WotW Awards Season 5: Best Guest Actress – Preliminary Round

season5 awards

Last week, we voted on the men; today, we’re celebrating the women who take on smaller roles on Game of Thrones. They hold their own against the stars of Game of Thrones, catch our eye, and sometimes win our hearts in only a handful of minutes. They shine with only a few scenes, leave you wanting more, and that’s what makes them a contender for Best Guest Actress.

The Rules: This is the preliminary round! We want to narrow this selection down to the top 5 contenders. In order to find your top 5 picks for Best Guest Actress, we’re asking that each of you select up to FIVE nominees from the poll. You can choose fewer if you like, but you cannot choose more than 5.

At the end of 72 hours (Thursday 8/27/15 at 5:00PM EDT), whichever five actresses have the most votes will continue on to the final round. (Note: in the finals, you will only have one vote to cast in each category!)

The results will be revealed when it’s time to vote for the final winner of Best Guest Actress, in a few weeks. Debate the possibilities and vote for your faves!

*Reminder: you may choose up to five nominees in this poll!*

Thanks again to everyone for all their voting in the preliminaries, and extra thanks to Greatjon of Slumber for his assistance!

90 Comments

  1. Elizabeth Cadwallader
    Rila Fukushima
    Stella McCusker
    Birgitte Hjort Sorensen (WINNER)
    Nell Williams

  2. Birgitte Hjort Sørensen (hoping she wins!)
    Rika Fukushima
    Stella McCusker
    Rebecca van Cleave
    Nell Williams (funny that Cersei’s daughter was also played by a young woman named Nell!)

    This was slightly easier than some of the other prelims but my fingers are still crossed for Birgitte. I don’t think I’ve ever fallen for a character so quickly!

  3. I thought Gwyneth Keyworth was fantastic. Shame I seem to be alone in that belief! 😛

  4. This was a fun category to see the votes come in on. Not sure I agree that Rebecca Van Cleave should be in there, but she’s credited, so okay. Anyway, I went with:

    –Nell Williams as Young Cersei. First, a kudos to the casting people, who found someone who physically seems to resemble Jack Gleeson, Nell Tiger Free and Dean Charles-Chapman all at once. But she also really handled that part well, and made even more of an impression to me than Jodhi May did (who may not even make the final five).

    –Rila Fukushima as the Volantene Red Priest. Wow. What an uber-creepy three minutes of screen time she had. I really want more of her. I worry she’s going to be another Quaithe, and that we’ll never see her again. I hope not.

    –Meena Rayann as the Meereenese Prostitute, who did a lot with almost no dialogue and mostly just a series of stares.

    –Elizabeth Cadwallader as Lollys Stokeworth. Nailed it. Just nailed it. A bit resentful of her sister, a bit silly, a bit head-in-the-clouds. I’d love it if she turned up again. I can imagine Bronn enjoying 25 years of marriage to her, basically just humoring this dim bulb for all of that time.

    And while I wanted to go Sue’s way and throw some love in other directions (and I really love Stella McCusker), I can’t ignore Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, even in the preliminary round. I’m going to give this some more thought, but not only is she my favorite-ever one-episode wonder on Game of Thrones, she might be the best-ever one-episode character on a drama I watch (I’m racking my brain, maybe when the voting comes up for reals).

    I think here it’s just her talent. The 5 minutes she has on screen should be a throwaway role, or something that just becomes part of the scenery, or something. And I don’t think it’s the writing – the “Mommy is right behind you” bit has been played out so many times before in film and TV and yet I was so caught up in it that I didn’t even get a sense that she was doomed at that moment. Maybe because she’s presented as important from the word go, and it has nothing to do with her gender. Maybe it’s just her sympathetic looking face that cuts nicely against the hard nature of the climate around her, and her personality as well. Either way, she was awesome.

  5. Not sure I agree that Rebecca Van Cleave should be in there, but she’s credited, so okay.

    Tough decision but she was in the credits with the other guest actors of the episode, so I let her into the category. She’s an excellent body double, really, but we won’t quibble too much.

