The guest actors and actresses of Game of Thrones take center stage today at the Watchers on the Wall Awards. The vast array of talent found on the show is not only demonstrated by its stars but found in the performers who come and go every episode. So today, we celebrate the scene-stealers and short-term delights, the performers who leave their mark on Game of Thrones in their own way.
The fans have narrowed down the contenders to five in each category. To see details of the preliminary round of voting, check out the poll results here.
The nominees are:
Jodhi May as Maggy the Frog – Watch her on YouTube
Stella McCusker as the Old Woman of Winterfell – Watch her on YouTube
Birgitte Hjort Sørensen as Karsi – Watch her on YouTube
Rebecca van Cleave as the Cersei double – Watch her on YouTube
Nell Williams as young Cersei – Watch her on YouTube
For Best Guest Actor, we have:
Richard Brake as the Night’s King – Watch him on YouTube
Mark Gatiss as Tycho Nestoris – Watch him on YouTube
Ciarán Hinds as Mance Rayder – Watch him on YouTube
Reece Noi as Mossador – Watch him on YouTube
Ian Whyte as Wun Wun – Watch him on YouTube
In the finals, unlike the preliminaries, fans have one vote to cast in each category, and 48 hours to make their decision and vote.
Best Guest Actress:
Best Guest Actor:
There’s still another day left of voting in the Best Supporting Actor and Actress finals, so head on over to that post to cast your votes!
The final round polls will be open for 48 hours each: Guest Actor and Actress beginning now and running until 9/25/15 at 2PM EDT. The results will be revealed at the Watchers On The Wall Awards ceremony in a few weeks time!
Nell- She just nailed Cersei’s character/personallity
Cirian- Great actor, through and through
Ciaran and Birgitte.
“I fucking hate Thenns.”
Birgitte Hjort Sørensen & Nell both deserve to win
Birgitte (Runner up: Nell). Birgitee, but Nell deserves to be close, but I have to go with who I thought was best.
Reece (Runner up: Ciarán) They were all good. but Reece just shaded it for me.
Birgitte and Ciaran my choices, none of the others really stood out for me ( though they were fine).
Surprisingly easy.Brigitte and Hinds.
I loved her accent and I likes Hinds interaction with jon in Ep 1 a lot!
Birgitte Hjort Sørensen and Ciarin Hinds.
These two were the easiest choices so far.
Another easy one! Birgitte and Ciarán, no contest.
Birgitte did an oustanding job creating a likable, fully fleshed out character in just a few minutes of screentime, to the point where I didn’t want her to die even though she was completely invented for the show! She was one more element in making Hardhome so exemplary.
And Hinds’ final performance as Mance was my favourite. I was never a huge fan of his casting because he’s not how I imagine the character at all, but he brought a lot of dignity and quiet despair to his final debate with Jon, and his death scene was perfectly done.
Bravo, guys!
voted for the two characters performed by by actors who made the deaths of their characters break my heart. Reece Noi and Birgitte Sorensen.
Jeb,
I voted for the same two performances. Both were amazing and proof that the Emmy for casting was very, very well deserved.
Mossador was an awful character. He basically got himself killed for no reason. The Son of the Harpy was set for trial and would’ve been proven guilty (the evidence was pretty substantial) and sentenced to death anyway yet Mossador took it into his own hands and caused all kinds of pointless turmoil.
Birgitte and Reece.
Birgitte and Ciaran. 🙂
Birgitte, she did an amazing job on making everyone love Karsi in just one episode. Runner up is Nell and I almost gave my vote for her, she had done such a great job learning the mannerism of Lena’s Cersei.
Ciaran, I had trouble choosing between him and Reece. They were both amazing, and Richard Brake sure played the Night’s King’s menacing role well, too.
Surprisingly hard category, which is good thing of course!
Birgitte and Richard Brake for giving the NK such presence.
nell willliams and mossador actor
Maggy and wunwun by a landslide…… I dont get why everyone was cuckoo for cocoa puffs over birgitte
Birgitte – easy choice!
Ciaran – such a great actor. Reece was also fantastic, and Richard Brake deserves a nod, but Ciaran put his all in Mance’s last appearance.
