Casting/Filming/News

The theatrical troupe arrives, and more actors cast for Game of Thrones

Posted on by Sue the Fury
Photo: Marc Marti/DiariDeGirona
Photo: Marc Marti/DiariDeGirona

DiariDeGirona reports that more actors than Maisie Williams, Faye Marsay and Tom Wlaschiha have been in town.

The newspaper says that Lena Headey and Natalie Dormer, and possibly Finn Jones, have been in Girona but successfully dodged being seen. The newspaper speculates that Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Sophie Turner may have been in Girona, but it sounds like there may be some confusion over their personal visits to the Costa Brava area of Spain earlier in the summer.

At this point, nothing can be considered confirmed in this arena until the actors are spotted. There are more scenes left to film this week, so there’s time.

There have been many actors spotted around the Game of Thrones Girona sets in the last couple days; we mean actors playing actors, as in the theatrical troupe members cast for scenes this week.

Ramon on Twitter shared these photos with us, and they should be considered a spoiler, along with our speculation based on casting breakdowns!

In the first photo, a dwarf is visible in the center middle of the photo, walking next to another performer. A show version of Bobono, perhaps? The second photo shows more troupe members trailing behind, and we understand that more were sighted in the area.

In the second photo, we see a young man wearing a cheap crown- the troupe’s version of Joffrey, their blond juvenile lead? He’s walking with the red-dressed woman that we saw the back of in a photo in another post. This is not Maisie Williams, we have been told.

UPDATE: Here are a couple more photos of the theatrical troupe members. Thanks to Narbo and Dark Sister for finding the photos/providing screencaps!

The longer-bearded man in the red coat is Ross Anderson, whose casting was announced here. The other red-coated man is Brendan O’Rourke, whose casting we just shared in this post!

The actors seem to be dressed as people from Westeros and are presenting the King’s Landing court story in their play. The man in the wig on the right appears to be their version of Ned Stark, and the brown-haired woman next to him, with flowers in her hair- is she a version of Margaery? The style of her dress is reminiscent of Margaery, but it’s hard to say with a cheaper theater-troupe copy of costumes.

I have to say, I can’t wait to see these scenes!

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An announcement from Alex Cusack Management posted on August 29th states, “Eddie Jackson, Glen Barry & Brendan O’Rourke cast in Game of Thrones.” Jackson’s casting was announced previously, back in July, but the other two names are new to us.

Barry also tweeted about his casting this week:

The announcement from Alex Cusack says that all three are “currently filming” but it was probably meant in a broad sense,  not all actually that week; in the posting from July, the management stated Jackson was filming in July and then again in Spain in October.

Barry mentions Braavos- perhaps he’s one of the theatrical performers on set currently?

We’ve received word that Game of Thrones is casting for another character that appears to be Dothraki. With several other parts indicated in past casting breakdowns, plus extras casting hinting at it, it seems like the Dothraki are making a real comeback with their presence this year.

The newest character is a Young Warrior. aged 20 – 35. They’re looking for someone non-white, physically fit and 6 feet tall and over. He’s a brash warrior with confidence and swagger who has been very successful in battle. He’ll be required to learn lines phonetically since they’re in a fictional language. He shoots on September 25th.

The write-up is virtually identical to the one for the obviously Dothraki characters listed in our second casting post back in June.

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

102 Comments

  4. Good grief, that really IS a cheap crown. Looks like 1990s Burger King material. They’re playing up the ham-acting aspect of the play, then – this promises to be very entertaining.

  7. The first picture looks just like Sansa and Tyrion walking in Kings Landing. I a lost get nostalgic for those times. This promises to be so entertaining and similar to Avatar: The Last Airbender’s Ember Island play.

  9. OT:
    Apparently this is a thing now, let’s see what comes of it. Probably next to nothing of interest for WotW, but we’ll see.