  6. Elizabeth Cadwallader as Lollys Stokeworth. Such a funny performance for such a hilarious scene.
    Rila Fukushima as the Volantene Red Priestess. Such a strong, magnetic performance, however brief.
    Stella McCusker as the Old Woman of Winterfell. The North remembers and so do I.
    Birgitte Hjort Sorensen as Karsi. Is there anything to be said that hasn’t been said to death? She could’ve easily been a regular and even part of the main cast, and I’m sure we would have all welcomed her.
    Nell Williams as young Cersei. A great imitation of Headey’s Cersei.

    Sorensen should win.

  7. Cadwallader (very fun; it’s too bad we won’t see that character again, in all likelihood)
    Sorenson (I’ll be interested to see if she can clear 90% of the vote in the final round)
    van Cleave (not really acting, per se, but for degree of commitment I’ll throw in a nomination)
    Williams (spot-on)

  8. Greatjon of Slumber,

    While I adore and love Birgitte Hjort Sorensen (Karsi is my Twitter pic), personally for me the best one episode character was the man whose little girl was burned alive by Drogon.

  9. Luka Nieto: Birgitte Hjort Sorensen as Karsi. Is there anything to be said that hasn’t been said to death? She could’ve easily been a regular and even part of the main cast, and I’m sure we would have all welcomed her.

    Birgitte is like Eva Green , a magical actress , making an impression from the first frame, cementing it with her craft the next 5 frames, becoming unforgeable within 30 seconds.
    I think Sorensen is so good the show runners were lucky to get her.
    It’s true , if they had known, a continuing role as a female Wilding character would have perfect.

  10. Elizabeth Cadwallader as Lollys Stokeworth
    Rila Fukushima as the Volantene Red Priestess
    Gwyneth Keyworth as Clea
    Birgitte Hjort Sorensen as Karsi
    Nell Williams as young Cersei

  11. cadwallader did a perfect lollys. her facial expressions were hilarious.
    also voted for young cersei, karsi, the red priestess and the meereenese prostitute.

  12. Cadwallader – I thought she was wonderful as Lollys.

    Fukushima – I would have nominated her just for that last look, alone.

    Williams – She obviously studied Headey’s Cersei and did a fantastic job emulating her mannerisms, facial expressions, and the cadence of her speech. That’s no small feat for any actor and all the more impressive from one so young.

    May – I had a tough time choosing between May and McCusker. I figured many would vote for McCusker, and rightfully so, but I enjoyed May’s performance, as well, so I gave her the nod.

    Sorensen – There’s nothing for me to say here others haven’t already said. Wow. Just. Wow.

  13. This was a breeze compared to the last couple! 🙂

    Elizabeth Cadwallader
    Stella McCusker
    Jodhi May
    Birgitte Hjort Sorensen
    Nell Williams

  14. I didn’t actually vote for the lady who I think will win (you’ll never guess who – ho ho), not because I didn’t think she was good, of course she was but I’d like some of the others to get a mention.

  15. 1. Rila Fukushima
    2. Gwyneth Keyworth
    3. Stella Mc Cusker
    4. Birgitte Hjort Sorensen
    5. Nell Williams

    It was tough actually!

  16. Elizabeth Cadwallader
    Hattie Gotobed
    Meena Rayann
    Birgitte Hjort Sorensen
    Rebecca van Cleave

    I mean Birgitte is going to walk it but I think Rebecca deserves it as that scene toook a hell of a lot of guts.
    Also, Hattie’s second name reminds me of this classic British show from my youth!

  17. I feel like Birgitte is the clear winner. Many excellent performances. Bonus points to Lollys for being hilarious.

  18. I voted for

    Elizabeth Cadwallader

    Rila Fukushima

    Jodhi May

    Birgitte Hjort Sorensen

    Nell Williams

    They all did a good job with their small role. Birgitte should win.

  19. As soon as she spoke I got so excited that we may have gotten Val. D&D missed a good opportunity there, unless she was unable to come back for some reason. Still, great character and performance.