Hear, hear! We really need a like button 🙂
Nippled Breastplate,
Agreed…i get they used that as a plot device to create the conflict between the SoH and Dany but u are right saying it didn’t make sense
Ciaran and Birgitte.
Birgitte Hjort Sorensen
Richard Brake
Ciaran and Rebecca
Mance Rayder
Karsi!!
No brainer.
Bridgette and Ciarin.
Nippled Breastplate,
Nothing against Reece Noi, but I have to agree. The way that whole thing played out kinda bothers me and is not one of the writers’ shining moments this season IMHO.
Anyway, Ciaran Hinds and Birgitte Sorensen for sure. Ciaran for the final conversation with Jon (and one of the best quotes of the season) and Birgitte for making me actually give a damn about her character in 30 minutes or less (and also for an awesome quote).
Birgitte(amazing character and performance!) and Ciaran ,Great Actor!
Ciaran and Rebecca. She might not have done any real acting, but she definitely did something that many other actresses wouldn’t have been willing to do.
Birgitte Hjort Sørensen as Karsi. I mean… Of course. Fell in love with the character with “Fuck ’em, they’re dead”, and twenty minutes later she was dead.
Reece Noi as Mossador. Not a lot of alternatives, really.
Edit: Fuck, I completely missed Ciarán Hinds as Mance Rayder!
Birgitte Hjort Sorensen – one could have easily imagined her as a regular character.
Reece Noi – made a big impression in what could have been little more than a plot device.
Couldn’t have said it any better.
I’m not even gonna read the comments. Birgitte will wipe the floor. Ciaran as well.
There’s always at least one person who HAS TO stand out and declare themselves smarter than everyone else.
AKA the narcissist of the group.
It was almost a no-brainer for me to vote for Birgitte and Ciaran. Other in the categories did fine work, but those two were phenomenal, imo. I was especially glad to see Hinds finally get to flex his acting chops!
Karsi and Mossador!!!
Surprising group of nominees. Not gonna lie, there are several others who were up for Guest Actor that I would have preferred to be in there instead of Mark Gatiss. I like Gatiss, but really, what did he do this year? Maybe I blinked and missed half of his performance or something but he didn’t leave nearly as much of a presence as AAA, Enzo Cilenti, and (especially) Zachary Baharov.
Voted for Sorenson and Hinds. Probably the two easiest choices to make in the process (though I said that yesterday when voting for Kerry Ingram…). I don’t think I have to elaborate on Sorenson. And only an actor of Hinds’ caliber could have taken the little material he was given and convey so much with it. His “scared man trying to look brave” performance when he died is master class acting. Reece Noi is the only one who came anywhere close in my book, and honestly even he never seriously made me rethink voting for Hinds.
I went with Birgitte and Ciaran. They both did their jobs very well; especially Ciaran, during the burning scene.
Nell Williams & Ciaran Hinds
Hinds gave one of my favourite performances not only of the season, but of the whole show so far. I found his to be the saddest death scene since the Red Wedding. Hell, probably sadder, because Hinds made me care so much about that character by the end.
I’m also voting for Birgitte, but it was nearly Nell Williams. I couldn’t imagine a better young Cersei.
Even today, there are people who are afraid of giving certain guilty people a fair trial, a chance to escape justice (as they would characterize it). The idea of a fair trial is probably completely alien to Mossador. He grew up in a society where the “rule of law” was a way of protecting slavemasters’ interests. So he probably doesn’t see the trial’s outcome as a clear done deal the way we might think it was.
And I think he later outlined his intentions to Daenerys. He did what he thought she wanted to do, but couldn’t because of her political situation. I dunno, there have been people who have been afraid of giving their enemies trials all throughout history, and even today, so his actions didn’t seem ridiculous to me (even if they weren’t completely rational).
Jodhi May & Reece Noi. The first episode had the best guest appearances. Jodhi and Nell gave us the second best opening after season 1 and it was tough to choose between the two but Nell tried a little too much than Johdi who with an evil touch of elegance and a wicked sense of control broke the stereotype of how a witch should look and behave. Between Ciaran and Noi was also difficult to choose but I go for Noi because he managed with his energy and passion to elevate his role to a real character and contribute to the tension of the plot he was involved in.
