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Natalie Dormer: Margaery Tyrell = perfection. This is super exciting!

stephen dillane as stanni b?
mer.

all but Ms. Christie, who looks way more attractive than I pictured poor Brienne.

Well, in comparison, I really doubt Rory McCann had half of his face burned just so he could land the part of Sandor.

Know what I'm sayin'?

I thought the renaming of Asha was due to Osha, not Arya but I may be mistaken.

TK, didn't they cast Roose Bolton? Where is Roose Bolton?

I agree with Rykker, I have no doubt that they can sufficiently uglify Christie to make her look more Brienneish. The odds of finding an actress who can (1) act, (2) is tall enough and (3) is ugly enough would be very difficult. Of the three requirements, No. 3 is the easiest to fix, make-up, hair dyes, etc.

I thought they were also worred that Asha would be confused with Osha, the wildling woman.

The casting is sound. What is a little more odd than who they've cast is what characters haven't been cast and, thus, don't look like they'll be in season two. No Tullys, besides Catelyn - no Blackfish, no Edmure, no Hosteen. No Jojen or Meera Reed.

As for Jeyne Westerling's casting, I think they have mentioned that they plan on putting some Storm of Swords stuff into the second season.

(The did indeed cast Bolton - updated! -TK)

She too old to play Jeyne Poole.

Yay! I haven't seen Hannah Murray since the first (and best) season of Skins.
I know they jacked up the ages of the Stark pack without affecting the plot, but I feel like Natalie Dormer looks to be about double the age that Margaery is meant to be. Oh well, they've done pretty solid casting so far!

As long as the wolves feature more prominently this season, I will be happy. I'm all about the wolves.

I'm REALLY happy with these casting choices. They all look great, as far as I can see. Especially Stannis - he looks perfect for the role. And I have high hopes for Roose Bolton's creepiness, after seeing this.

I'm not seeing Dormer as Margaery. I don't know what age that actress is, but that photo makes her look 30, not 16.

And Brienne will need to be made up but if you look at her bone structure, I think they can make her look pretty mannish.

Christina Hendricks would NOT have made a good Melisandre, no matter how great she looks in red.

Not digging the face of Gilly. But that's probably because I've only ever seen her in Skins and I didn't like that character. She strikes me as too petite/fragile-looking to have survived life in the Craster clan.

Curious as to why Jeyne Westerling,a comparatively minor character, is the big news though?

Love all of them but Craster. I agree with McSquish....too broad.

I think every one will look pretty spot on once they're Westeros-ified in their costumes and hair and makeup.

Just as my post Dance With Dragons fervor has started to wane, these casting announcements have gotten me all stoked about the show again. I may just have to re-read A Clash of Kings before the season starts.

Natalie & Carice? Yes please!

I have never ONCE pictured Melisandre as Christina Hendricks. Not the right body type, facial features, or hair. Red does not equal RED.

I'm pretty happy with the casting. I agree that the girl cast as Margaery looks too old, but hopefully they'll use all that TV magic to youthen her a bit. I'm also perplexed as to the lack of Tullys and Reeds...

And we have to wait til April 2012 for this?

Margaery Tyrell is SIXTEEN YEARS OLD. Natalie Dormer is, what? 30?? You're telling me that she's going to convincingly play an 18 year old in six years if the series follows the books (one book=one season?) I'm sorry. I find it really hard to swallow. She's supposed to be roughly the same age as Sansa and Danaerys. No. No no no no no no. I HATE that casting. As far as everybody else goes, I think they all look pretty good (only seeing them in action will sell me for sure, though).

Nobody's mentioned Ser Davos..Cunningham looks perfect for the role. As for Brienne, it'll be easier enough to chop her hair and put her in some manly armor. I'm sure she'll be good.

a 30-year-old Margaery Tyrell is gonna look pretty ridiculous next to 16-year-old Joffrey

Yeah I'm not really thinking Gwendoline is too attractive to be Brienne. That said this is all perfect casting.

Also Margaery (or whatever her name is in real life) will be fine. I tried watching the first season of the Tudors and she plays underage believably.

I always pictured Craster as more like a long-haired Bill Nighy, so this casting doesn't quite work for me. Their choice for Stannis Baratheon needs a stronger chin in my opinion, though it may just be that the chosen picture isn't anything like an expression you would see on the character.

Melisandre looks almost perfect, and I think with some false teeth and a broken nose Brienne will turn out to be an inspired choice as well.

Roose Bolton? Who cares. I'm more curious about Ygritte. Psyched about Gwendoline Christie, actually. I mean doesn't that just look like a face she would make when Jaime's unexpectedly nice to her? Spot on, I say.

And if Peter Dinklage is what we're considering "hideously ugly" these days, that women's a goddamn supermodel.

Of course, everyone's about a generation too old for their roles but that's apparently how HBO rolls, so no comment there.

Mark Strong will forever be Stannis Baratheon to me. idgaf.

Michael McElhatten isn't creepy looking enough to be Roose. They're going to need to get creative with the colored contacts if they're going to hit the mark with that one.

Hannah Murray!?!!?!? Fuck yeah!

Margarey is too old, Yara is too young. IMAO.

What about Jaken