    Hodor’s Bastard,

  20. I only named three.

    Jodhi May, who had to be believable, duplicitous, subtly threatening, and convincing–all in one scene. I do wish D&D had let her add the bit about the Valonqar.

    Rebecca van Cleave, for her somewhat thankless task of acting with her Cleavage and more, but not her head. If Lena wins the actual guest actress Emmy, it will be in part thanks to this woman.

    And Birgitte Hjort Sorensen will be my winner. I don’t think any GoT performer so completely showed their character inside and out with only a few minutes of GoT focus. We know Karsi–a badass with history, blood-minded practicality, respect of her peers, and a tender core. Hardhome was the best episode of Season 5, and for all the episode’s action, heroics and horror, Karsi was its bleeding core. By the way, if you want to watch this actress go to town on a meaty role, see her as Katrine in Borgen.

  21. Birgitte Hjort Sorensen (She is amazing)

    Elizabeth Cadwallader

    Nell Williams

    Stella McCusker

    Rita Fukushima

  22. Elizabeth Cadwallader was an excellent Lollys Stokeworth… I prefer her to the book version!!!

  23. Birgitte Hjort Sorensen was amazing! She really stole the show, as they say.
    I hope she was already busy with other projects, or the showrunners really missed the opportunity to keep and develop a great character…

    I didn’t know “the body” was Rebecca Van Cleave… Well, I must say she has a very beautiful face too! 😀

    By the way, just discovered the young talented actor who plays a leading role in Fear the Walking Dead (Frank Dillane) is son of Stephen “Stannis” Dillane! It’s a small world… 😀

  24. Sue the Fury:
    Greatjon of Slumber,

    For what it’s worth, I voted for Meena Rayann too. She had dialogue- it was in Valyrian. That’s not easy.

    Right, true. Her dramatic moments – staring at White Rat as he dies, the look on her face as she directs the Sons of the Harpy toward the Unsullied – were wordless, which I found interesting, too.

  25. Scrotie McBoogerballs,

    i too was amazed by Frank Dillane’s performance. if he follows in his father’s path as a class character actor, I would not be surprised. When I checked him out on IMDB, it indicated that he is bi-racial. A well-trained young man (yes he is also a Harry Potter Warner Brothers Academy of kids who worked with people that most actors would give their eye teeth to understudy) who has a bright future, especially in the horror genre.

  26. I voted for:

    My favorite by 1000 miles: Birgitte Hjort Sorensen! Wow – that’s what I call leaving a mark!! In 5 minutes, I was on her team. In ten minutes she had given us: badass leader, compasionate woman, loving mother, fierce fighter… I hope she comes back, even if it is just as a wight.

    Elizabeth Cadwallader as Lollys Stokeworth – her conversation with Bronn was hilarious, and the way she looked at Jamie, priceless.

    Johdi May: she has a strong presence. She was in the first scene of the first episode and I still remember the way she answered that snobby girl.

    Stella McCusker as the Old Woman of Winterfell – because “the North remembers”. Until the end, I was not sure if she was just another of Ramsay’s people posing as Sansa’s friend, or really a Stark supporter.

    Meena Rayann as the Meereenese Prostitute/Harpy Ally -In truth I selected her to complete the 5 nominees. I guess I prefer her to the actresses that protrayed young Cersei, the Red priestess, Clea the prostitute or Rebecca Van Cleave. To me, the Walk of Shame scene is memorable because of all the emotions we could read in Lena Heady’s face.

  27. For those who don’t know, or may not remember, Ms. Sorensen will be appearing in Martin Scorsese’s Vinyl. It will be on HBO and has a premiere date some time in 2016. There’s a trailer video out, but I’m having such problems even making a post, right now, I dare not try to include it. A quick google search should take you right to it, though.

    I don’t know what’s going on, and I’ve looked through the FAQ, but some video keeps trying to load beneath the twitter feed, redirects me back to the top over and over, and is making it such that I can barely make a post. I’m on a laptop, at present, using a Firefox browser.