On the other hand it is such a pity that Enzo Cilenti and Gwyneth Keyworth both brilliant didn’t make it to the final vote which is a clear sign of how often personal preferences prevail upon choices of quality and achievement and that is the case for a great deal of what the show has to offer.
Rebecca van Cleave and Ciaran Hinds.
I don’t understand why Rebecca is considered a guest actor?
Have stunt/body doubles (which im sure there are tons), ever been considered before as a guest actor/actress?
I voted for Birgitte and Ciaran. so easy.
Nell and Ciaran.
The guest actor category was pretty weak in my opinion but I thought long time about guest actress. I almost went with The North Remembers Lady but she did not have much to do.
And I think that a body-double and a mostly GCI creation should not have been nominated.
Ciaran & Nell (a virtual tie with Birgitte, but in the end I went with Nell because once again, the casting dept. finds another excellent child actor)
I agree with this, the conflict was pretty interesting in my opinion.
Chinoiserie,
I totally agree…
Chinoiserie,
If you are talking about Wun Wun, giants are not CGI. The Night King does have a lot of CG alterations, though.
I think impersonating an existing and beloved (in a way) character is even harder than playing a totally new one, so I gave my guest actress vote to Nell.
Guest actor is Ciarán, hands down. Too bad he didn’t get enough to do throughout the series to be in Supporting. 🙁
No Olly? ??
Luka Nieto,
Yes, but Wun Wun had a lot of prosthetics and as he had just a few lines I don’t see how Whyte’s contribution can be counted as performance. Both Wun Wun and Night King had no performance to show. And I don’t want to be misinterpreted because I really liked both of them within the context of Hardhome but one has to be fair and award actors who try a bit extra…
nell (she nailed young cersei) and reece.
Birgitte & Ciaran. They both left such an impression.
Mark Gatiss.
I don’t expect him to win and none of his scenes were particularly breathtaking, but so often the most subtle roles require the most nuanced acting. Look at the scene with Mace. Roger Ashton-Griffiths, great as he is, has admitted he just shows up and doesn’t really know the characters or story (or, at least, he didn’t when he first got to set). But it’s cool because it plays into his clueless, bloviating character. Compare that to Tycho, who absolutely reads The Economist cover-to-cover each week (I know it’s not last season, but I’ll never not be amused by his instant recall of how old Tywin is). You just can’t do the character any justice without a focused actor who actually understands the fictional world.
Birgitte and Ciaran. Kinda sad AAA wasn’t an option. 🙁
Birgitte & Ciaran. I was tempted to pick the young Cersei, that girl did a fantastic job, but had to go with Birgitte. And Ciaran will be sadly missed, wish he could’ve been in more scenes.
Jodhi May and Richard Brake for me.
I am surprised that Birgitte is not winning in a landslide. She was one of the best parts of the best episode of the season. Her role was way bigger than any of the others nominated in the guest actress category, as she helped carry a 20 minute sequence. Not trying to knock the other nominees, but this was a simple choice for me.
Birgitte and Ian. Ciaran was excellent but Wun Wun stole the show. Nell was a perfect little Cersei too… Really was a coin toss for her or Birgitte.
Birgitte and Ciaran
Karsi (quite obvious) and goddamn Wun Wun.
Yeah, I know, I’m voting more for the character than for the actor, but Hinds is going to win anyway, so what the hell.
Tyrion Pimpslap,
She was really good but the character she played was even better…
Birgitte Hjort Sørensen and Reece Noi
Chinoiserie,
I agree. I put Whyte and Brake in the Rebecca van Cleave category of persons who I an sure worked very hard at what they did, but who I don’t really see their efforts as “acting” so much when they pretty much never delivered a line of dialogue or had to emote at all. There were several other guest actors – Zachary Barahov especially – whose work involved more actual acting, in my opinion.
Ultimately doesn’t matter. Hinds would have gotten my vote anyway and it looks like he’s gonna run away with it.