  10. So if the Dothraki has a speaking role but is only shooting on one day (so very limited screen time), could this possibly be a Khal who meets a grisly (crispy) fate?

  11. Abyss,

    I watched it and subscribed on the off chance that Maisey will give some spoilers away. If one is a fan of Mz. Williams, this is a fun YouTube channel video.

  12. There was speculation that the focus of the pseudo-Richard III “Bloody Hand” play had been shifted from Tyrion to Ned, with the news of an older actor in the troupe needing to use a Northern accent, but with the appearance of an actor who will likely be playing Play Tyrion, I’m not so sure.

    Who’s the brunette in the pink (purple?) dress walking alongside Play Tyrion supposed to be? Play Shae? Play Sansa?

  13. Shades of Hamlet! Seeing Joffrey, Sansa and Tyrion, even fake ones, might be enough to stir Arya toward permanently being Arya, rather than becoming no one. She did tell real Jaqen, seasons ago, that she wanted to find her sister. Maybe this is enough to remind her of something that isn’t murder, something that will help her, and return her to Westeros. Was a director mentioned? Or any clue as to what episode this is?

  15. It occurred to me that D&D are going to get a lot of mileage out of meta humour about the theatregoers’ reactions to the play (with the theatregoers being stand-ins for the TV audience, the book readers, or both).

    Narbo:
    The one in the red coat looks like Ross Anderson to me – don’t know the others.

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/COe32t7WUAAbcam.jpg

    Grey outfit = “Ned”
    Red coats = dunno? The beard and build suggests “Robert Baratheon,” but he’s dressed the same as the guy standing next to him.
    Woman standing next to “Ned” = ??? She has flower patterns in her (not terribly fine) clothes and she has what appears to be red hair. Prostitute? “Sansa”? Low-rent “Margaery,” maybe?

  17. M,

    he certainly looks like someone important giving orders. Flower girl bears a passing resemblance to Lena Headey

  18. They remind me Sansa, Tyrion, Joffrey and the women in red something Cersei-alike (she needs a blonde wig)…

    Other possibility is the dwarf is a stunt double and in the end is Tyrion the one on-stage (they did that last year in the scenes of Osuna), but I don’t see any way to have the real Tyrion onstage…

    This means Arya won’t be part of the play herself? Interesting…

  21. Narbo,

    That’s definitely him! Now we’ve just got to get to identifying the others. The actress there could be the actress character from the first casting calls which sounds like it’ll be the biggest part of the troop, so she’s top priority, I’d say.

  22. M,

    Well, he’s not necessarily an actor, since we didn’t hear anything about casting. He may just be an extra or somebody with a line or two.

  27. SlayerNina:

    This means Arya won’t be part of the play herself? Interesting…

    I really hope not! That would be a huge missed opportunity. Perhaps the girl in the red dress is just Maisie’s stand-in, if it’s not Maisie herself? I can’t get over the hair similarity. Or perhaps Maisie is playing Sansa in the pink dress, wearing a wig…

    Also, my money is on Margaery for the girl with the blue dress. It looks much more like a caricature of her costume than anyone else’s. And there must be a reason for all those dumb-looking flowers.

  29. Carne:
    Narbo,

    So Ross Anderson and Brendan O’Rourke are both part of the theatrical troupe then!

    Glen Barry as well I think.

    Narbo:
    Coleman,

    Nice find – I think you could be right – was he sleighted to appear?

    He’s one of the three mentioned in the original article.

  30. Here’s something from the ever unreliable imdb.com:

    Michael Heath’s resume lists him as performing in GAME OF THRONES Series 6 (Fire & Blood Productions Ltd) Character – Kesh – director Dan Sackheim

    here is the link:

    http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0372689/resume

    Not sure this is real (and if it is it’s a small role), but since it’s an actor’s resume, thought worth mentioning here.