  28. Birgitte Hjort Sorensen, Meena Rayann, Stella McCusker, Elizabeth Cadwallader and Rila Fukushima.

  29. Lauren:
    Sue the Fury,

    I was happy to see that you did include her. She had a tough job to do and she deserves acknowledgement.

    Acknowledgment yes, but…to be fair, she wasn’t actually a guest actress, she was a (very good) body double. LH was the actress in the scene. It feels a bit like doing a disservice to the other people in the category who may not win a spot if she does.

  30. For people who are only voting for like one person, I hope I don’t hear you guys complaining, “I can’t believe X didn’t get nominated!” 🙂

  31. Elizabeth Cadwallader – She was just a delight. Watching Lollys obliviously chatter away at Bronn as they strolled along the beach was one of the funniest scenes of the season; in particular, her facial expressions when she is introduced to Jaime and then promptly sent on her on her way are terrific. A wonderful little comedic performance.

    Rila Fukushima – She nailed a complicated speech in Valyrian, and the long stare she gave Tyrion was suitably eerie. With the Lord of Light set to take on an increasingly prominent role on the show, it was important to establish that his servants wield considerable power and influence in the world – a reach that extends far beyond the questionable doctrine espoused by Melisandre. Fukushima conveyed that message in a memorable and effective fashion.

    Jodhi May – I’ve been a fan of May since the first time I saw The Last of the Mohicans, so I was quite happy to see her appear on Game of Thrones as Maggy the Frog. Her take on the witch may have been younger and far less aesthetically challenged than some expected, but she was dangerous and unsettling all the same. From the way she sucked the blood from Cersei’s finger to the mocking laughter that carried us into the present day, she set an ominous tone for the season that would linger well beyond her lone appearance.

    Birgitte Hjort Sørensen – What else is there to say? “Hardhome” was an iconic episode of television, and Karsi is one of the many reasons that it was so well-received. Sørensen was fierce, strong, charismatic, funny, and ultimately heartbreaking. She helped create a beloved character in less than 15 minutes, one that this often fractious fandom has embraced with seemingly close to universal acclaim. She is almost certainly going to win this category, and she will be supremely deserving of that honor when she does.

    Nell Williams – Casting young actors is notoriously tricky, but Williams represents yet another triumphant find for Game of Thrones in that enterprise. She had the difficult task of evoking one of the show’s most complicated characters by imitating the mannerisms and bearing of one the show’s best actresses. She rose to the challenge spectacularly well. The degree to which she channeled both Cersei and Lena Headey was uncanny.

  32. No offense but including the Cersei body double in there, who did nothing else than show her tits and arse when Lena Headey was the actual actress in there feels somewhat unfair. Even more when you have other actresses like Birgitte Hjort Sorensen who did such a great job in her role.

  33. Alayne,

    Yes its the end of the world, if we have her there.

    And please, do try to show your ”arse and tits” to hundreds of people for 3 streight days.

  34. I wonder just how much of the vote Sorenson will get.

    Besides Sorenson, I voted for Nell Williams, McCusker, and Cadwallader. Williams was great at capturing Cersei. McCusker did a great job showing the strength of the North in the brief time she was given. And Cadwallader was very funny in the one scene she was in, without seeming too cartoonish.

    Not very many others are very memorable for me (which probably says more about my memory than the performances). I like the actress Rila Fukushima in other things, and I’m sure she was good in her brief scene in High Sparrow, but I’m honestly having a hard time remembering that scene or her performance or my impression of it. so I couldn’t justify voting for her. And I fall in the “hmmm…can I really count van Cleve as an actress?” when deciding my votes, though I’m glad she got some kind of recognition at this stage in the voting.

    I think my last vote went to Gotobed. Remembered liking her death scene, and for a very brief moment in the finale she made a good Arya, and she gets bonus points for being a child actress that pulled off a serious role.

  35. Alayne,

    I think people thought she (the body double) had pluck to do what she did, Alayne, and SOMEBODY was needed to do the honours in that part of the story if Lena Headey didn’t feel comfortable getting her kit off (and she’s an established enough actress to be able to stand her ground).