Tyrion Pimpslap,
When the final tally shows I’m sure she’ll have a significant lead. Those with unconventional choices are more likely to post them in the comments. And even then, most of the comments I’ve seen have named Sorenson.
Hodor Targaryen,
Certainly a reasonable explanation for his actions and a valid point overall. But he was put into a position of authority really quick so I presumed he had at least some critical thinking skills. To me, he blatantly and knowingly disobeyed his Mysha/Queen to get some personal satisfaction. I guess Dany misread him as well.
GeekFurious,
Boromirs comment on her really did shed some light on why she was such a fan favorite, so shout out to Boro. I thought it was bc of her lines, but Boro broke it down very well and after reading his comment I get it
Richard and Birgitte for me. They were instrumental in “Hardhome” becoming the awesome-fest that it was.
The two I chose were terrific without make up effects. Making stock characters human. Brigette Hjort Sorensen as Karsi, and Ciaran Hinds as Mance Rayder.
geone,
I’m team Maggie as well but it ain’t looking good, birgitte seems to have that Tim Tebow effect
Birgitte- she was interesting immediately and had an emotional impact given the brief time we had with her.
Cirian- I wish we had more time to get to enjoy this character due to how Cirian portrayed him like a bad ass
Who will win this category next year?
Blackfish
and Lyanna?
Birgitte Hjort Sørensen and Ciaràn Hinds! #wildlingsRule
Ciarán
Queen of the Keys,
My sentiments exactly.
Mance and Val
Sorensen and Hinds.
Brigitte.
And, although Ciaran and Rees had far meatier material to get their teeth into, it’s got to be Richard Brake.
Hardhome was the best part of the whole season and he contributed massively to it. He had such presence and foreboding. And the look on his face … it didn’t look like he was the leader of some supernatural goons; it looked like it was personal.
Birgitte and Ciaran it is for me !
Birgitte Hjort Sørensen , for such a short role, made the biggest impression.
Wish they had kept her!
Tricky category for me because the acting/screen time is so limited to these types of roles. So in my mind, I looked at it as more of a lasting impression by that role which is my proxy for best guest actor/actress. When I think of S5 in a nutshell, the Night’s King with his presence and the famous handlift and Karsi reacting after seeing the children are two of the most vivid moments that I recall so they got my votes.
Mance Rayder tied to a post amidst the swirling flame would be the runner-up.
Birgitte and Ciaran, no question!
Im sure this will be easiest win….Birgette and Richard all the way, nobody came close to leaving such a lasting impression (based on the reviews and comments I read during the season).
For me, Birgitte and Ciaran.
Gattis is a stud, but he didnt have a lot to work with (not saying he got bad writing or no screen time, just that I don’t think Tycho is meant to be particularly memorable (yet)).
I did exactly the same.
Birgitte and Ciaran.
Birgitte Hjort Sørensen and Ciarán Hinds.
Karsi would have made a great supporting character in the series, that’s why her death was so shocking.
We need more relevant wildings next season besides Tormund.
Rebecca Van Cleave got to the finals, mission accomplished!
I’m also glad Wun Wun and the Night’s King got to the finals.
Of those who didn’t, the ‘King’s Landing flasher’ got a healthy 101 votes!
Well, as for who I’ll vote for, I’m afraid it’s no real choice for me: Birgitte and Ciarán. Both were phenomenal. But that’s not to say others weren’t great at their roles. Phenomenal is simply more than great.
Guest Actress: Birgitte Hjort Sørensen. It’s remarkable to consider that Sørensen was a late addition to “Hardhome” – I have a hard time imagining that sequence without her. From the moment she appeared onscreen, she felt like a natural part of this world. Over the course of the next 15 minutes, she proceeded to charm us, impress us, and ultimately break our hearts. That’s a difficult feat, even for someone as talented as Sørensen, but she accomplished it with style. Thanks to her deeply affecting performance, Karsi became an indelible part of one of the best episodes the show has ever done
(Runner-up: Nell Williams)
Guest Actor: Ciarán Hinds. The final eight minutes or so of “The Wars to Come” is one of my favorite sequences of the season. I loved the way Mance’s fate was handled, and Hinds’s performance made his final moments feel even more powerful. It was riveting to watch the King Beyond the Wall reconcile his pride, dignity, and desire for a clean death with the knowledge that he was about to be denied all of those things, and the fleeting glimpses of fear breaking through his calmly defiant exterior were wonderfully humanizing touches. It was a great showcase for Hinds, and he made the most of it, ensuring that his brief appearance in Season 5 was unforgettable.