  45. BeautyBrinne:
    Could the girl with the flowers in her hair be Sansa?

    I wondered if it were Maergery because of the flowers. Also got me thinking, if Arya isn’t in the play, but discovers through the plot (or even whisperings in the crowd or harbourside gossip ) that Sansa had escaped KL, perhaps this prompts her to return to Westeros. can anyone recall if she was aware of Sansas escape in the books? I don’t recall her reflecting much on Sansa..

  46. The guy in the red coat looks more like Jaime to me than Joff. Is that who everyone is thinking should be that little shit?

  48. BeautyBrinne:
    Could the girl with the flowers in her hair be Sansa?

    Perhaps, or maybe she’s just planning to go to San Francisco. 🙂

    (yeah, I know, that was both really bad and entirely unnecessary. Sorry.)

  54. Apollo,

    Arya heard through some of those ruffians at the Crossroads Inn that Sansa escaped, but their story of how she escaped was ridiculous and, of course, they had no helpful details. Basically, there was no way that Arya could have any idea where Sansa may have gone. Shortly after, Sandor and Arya get in the bar fight, Sandor gets hurt, and Arya boards the Titan’s Daughter in hopes to find Jon or any place to go with the coin Jaqen gave her.

  56. How I hope the play scenes are memorable for being bawdy, raunchy satires that even upset Maisie to the point she targets the players, especially if the Ned actor demeans her father’s memory, which would be enjoyable.

  58. Blue dress, brown wavy hair, and flowers makes me think of Margaery. She’s probably there to be Joff’s main squeeze in the play. I can see why the Tyrells would be a laugh in Braavos after Mace serenaded officials from the Iron Bank just last season. It seems like there was another girl in some of those shots with a gown. Could be Sansa, or Shae, but I can’t tell from those far off pictures.

  62. Nymeria Warrior Queen: Perhaps, or maybe she’s just planning to go to San Francisco.

    (yeah, I know, that was both really bad and entirely unnecessary.Sorry.)

    Would you like me to show you to the door? Or do you know the way? (I am most familiar with it and btw, humor? Unthinkable) 😀

  63. Morgan,

    Might just be a coincidence, but along with her two fellow actors (Anderson and O’Rourke) she also started following Richard E. Grant.

  64. Carne,

    I saw that as well. It’s definitely interesting since she started following in between the time she started following the two actors from the pictures.

  66. Morgan,

    That’s interesting. I thought Richard might be Izemabro. Just based on my own feelings that people are more inclined to follow actors they’ve worked with, I’m more certain that Richard is our Izembaro.

  69. The woman with flowers(?) in her hair, standing next to the two men in read looks a lot like Lena Headey! (I know it’s not, but at first glance I almost thought so).
    Reminds me, hope to see some news on Lena/Cersei soon.

  70. Freyjoy,

    It’s also listed on his Spotlight CV, so it’s safe to assume it’s a legit casting.

    http://www.spotlight.com/1259-0164-1472

    Kesh, in a Sackheim episode, so episodes 3 or 4.

    I don’t know of any character with that name in the novels. Probably a small role. Sackheim’s been in Girona. Maybe Kesh is one of the theater troupe or smart-looking man, since he is the right age.

  73. Oh Dany training her wisdom with the crones, Arya fleeing west to avenge her family, The past and present of the prince of fire and ice… Everything sound so nice, but sad, they are going to die anyway…

  75. The girl walking next to the dwarf is Sansa, the blue flower dress is Margaery and the red dress is Cersei, she just needs a blonde wig.

    That’s my opinion on who the female actors will be portraying, based on their garb.

  76. The mummers in Braavos most likely don’t know exactly what Cersei, Sansa, etc look like, other than their hair color and the style of their clothes. So we should probably be looking at the color of their clothes or some indication of their their sigils to determine which character each actor will be portraying.

    For example, the girl with roses embroidered on her dress is probably Margaery and the woman in the Lannister red dress is probably Cersei, minus a blonde wig.