    I’m sure it’s been noted before – and this part of my post is more general, not aimed at you, Aleyne, on another thread but looking at her biography it seems that BJH has been around for a while refining her craft – well, as much as a person who is still only in her early 30s can be. I suppose before GoT the character in “Borgen” was her most well-known character for folk in the UK at least (the lady who played the title role [Borgen] was very good in that also), but I had not realised she has appeared on the London stage and “Midsomer Murders” previously. Don’t want to get too much off topic but when I have watched some of the “bought in” (to Britain) [continental] European shows on BBC4 I have realised that there are some very good actors in those countries – though another part of me thinks “Why the heck can’t we make shows like that in this country (i.e. the UK) anymore?”

  36. It’s a shame Hattie Gotobed isn’t getting much appreciation – I thought she did a great job in her brief appearance so I have given her one of the 3 votes I cast.

    The other 2 seem to be the most popular at a quick glance:

    Nell Williams: I imagine it’s hard enough as a child actor to have a solid performance and sell it but without overkill of hints we knew Williams was Cersei and credit to her for playing her like Lena plays her from accent mannerisms down to her cadence of speech

    Birgette Hjorn Sorensen (sp?): what hasn’t already been said. The majority of the audience fell in love with her character after half an episode’s presence. It’s a shame she was so short lived – she’d have made a great Long term character.

  37. Also forgot to add.

    All credit to Rebecca van Cleave seriously but this is for acting and it wasn’t her acting she was memorable for in the WoS. She was very brave to do and and no doubt she helped Lena give the performance she did by enabling her to just focus on the acting.

    Dany, Tyrion and all that lot’s body doubles weren’t included as guest actors from Daznaks pit so don’t see why this is any different 🙂

  38. 1. Birgitte Hjort Sorensen
    2. Nell Williams
    3. Rebecca van Cleave
    4. Elizabeth Cadwallader
    5. Jodhi May

  39. Can we really call Jodhi May’s character Maggy the Frog? She doesn’t look particularly “froggy”

  40. Eck,

    Dany, Tyrion and all that lot’s body doubles didn’t had to walk naked in front of 500 people.

  41. Hodor Targaryen:
    I wonder just how much of the vote Sorenson will get.

    It’s going to be pretty close to a 100%. Not all, because I already saw someone saying his/her only vote was for Nell. And I would count on some people voting for someone else to prevent Sorensen’s clean sweep (I’ve seen that before, so I expect it may happen again). But aside from that… pretty big massive number…

  42. I predict a Karsi landslide, but I also chose the Old Lady in Winterfell who was pretty damn good for a small role.

  43. Mihnea,

    I understand how difficult it must be, and I am not taking anything away from her for doing this. But still as this is an acting category it is difficult to say how good an actor she is. There should be a special category for this kind of performances.

    I know, posture has a part in characterization, but still, most of her shots were mostly from behind or from afar, and the rest was done by LH… Somehow I feel that some of the support Rebecca Van Cleave gets is for the powerful scene LH, the Septa Unella and the extras contributed to create.

    All these other actresses in this category were playing against some major character, but they stood on their own and we remember them for what they did. If I did not visit this site this often, I probably would have never known there was a body double involved.

  44. I picked four others as well as they deserved it, but really, Birgitte is the only one that matters.

  45. Nell Williams – She had a difficult job of serving many masters (had to be faithful to Lena Headey, had to conform to director etc.) and managed well.
    Rebecca van Cleave – Body acting is still acting. And that was some mightily hard to complete body acting. I’ll still say I’d be happier if I could support her for a different character of her own, though (and wonder at the unique comitment of Lena Headey to her character, but well…).
    Birgitte Hjort Sørensen – What a character…
    Stella McCusker – She was almost the sole embodiment of ‘The North’ (there was also the man Brienne had a talk with, that’s it). And the North must remember.
    Ria Fukushima – For a moment, I thought we had a counterpart to Melisandre. I was hoping for a clash of two Red Priestesses. (Technically, it could still happen, though in somewhat different circumstances.)

