Which character has the TV series portrayed the best?

14-12-2012 01:05PM #1

Opinions?

Rory McCann does a great job as Sandor Clegane/The Hound, love all his scenes.

Charles Dance as Tywin is also excellent, he steals the show every time.

However for me Jack Gleeson has done an amazing job as Joffrey. As in the books you just hate him. There isn't even that slight bit of liking him as the bad guy you just want bad **** to happen to him from start to finish.

Next season is only 3 months away now so to get everyone in the mood again lets get some healthy discussion going. Remember spoilers etc

Mickeroo · 14-12-2012 01:58PM

I agree on Joffrey. He's been great in fairness.

I think Sean Bean as Ned in season 1 was pretty great, it was like he had just walked of the pages of the book imo. He didn't chew the scenery or anything but i thought he was just perfectly cast.

I think the Hound has been great too, he's a lot more sympathetic in the show and I think thats down to McGann's performance more than anything.

Tzar Chasm · 14-12-2012 03:34PM

on the flip side i'm having a hard time trying to think of any main character that's badly portrayed. most of the casting is spot on.

tyrion is a stand out character in the books and dinklage portrays him to perfection,

Sleepy · 14-12-2012 04:23PM

None of them are awful but the least effective in their roles for me would have to be Cersei and Robert... Mark Addy's a good actor but I just couldn't see the legendary warrior underneath the years of gluttony in his physique. As for Cersei, she's simply not blonde enough and not beautiful enough.

eviltwin · 14-12-2012 04:27PM

Have to agree with Joffrey, he's a nasty character in the books but Jack Gleeson has made him seem even more evil if possible.

I think both Sansa and Ayra are exactly how I imagined them to be pre tv series and Peter Dinklage as Tryion just captures him to a tee.

Huggles · 14-12-2012 04:28PM

Peter Dinklage as Tyrian too - just brilliant.

username123 · 14-12-2012 10:13PM

Sleepy wrote: »

Mark Addy's a good actor but I just couldn't see the legendary warrior underneath the years of gluttony in his physique.

Yes, I thought this too about the portrayal of King Robert. My husband hast read the books and he was like 'A warhammer? Him!?'

Arya is brilliant, and the chemistry she has with Tywin on screen is great. I agree the the Hound inspires more sympathy onscreen as well.

But Tyrion is the biggest scene stealer of anyone imo.

Turtyturd · 15-12-2012 10:22PM

The vast majority of them have been portrayed well, even the smaller characters like Sam.

The one who stands out for me as not having been portrayed as well as the book is Sansa, she just came across as a moany little sh*t in the tv show, but in the book I felt a lot more sympathy for her.

Tzar Chasm · 16-12-2012 10:08PM

I thought they had sansa correct, but that said I found sans herself quite dull for the first few books.

I will be interested to se how they do the

alayne

stotyline

Mod Edit: Added a spoiler tag there

DarkDusk · 16-12-2012 10:17PM

I'd agree that Dinklage has done a magnificent job at portraying Tyrion, then again, Tyrion is my favourite character from the books. Arya, Varys, The Hound and the late Ned all stand out for me.

Duckworth_Luas · 17-12-2012 01:45PM

Catelyn Stark. As miserable in the first two seasons as in the first two books.

OK, your son was crippled, your husband executed, your eldest son at war with the very people who hold your two daughters hostage, your two youngest sons murdered, your sister insane and your father on his deathbed.

But lighten up FFS!

Gurgle · 17-12-2012 01:51PM

Sleepy wrote: »

Mark Addy's a good actor but I just couldn't see the legendary warrior underneath the years of gluttony in his physique. As for Cersei, she's simply not blonde enough and not beautiful enough.

Agree with you on Robert, but I thought Cercei was well cast. She's meant to be an aging beauty...

Tzar Chasm · 17-12-2012 02:58PM

in my head reading the books I had cast brian blessed as Robert.

littlefinger is portrayed brilliantly by gillian I hadn't warmed to him in the first few books, but the series really fleshes out his motivations

username123 · 17-12-2012 03:24PM

Tzar Chasm wrote: »

in my head reading the books I had cast brian blessed as Robert.

Great casting! I would have found him more physically believable as the legendary warrior gone to excess alright.

Pepe LeFrits · 18-12-2012 01:44PM

Cersei is too much of an Ice Queen in the TV show; she's got much more fire in the books.

Like others I didn't quite buy Mark Addy as the once great warrior either; he nailed the drunken fool though.

In terms of being the truest to their book counterparts, it's a tough call but I'd probably go with Arya.