  78. The girl walking next to actor Ned in the last pic, I can’t tell who she might be. Sansa or Catelyn? Any ideas?

  79. K Noelle,

    If one guesses who these characters are based on color coding, that redhead posted earlier in the thread is wearing a mauve/mauvish gown. That’s the color that Michelle Clapton said she liked to put Sansa in before Darth Sansa came to life.

  80. Dark Sister:
    Eva Butterly is also following Eline Powell on twitter and she very much looks like this woman here

    http://i.imgur.com/4HJObsq.png

    The lady walking next to “Ned” is clearly wearing a red wig and her costume has the same colour scheme–brownish-gray–and pattern–those diamond checks–as those in “Ned’s” costume. The actress also looks like Eline Powell, who appears to be fairly young. Is this “Sansa”? If so, the other actress, the one from the pictures first posted in the thread, of the dark-haired (or dark-wigged) actress in the arm-baring gown, is probably “Shae” (or some random servant girl “Tyrion” rapes, as in the book version of the play).

    …The actress could always be “Catelyn,” in some sort of Lady Macbeth role dreamt up by whoever wrote the play, although the real Catelyn wasn’t anywhere near KL at the time the events I imagine will be covered by the play–Robert’s death, Joffrey’s death, etc.–happened.

    This play’s going to be a lot of fun, I can tell.

  81. The thing that bugs me about the actress in the red dress is that all the other actresses and actors already appear to have full wigs and makeup on. If she’s “Cersei,” why isn’t she wearing a blonde wig like “Margaery” and (I’m guessing) “Sansa”?

  82. Dark Sister:
    Here’s the video where I took the screencap from. 200mb mediafire link, 3 vids of random extras and one with actors.
    https://twitter.com/SicoTW/status/641715437017919488

    That guy and this guy https://twitter.com/Llagusti also posted the pics Nardo linked to.

    I reuploaded the 20mb file of the actors if someone has a slow connection or only wants that one.
    http://www50.zippyshare.com/v/q8jLqzCW/file.html

    If you watch the actors video, there’s a wider shot of the video from which we got the screencap of “Ned” and the girl in the red wig speculated to be Eline Powell. The wider shot shows a little person dressed as Tyrion–so “Tyrion” (or Bobono from TWOW, I guess)–on the girl’s other side. Red Wig Girl is definitely “Sansa.”

    Interestingly, “Tyrion” from the video is clearly wearing different clothes from the little person in the picture on this thread. “Tyrion” in the video is dressed the way Tyrion is as Hand–dark clothing with fancy embroidery–while “Tyrion” in the photograph posted in this thread is wearing a shirt with light sleeves. I also have no idea who the girl with the pink, sleeveless dress and dark hair/wig is supposed to be, since “Margaery,” “Sansa” and “Cersei” are taken, and she looks too tall to be Maisie Williams.

  83. The Bloody Hand Characters and actors (pics)
    Tyrion – The dwarf.
    Sansa – red wig/hair girl walking next to Tyrion in one pic and Ned in other. She is dressed in the same style in both. Pink frock and long white sleeves (with some design). (Sansa was present at Ned’s beheading, and also at the purple wedding. Makes more sense for it to be her than Catelyn)
    Joffrey – The guy with crown in the second pic
    Cersei – the actress in red dress walking with Joffrey.
    Ned – brown wig guy
    Ross Andereson (Bearded guy in red dress) – Looks like Robert Baratheon, but the other black haired guy next to him is dressed the same way and I think there was another guy walking with the extras in the first video, also wearing red. Maybe the red coat is some mummer uniform for highborn characters (like the purple cloak in the books for all mummers)
    Margaery – Brown hair, blue dress with roses on it, and hair decorated with roses. Probably they used Mace’s attire and looks to get an idea about Margaery ;). The actress’s face looks more like Lena, and she is walking with the Robert actor, but that could be just a coincidence.