  46. GhostCR:
    Mihnea,
    I understand how difficult it must be, and I am not taking anything away from her for doing this. But still as this is an acting category it is difficult to say how good an actor she is. There should be a special category for this kind of performances.

    I know, posture has a part in characterization, but still, most of her shots were mostly from behind or from afar, and the rest was done by LH…Somehow I feel that some of the support Rebecca Van Cleave gets is for the powerful scene LH, the Septa Unella and the extras contributed to create.

    All these other actresses in this category were playing against some major character, but they stood on their own and we remember them for what they did. If I did not visit this site this often, I probably would have never known there was a body double involved.

    You do know that the entire scene rested on Rebecca’s shoulders as well? Perhaps not as much for the casual viewer to take in, but in creating the scene and setting, she was pretty much just as essential. I don’t get why people are so eager to take away the credit that she deserves.

    As for all other actresses in this category having scenes with major characters or standing on their own I don’t really agree on. Meena Rayann didn’t have a major star she had to engage with. And just because she did some Valyrian doesn’t mean she should get appreciation. The bouncer that rubbed Tyrion’s head also spoke in Valyrian, he didn’t even get nommed. Johdi May’s performance balances on getting it right or overacting – and Nell Williams stole that scene. Hattie Gotobed had very little to actually act and in all honesty doesn’t come across as sick to the point where she’s in so much pain that her dad is willing to give up on her, the entire scene hinged on Maisie’s talent at selling a lie. And I have no idea what Gwyneth Keyworth thought she was doing, in any case, vastly overpowered by Dinklage in that scene. Subjectively, I thought Stella McCusker also overplayed a bit, at least to the point where I cringed when she said “the North remembers” and honestly thought she’d give Sansa an awkward hug or something, but I guess there are some that overlook that. I think Cadwallader made the choice to play the comical side up, and that’s fair considering Lollys’ dimwittedness. Though choosing to act comically is seen as lazy often times.

    The only few out of these ten that really commanded their scenes were BHS, Rila and Nell. And considering the steep challenge Rebecca had, she’s in my voting choices.

  47. I am deleting posts where people resort to personal attacks, nastiness and insults in their debate. Visit the rules of the site if you need a refresher.

  48. Acting is about expression and mostly the eyes. Even dead eyes can say so much in a scene. Even the absence of eyes (like behind sunglasses, or no longer there for whatever reason) can be used to tell everything about a moment.

    So, the body of an actor, to me, is not a legitimate choice for “acting.” It’s not about the body… it’s about the soul of the character.

  49. Sue the Fury:
    I am deleting posts where people resort to personal attacks, nastiness and insults in their debate. Visit the rules of the site if you need a refresher.

    Good grief. All I’m saying is that I find it suspiciously odd that people were praising Rebecca for her work, and are now calling her T&A, or disregarding her work as only being memorable for being the naked body. Why not delete the posts that are actually derogatory in nature? Okay?

    Also, I firmly disagree with the notion that has apparently cultivated here that acting with the body, is apparently not counted as acting, especially in the context presented. I don’t agree with a lot of people here than apparently.

    GeekFurious, ever heard about body language and posture? An actor needs more than a head to act. Ballet dancers can oftentimes tell a very compelling story without changing their faces much, because the emotion is in the movement of their choreography. One of the first acting lessons you’ll get is acting out emotions with the body. When you’re scared, you’re supposed to make your body small, i.e. curl up. When you’re excited or proud, make your body look big, stand up straight. You’re essentially discounting a big part of acting.

  50. Ser Oromis Locke: ever heard about body language and posture? An actor needs more than a head to act.

    I agree. I thought the flasher had excellent body language and posture during the WoS scene, much more so than LH’s body double. That is exactly why I voted for him for best guest actor. He really managed to cover many emotional bases in his brief scene: anger, disgust, sadness, titillation, joy, and bravado.