(Runner-Up: Reece Noi)
Birgitte and Reece.
I wanna add that I do think Nell Williams did a fantastic job. If they ever do that Robert’s Rebellion prequel, I hope they’ll bring her back to play young Cersei!
karsi and mance this one was a lot easier
Karsi and Wun Wun
NK didn’t have as much too do, and looked different to last season so seemed a bit odd
Young Cersei etc was great but Birgette knocked it out of the park
Wun Wun had a fair bit to do, had a good chuckle at him throwing Wights off him and who can forget “the F$%k you looking at?”
I wish I could add something but I don’t. That’s what I felt and how I voted.
I also voted Mance and Karsi.
AND…..I am sure she will laugh, but I hope she would be flattered to know that so many people loved her in the role….so I Tweeted Birgitte Hjort Sørensen and gave her the link to here.
Was that bad?
Hinds–this one’s not fair, as he had far more screen time than any of the others, and a well developed character from the previous seasons.
Birgitte–Takes a lot to be memorable in the midst of a zombie apocalypse.
While it is difficult to play a part with heavy prosthetics, Wun Wun and the Night’s King didn’t even talk that much, while Mance only had one episode (and was good in it), while Tycho is also great but underused.
so ultimately Guest Actor is clearly Mossador. Had substantial material and a wide range of emotions in it, honestly outright moving material, ranging from anger/sorrow explaining why he killed the Son of the Harpy (“they killed my father, if they live it would be as if my father never lived at all”), to fear at his execution when he realizes Daenerys isn’t going to relent. All around great stuff with a relatively small role.
Guest actress is more complicated:
The old woman at Winterfell was competent but not great: what range was there in this? Why did she even get this far in the polls? We could have had Wyman Manderly! Or cast Lyanna Mormont or something!
Cersei’s body double did well in a difficult task but ultimately it didn’t have speaking lines.
Maggy was okay but didn’t have much screentime or range.
So this comes down to a contest between Karsi and Young Cersei.
Karsi was good and I give the actress full credit for playing well with limited material…but *the part was written as a man*, which annoys me (had they intended it to be a capable female leader from the beginning I wouldn’t mind, but it’s the chauvinistic idea that “well we have to make it a woman because she’s nurturing”. Ack)
…it was more difficult for Nell Williams to step into the role of another actor playing them at a younger point in life; painstakingly copying Lena Headey’s mannerisms. First time the show has done that.
So Young Cersei narrowly edges out Karsi for me.
Actually we’ve seen set photos; it’s a full prosthetic costume.
AAA was great and he was on-screen as long as some of the other nominees. Why no nomination?
Ciaran and Birgitte.
I thought Karsi was an awesome character after just a few quick, perfect brush strokes, was looking forward to another angle on the Wildling culture, wondered how her and Jon would get along, and then…
Apparently I forgot what TV show I was watching for a few minutes.
Even though I voted for Ciaran, I really am glad to see all the love for Reece. I really liked Mossador, and I hissed right along with the crowd when Dany had him killed.
Mance and Birgitte…all the way…LOL!!!
Because he wasn’t voted into the finals. The preliminary round results are mentioned and linked in the post above.
Disappointed to see Lila Fukushima and Elizabeth Cadwallader not make the cut, particularly in favor of Cersei’s body double, and Jodhi May, who I didn’t think was as good in the part as many others would have been. It’s a moot point, however, given Karsi is going to take this one in a walk.
As for the men, same thing. Mark Gatiss is wonderful, but he had almost nothing to do this year, particularly when compared with AAA (who was a lot of fun), or Zachary Bachalov. I do like seeing Ian Whyte make it into the top 5, though, which is cool, and Also Reese Noi. But it’s all Ciaran Hinds for me.
