoT has been getting major nominations all the while, then unless GRRM’s ending is just ridiculously arbitrary (“Sam finds a scroll that explains how to mass manufacture Valyrian steel from night soil and LSH leads Westeros of a White Watcher slaying rampage!”), then it should get strong consideration. Fortunately, B&W did not run the series “out of the park” at the outset the way that Chris Columbus did with the Harry Potter series.