  51. Ser Oromis Locke: Good grief. All I’m saying is that I find it suspiciously odd that people were praising Rebecca for her work, and are now calling her T&A, or disregarding her work as only being memorable for being the naked body. Why not delete the posts that are actually derogatory in nature? Okay?

    People can debate the actors’ work all they like. You’ve certainly been quite insulting about some performers’s work and that post is still there.

    But no one is permitted to insult or attack other commenters here on a personal level.

  52. Who would have thought that Best Guest Actress might be difficult to choose? Not regarding the winner – Karsi is a wonderful character and Birgitte an equally wonderful actress. But I have always named 5 nominees and (also this time) I struggled a little bit to give my final votes.
    My other four are: Lollys, the dying girl, Clea and, of course, young Cersei.

  53. Ser Oromis Locke:
    GeekFurious, ever heard about body language and posture? An actor needs more than a head to act. Ballet dancers can oftentimes tell a very compelling story without changing their faces much, because the emotion is in the movement of their choreography.

    The body language is important, but acting is told in the eyes and facial expressions of the actor, and the voice if that is available. The body, while certainly a part of the human form, is not up for consideration for an acting award given to a scene. If it was, then horses should get acting awards for moving gracefully. Or background actors should get awards for not distracting from the lead actor. A stand-in could then get an acting award for setting up a scene.

    The body-double DID NOT make that performance. The naked body is not why that sequence should be recognized. The atmosphere of the moment and the soul of the character/actor in that sequence is the vast majority of that entire sequence. The fact that she is naked isn’t why it works. It works DESPITE THE FACT that a naked body is right there in front of you for a long time. It is the facial performance of the actor that sells it. The body-double is AT MOST 20% of that scene. We shouldn’t award 20% for acting.

    And to tackle your ballet comparison, that’s like comparing ski jumping form to acting. It’s an entirely different medium. We’re not awarding grace or willingness to be nude in a scene. We’re awarding ACTING that makes us care about, or hate, a character. What did the body contribute to that scene other than a setting? Nothing. It’s not even the ballerinas shoes. It’s not even that important in the grand scheme. The scene would have worked WITHOUT all those nude shots.

  54. I seriously don’t know what happened since I don’t follow the comments regularly, but just to clarify. I was just trying to say that, brave though Rebecca may have been in showing her naked body to hundreds of people, I certainly don’t see any acting there at all. The true work of expression there, as I see it, comes entirely from Lena Headey’s performance.

    ‘The body’ doesn’t really project any feelings to me, it’s just there and kudos to the one who had the guts to show it, but to me that’s not acting. She’s not even like, dancing or doing anything artistic with it.

    I respect the idea of including it in the poll since she was credited, but voting for her ‘performance’ feels a bit, to me at least, as an insult to other actresses who really did perform ‘an act of acting’ per se.

  55. I think I must explain myself a bit more thoroughly. This next exercise is a bit like sherades, or however you spell it:

    Example #1. Sticking your hand into a (makebelief) flame. Without the usage of words.

    How do you do this:
    – A. Just grab for it like you would grab a glass of water that’s standing beside your computer?
    – B. Slowly move towards it with implied caution, backing away a few times as if the flame moves?

    Choice A represents a regular movement. Choice B represents an acted movement. And of course, there are more choices to be made, which is why acting is such a diverse art. Nobody will know what you “touched” if you perform Choice A, it could be that glass on the table, a button on an old tv or poking somebody, whatever. While they could have a good indication of a certain amount of fear and danger being present if Choice B is applied and the answer to what was portrayed could be guessed more easily. Choice B in a sense conveys more meaning.

    Example #2: Walking
    Even a choice of how to walk can convey meaning, such as feeling good, feeling tired, being drunk. Could you imagine the zombies in TWD just walking casually? Nope, they have to act to walk in a certain way. Not necessarily to convey an emotion, but certainly to convey a message.

    For example, for women there are a few ways of walking that are pretty much acting choices. If an actress is playing a confident woman, she will use long strides, perhaps even crossing feet while walking. If an actress is playing a shy woman they’ll take small steps. Those are acting choices.