Mihnea,
Nell & Ciaran
Same. Easiest choices thus far.
Fine work by all, but Birgitte and Ciaran were easy choices for me.
On the ladies’ side, good options, but no contest in my opinion: Birgitte. She made me care for her character right off the bat.
On the male actors’ side it was not that easy: I had a short list with Reece, Hinds and Brake. Discarded Reece because quite frankly I did not get to care that much about his character (plus Daenys’ treatment of the whole situation infuriated me, which I know it is not Reece’s fault, but still).
Brake was great in the stare contest with Jon. It was chilling and left a long-lasting impression.
But in the end, I voted for Hinds, whose portrayal of Mance commanded respect, dignity and a terrible dispair as, not only was he about to die a horrible death, but his lifetime work (uniting the seemingly “un-unitable” clans and organizing a massive exodus) , was on the verge of going down the drain. And still Mance had the presence of mind of arguing his case once more in front of Jon… and Jon listened and acted upon this! It was very touching and admirable of the character.
Birgitte and Ciarán. Easy, and I still hate the fact that they died. Wanted to see much more of them.
This one was easy: Karsi and Wun Wun
Mance and Karsi- or Hinds and Sorensen. Both actors conveyed the humanity at their core, and both were haunting when their time came.
Why the heck isn’t the Shame Nun on the list? Kick the Old Woman of Winterfell off for her.
Anyway my choices are:
For women, Karsi by a landslide. Young Cersei was excellent as was Shame Nun, who I am writing in as a nominee, but nobody came close to Karsi. The writing was a huge part of it (“But they’re dead, so fuck ’em.”)
For men, it’s much harder, but I’m going with Reece Noi as Overenthusiastic Freedman. Another very sympathetic character with a sad end, the performance was noteworthy enough to make him competitive with the heavy hitters. Hinds probably had his best material this year (isn’t saying much) and he was great, don’t get me wrong, but the new guy hit it out of the mark. Mark Gatiss barely made a cameo and Mace Tyrell stole his scene anyway. So Hinds vs Noi, I’m going with Noi. Would have been even tougher if Whyte or Brake were replaced with Thenn Thug #2,
Ladies are easy: Birgitte has no real competition.
Gentlemen are a bit more difficult. Had to mull it over, but gave my vote to Reece Noi. His portrayal of an ex-slave that can’t let go of past was very strong. Sorry, Ciaran!
Karsi and Mance.
I voted for Jodhi May because I thought she was very good, though I expect that BHS will win the category. Had to think about the male category but I voted for Ciaran Hinds in the end – the last scene where the fire was getting to him before Jon gave him a mercy killing was very disturbing.
Birgitte and Ciaran
Rebecca should probably get some kind of special recognition. Really outstanding work. But Birgitte made the most impact on me.
dblake,
Septa Unella was in the prelims of the Best Supporting category. Too many episodes this season to qualify as a guest. (And she’s returning in season 6, so she’s not a one-season wonder, yay!)
Anyway, all finals nominees are in there by VOTES.
I don’t know if it was bad that I Tweeted Birgitte, but this morning I had 47 emails responding to Twitter from my post to her and she also replied that she is so thankful and happy that she has been voted so highly. I did give her the link. I wonder if she will show on the day the actual winner is announced. That would be fun.
Go Karsi!!
For the first time it was easy, I decided in seconds, while reading the nominees. Birgitte as Karsi (I think everybody regretted how little screen time she had) and Ciaran Hinds as Mance – I’m a fan of Ciaran, but the execution scene made me admire him even more.
It seems that I have a soft spot for characters who are burnt on the stake 🙂 I can’t forget Kerry on her last scene…
Sørensen and Gatiss.
Although, I’m being prejudiced with Gatiss, Hinds was obviously better. But I love Mark.
I voted for Cersei the younger and Ian Whyte (for Wunwun/S3&4-Giant/Whitewalker), knowing full well that Birgitte and (hopefully) Cíaran will take the wins.
Would’ve voted for Rebecca van Cleave, but my goal was to get her into the Top5 and I succeeded in my efforts.
This one isn’t tagged “WotW Awards”.