  84. Since Maisie is not among any of these actors, and not the red-dress girl, she must be playing Shae. Shae was the one who got ‘”raped” and murdered’ by Tyrion.
    Everyone knows Sansa is alive because Cersei offered a lordship for anyone who finds her. I don’t remember what reward she offers in the books, but there is a reward for finding Sansa.

  86. thornofhighgarden,

    I thought it looked like the aftermath of hair pinning for a wig, too. I don’t think Arya’s ever had such wavy, almost curly hair in the show before s6 or in the shots we’ve seen of her so far.

  87. I don’t care about the Dothraki. Denaerys story line is most boring to me. Not looking forward to season 6 what with Jon gone and dragon mom probably getting even more screentime. I do like when the dragons appear on screen but that’s it.

  89. Ygritte:
    I don’t care about the Dothraki. Denaerys story line is most boring to me. Not looking forward to season 6 what with Jon gone and dragon mom probably getting even more screentime. I do like when the dragons appear on screen but that’s it.

    Okay… hope you feel better now that you got that off your chest.

  90. There should be a “cold start” of one S 6 episode in the middle of this theater play. With those cheap costumes and decoration viewers will be like “WTF!? Did I download/pirate a stupid parody?? Some1 link me real file plz!!” 😀

  92. Luka Nieto,

    Just keep your phones ready to snap a “reaction pic” if you are watching with an unspoiled person 😀 If something like this happens, faces will be priceless! *giggle*

  95. tyjon:
    How I hope the play scenes are memorable for being bawdy, raunchy satires that even upset Maisie to the point she targets the players, especially if the Ned actor demeans her father’s memory, which would be enjoyable.

    Me, too – I imagine we can expect something like the dwarf battle at the Purple Wedding.

  96. aabe: I don’t remember what reward she offers in the books, but there is a reward for finding Sansa.

    Gold, lordship, and undying gratitude that will last up to 2 weeks before inane drunken paranoia targets you as an enemy of Tommen Lan…. er Baratheon.

  97. SPOILER ALERT:

    Footage of the theatrical production in Girona is on YouTube! Featuring Robert, Cersei and Joffrey. It appears to be immediately before the hunt where Robert is killed…

  98. Apollo:
    SPOILER ALERT:

    Footage of the theatrical production in Girona is on YouTube! Featuring Robert, Cersei and Joffrey. It appears to be immediately before the hunt where Robert is killed…

    Red dress is Cersei. She’s wearing a wig in this clip. Called it. Thanks for posting this!!!

  99. Re the video.

    Looks like the red tunic is for Palace servants and whoever is playing Robert puts on a false beard and wig for the part which suggests that Ross Anderson* isn’t playing the actor playing Robert.

    *Is he the first servant that appears on stage with “Robert”?

  100. K Noelle: Red dress is Cersei. She’s wearing a wig in this clip. Called it. Thanks for posting this!!!

    Agreed… but I already called Cersei ;P

    Robert leaves the stage and puts on a red apron, wonder if this is to signify his bloody wound (or perhaps it’s a simple costume change). I do wonder how long they’re gonna spend on screening this- we’ve got a lot we need to cover in S6 not sure I fancy seeing too much of this production tbh

  102. Apollo:

    It seems like the theatre plotline will be expanded in the show, since some of the theatre troupe members will be in three episodes. I predicted a while ago that the Richard III-play-within-ASOIAF had many opportunities for meta humour that D&D would be reluctant to pass up, so it doesn’t surprise me that they’re going to have some fun with it. It does seem to be keeping Arya in a holding pattern in Season 6 so that she doesn’t get back to Westeros too early. From what we know about the directors directing the theatre episodes, that means that she goes from being a theatre troupe member to being back in Westeros over the course of four episodes, max. That’s a pretty quick turnaround.

    At the risk of too quickly assuming that things will play out similarly in the books, maybe Arya’s book FM plot gets wound down similarly quickly. That would be pretty disappointing, though.

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