Gurgle · 18-12-2012 01:55PM

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

In terms of being the truest to their book counterparts, it's a tough call but I'd probably go with Arya.

Casting kids has to be an absolute pain in the arse, but her they chose perfectly.

username123 · 18-12-2012 01:58PM

I really liked how they changed Jaqen H'ghar's face, I was afraid it would be some awful cgi mess but it was cool.

I liked his portrayal, he was mysterious, handsome, his delivery was excellent and I believed him totally.

Gauge · 18-12-2012 02:00PM

Mark Addy nailed the current Robert though, his chemistry with Sean Bean was great and he was very memorable for the few episodes he was in.

The kids Arya, Sansa and Bran were all excellently cast, Arya in particular.

The guy who played The Mountain in the first series was absolutely spot on. Enormous, solid and terrifying! The lanky guy that replaced him for the second series isn't a patch on the original.

Wasn't too gone on the casting for Asha/Yara either. I pictured her being a bit more warrior-like.

Jack Gleeson plays Joffrey excellently, they couldn't have picked someone better to play him. Absolutely loathe the character.

Witcher · 18-12-2012 02:37PM

Gauge wrote: »

Mark Addy nailed the current Robert though, his chemistry with Sean Bean was great and he was very memorable for the few episodes he was in.

The kids Arya, Sansa and Bran were all excellently cast, Arya in particular.

The guy who played The Mountain in the first series was absolutely spot on. Enormous, solid and terrifying! The lanky guy that replaced him for the second series isn't a patch on the original.

Wasn't too gone on the casting for Asha/Yara either. I pictured her being a bit more warrior-like.

Jack Gleeson plays Joffrey excellently, they couldn't have picked someone better to play him. Absolutely loathe the character.

Agree with all of these, the scene where Cersei and Robert talk about Lyanna etc. early in the first season explains how he had sunk so low from what he was which helped me believe that TV depiction of Robert a bit more.

The new Gregor Clegane is crap, guy has the height but not the bulk really.

The Hound from the show is great, the scar being on the wrong side isn't a big thing for me really, he's a tank in the books and he's portrayed just as well in the show by Rory McCann. I think McCann's face shows the inner softness of the character too, compared to how he's usually drawn in artwork; as a raving mad lunatic. Great voice too..overall I vote the Hound:pac:

18-12-2012 03:54PM

Blay wrote: »

I vote the Hound:pac:

Viva Sandor! If anyone hasn't seen Rory McCann's audition on Youtube it is worth a look. Really really brilliant!

Dubhlinner · 20-12-2012 12:39AM

I think Mark Addy is brilliant but agree he's not physically correct for the role.

Similar with Joffrey. Whilst Gleeson does the role brilliantly in how hateable he is I was expecting someone better looking/charming.

Inspector Coptoor · 04-01-2013 04:48AM

The characters who play Cersei or Jaime just arent blonde enough or hot enough. Simple as.

I thought Loras Tyrrell would be bigger, obviously not Mountain or Hound big but not someone who looks like a soccer player. The same goes for Lancel Lanister, very very small.

Margery Tyrell - bang on. Smoking hot.

Catelyn Stark - great casting.

Janos Slynt - not very good.

Varys, Peter Baelish - very good.

I really like the similarlity between Lord Commander Mormont and Ser Jorah Mormont - you could really believe they are father and son.

But for me, the best casting of all the characters is Khal Drogo.

Owryan · 04-01-2013 12:37PM

Everytime I see jaime lannister I see prince charming from shrek !!

As for Mark Addy as Robert, as I see it he is not playing a fierce warrior who was loved by all the women but a fat drunken whoremonger so comparing him to his past is a little unfair .

podgemonster · 04-01-2013 12:55PM

Another one of the shining highs of this series is the quality of the cast. I really have no issue with any case member apart from Ygritte being too pretty for a wildling and Theons sister looks like she played corner back ladies footballer and not a female commander.

Otherwise a stellar cast with Drogo, Jamie and Ser Barriston the most perfectly cast character imho!

Frank Black · 04-01-2013 01:17PM

I'm only a few episodes into Series 2, but the standout character is Tyrion, although at first I was a bit discombobulated that he didn't have a beard, i soon realised that he didn't in the book either - but if someone says dwarf to me I immediately picture Gimli from LOTR.
Arya and Stansa are pretty spot on from the way I had them pictured. Cersei is good, Robert spot on. Sean Bean as Ned Stark worked fine for me.

The charcters which looked completely different to what I had imagined when reading the novels were
Varys - In my head he was stick-thin - not at all like he looks in the TV series.
Jamie - probably the character depection which works least well.
Asha Greyjoy - she just looked way hotter in my head.