    I don’t see how you could deny this. This is at a very basic level what acting with the body is. Facial expressions are obviously very important and I don’t deny that. But saying that Rebecca van Cleave did not act is just not true. The blatant fact that Lena and Rebecca talked each other through each others choices is basically spelling it out further. Otherwise the director/scene manager would’ve just told Rebecca where to walk.

    Which is why I became so angry when you say stuff like: “there’s no act of acting”. I can wear a bag over my head and act and you’ll probably recognize which emotions I’m acting out, but from what I understand from your posts is that your answer to that would be: “but, that’s not acting”, but it is and it’s essentially what Rebecca van Cleave did. And than you say: “it’s okay to include her (based on semantics you don’t agree on), but it’s an insult”.

    GeekFurious, what Rebecca did is more than what a stand-in does. A stand-in doesn’t have to make artistic choices. Rebecca talked about her motivations with Lena to allign them for a seamless performance. And I don’t see why you insist on giving her performance a percentile number. What she did, was 100% her performance and Lena had 100% of a performance, and that performance is what I’m rating her on. You can’t really say -for example- that if there are 10 actors on a stage the entire show, that one actor only had 10% of the performance, because that actor was still “in character” 100% of the time and that’s what he should be judged for. Not on the sole moments when lines are spoken, or Rebecca’s willingness to be nude or grace or whatever, that was never my point to begin with, actually the total opposite.

    Also, a balletdancer tries to convey an emotion/message with their bodymovement. When an actor only has their body to use, they also use it to convey emotion/message with their bodymovement. Acting and dancing might be difference mediums but both attempt to tell a story, in which the body is a valid medium of expression. A ski-jumper, uses his body to maximize an athletic performance. There’s no conveying emotion/message in that, whereas with dance, especially ballet and modern, there is.

  56. aabe: aabe

    Sue the Fury:
    For people who are only voting for like one person, I hope I don’t hear you guys complaining, “I can’t believe X didn’t get nominated!”

    I don’t care any X not getting a nomination, as long as X =/= Nell Williams. Hence the vote. Did vote for multiple people in previous polls. I am 99% sure Karsi actress is gonna win(if selection is purely popularity-wise), and Nell may not even get nominated, but it doesn’t really matter.

  57. Birgitte in a walk. I found my new favorite character and lost her, all in the space of one episode. Rila, Jodhi (who I remember from ‘Last of the Mohicans’), Rebecca, Elizabeth, to round it out. Plus Nell on a separate voting ballot. But Birgitte is definitely winning this.

  58. Sue the Fury:
    I am deleting posts where people resort to personal attacks, nastiness and insults in their debate. Visit the rules of the site if you need a refresher.

    Very good policy, Sue. It would have saved a lot of people a lot of pain had the mods been as strict with Benjanun Sriduangkaew/Requires Hate. For those not yet familiar with this horror story (IMO anybody active in online communities should be), here’s the link to the Hugo Award winning investigative report by Laura Mixon. The comments and follow-up blog entries are worth a read as well. (not saying btw that anybody posting here is even close to BS/RH!)

  59. Tar Kidho,

    Oh, I read about that {i.e. Requires Hate} TK (lurking on Iswintercoming – not WiC – though I don’t post there). I did mention it somewhere but to honest I can’t remember if it was on a thread here or on a different (non-GoT) site I visit. There have been some toxic posts here occasionally though fortunately they are in the minority and as you say not as rancid as RH (and the mods are efficient here too). The media outed a Twitter troll last year in the UK and she took her own life because of the backlash. Of course she should not have trolled but I would not have wanted the woman to end up killing herself either. If only people would not type things online that they would not say to a person’s face in real life.

    Anyway, whatever different people think about various actresses, it looks highly likely that BJH will win this category by a landslide; the only way I could see things becoming upset was if many people decided to vote for other actresses in the final round because they wanted them to have a nod.

  60. Birgitte Hjort Sørensen hands down, that woman can act and demonstrated it with majesty on GoT.

    Let’s campaign to bring her back, she is truly diverse and would grace another role easily.

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