Pepe LeFrits · 04-01-2013 06:13PM

I think Varys is brilliant - I hardly noticed him in the books, but in the show he's magnetic. Maybe that doesn't make him a faithful representation though...

Tzar Chasm · 07-01-2013 01:38PM

Owryan wrote: »

Everytime I see jaime lannister I see prince charming from shrek !!

As for Mark Addy as Robert, as I see it he is not playing a fierce warrior who was loved by all the women but a fat drunken whoremonger so comparing him to his past is a little unfair .

yes to this, that is exactly how I pictured jamie in the books, visually him and vary are almost identical to the characters in my head.

Washington Irving · 07-01-2013 02:21PM

Tzar Chasm wrote: »

yes to this, that is exactly how I pictured jamie in the books, visually him and vary are almost identical to the characters in my head.

Littlefinger is another one who is exactly what I pictured him like. Along with Arya and Sansa. I didn't really have any set image of Theon but Alfie Allen is very believable in the role.

Then there's Ned, Catelyn, Robb (bar the hair colour), Jon, Bran, Tywin, Cersei, Jaime, Joffrey, Myrcella, Dany, Viserys, Drogo, Bloodriders, the lads on and beyond the Wall, Balon, Stannis, Melisandre, Renly, Brienne, Varys, Shae, Margaery, Loras, The Hound, Ser Dontos, Lysa and Robert Arryn, who are all suberbly cast.

Tyrion doesn't look as described in the books but Dinklage has everything else nailed on.

Tommen isn't as described in the books either but he's a minor character

(at least up till now. nudge nudge)

so it hasn't been a big deal.

Asha another one, difficult character to cast though.

As mentioned earlier, Mark Addy is great as the fat, drunken king but it's hard to imagine him as a once great warrior.

quickbeam · 07-01-2013 08:24PM

Liked:

Ned, Catelyn, Arya, Sansa, Bran, Jorah, Dany, Robert, Jaime, Theon, Littlefinger, Davos, Stannis, Tywin, Jaqen- all pretty much how I imagined the characters or not too different.

Disliked:

Cersei - not nearly pretty enough and makes too many weird facial expressions that make her positively ugly.

Rob and Jon - though I understand why they aged them I still didn't like the change.

Joffrey - though the acting is spot on, he's not nearly "pretty" enough - I imagined him with boy-band good looks, something which would give us a reason why Sansa would fall for him at first - something like an older version of the actor that played Tommen.

Tyrion - I'm in a huge minority on this one, in fact I've not heard anybody criticize this casting, but honestly, other than being a dwarf, Tyrion and Dinklage have nothing in common. Dinklage is far too good looking for the role (it'd have worked better if they uglied him up a little), and his accent sounds too off.

Margaery - like Rob and Jon, I thought she was too old for the role. The actress is 30 - they could have aged the character a little and still had a 20 year old playing her which would have been more realistic.

Asha - too plain. I imagined her looking more warrior-like, something like Jennifer Lawrence from Hunger Games.

Also not liking the sound of future castings of (spoiler just in case):

Edmure (always thought him looking rather plain looking whereas the actor playing him is a bit more "unusual" looking) and Mance Rayder (though Hinds is a great actor, Mance was always much younger in my head)

, but once I see them in action I may be more convinced.

username123 · 07-01-2013 09:02PM

quickbeam wrote: »

Tyrion - I'm in a huge minority on this one, in fact I've not heard anybody criticize this casting, but honestly, other than being a dwarf, Tyrion and Dinklage have nothing in common. Dinklage is far too good looking for the role (it'd have worked better if they uglied him up a little), and his accent sounds too off.

Other than the fact he is a dwarf, Peter Dinklage is far too good looking to be Tyrion. I think anyone will agree that. But despite him being far more physically attractive, I think Peter Dinklage has done a fantastic job with what he has brought to the role. If anything his personality has surpassed Tyrion of the books and Dinklage has given Tyrion a charm onscreen that surpasses what words expressed on a page. I love him as Tyrion!

Washington Irving · 07-01-2013 09:18PM

There aren't many actors, nevermind dwarf actors, that could pull off what Dinklage has done with Tyrion. Tyrion and Ned are the two characters who I couldn't imagine being played by anyone but Peter Dinklage and Sean Bean.

It's easy to understand why they kept him good looking as generally people are going to want to look at attractive characters. It's different in books.

Personally, I don't understand the Cersei not being pretty enough argument. She's definitely hawt enough imo and in any case, she is meant to be a kind of aging beauty.

Which character has the TV series portrayed the best?

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