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Jebus, you scared me with that shit!

Honestly, does anyone expect somebody other than Ray Stevenson to play Sandor? Yeah he's "older" than the character is supposed to be, but with the way they've been rolling on these so far, I don't predict any other outcome.

I'm not sure I'd care to watch Lena in anything else. She was definitely the weakest link of TSCC.

Extra points of Nikolaj Coster-Waldau takes his clothes off.

I volunteer to do it for him (us).

Extra points of Nikolaj Coster-Waldau takes his clothes off.

Given who he's playing and the fact that it's on HBO, it's a near-certainty.

Shia LaBeouf (Sandor Clegane)

gagggg
...
Oh thank god.

Fortunately my eye drifted down to the disclaimer before I had read the entire cast list, so I didn't suffer a stroke when I read Shia = Sandor.

I liked Lena Headey as Sarah Connor, I think I'm in the minority there. But Cersei? I'm not sure she has the chops for it. Nor will she look right as a blond!

Sean Bean & Peter Dinklage: Poifect in every way. Most of the others are unknown to me.

Sopranos comparisons make me nervous. I hope to all that is good in the world that the books don't end like the Sopranos did. If it does I'll use every cent of credit in my name to build an actual working Murdertank.

Dear Mr. Wilson.

Please do not scare us like that. You might spook the herd into a stampede.

Sincerely,
-Alphawhiskey

I don't think they've officially announced it yet, but George R.R. Martin put up some clues about the actor who plays Sandor. Winter is Coming thinks that it is likely a Scottish actor named Rory McCann. He played Michael Armstrong in Hot Fuzz - the big guy who just says "Yarp."

Great, now whenever I'm reading the books, Sandor is going to be saying "Yarp" in my head.

Good lord. I do not like fantasy one bit, but that is one heck of a cast - although lord knows I don't need to see Lily Allen's appalling brother in anything.

Peter Dinklage as Tyrion is definately spot on. He seems to be one of the few midget actors in Hollywood that isn't an instant a caricature of himself (and also, for some unknown reason, has a normal sounding voice).

I IMDB'd the other names...the guy from Still Standing is Robert Baratheon? Will he make lame sit-comy jokes and have an unlikely hot wife? Oh, wait. I think that IS how the story goes.

Guess I'm gonna have to sell a kidney so I can get HBO.

But then, I still say this whole thing is a bad idea. Unless Martin has told the producers, "Yeah, Arya's going to be twenty-five when the series ends," they will never be able to produce this show on a schedule that will keep pace with the actors' ages. Frankly, I've given up expecting Martin to finish the series before he dies. And I'm not joking.

Posted by: Todd at September 3, 2009 9:16 AM

That's always been the biggest logistical problem with this series. I thought they would use older actors that looked younger, but I don't think there are many 20 year old actors out there who can really pull off playing a 10 year old. A 30 year old playing a 16 year old, sure, that happens, but once you have characters younger than that you're running into the "Giant Walt" problem.

That said, I don't think this whole thing is a "bad idea." I can't see it lasting more than 1 or 2 seasons simply due to costs. If "Rome" wsa too expensive, I don't see how this series wont be even more unless they do things horribly on the cheap, which isn't their way. Still, I'm totally up for seeing it. Even if it's bad, it's not like it's going to ruin the books or any way at all affect my enjoyment of them.

As for Martin finishing it... Well, yeah, that's a risk. He's what, 60, now? And he's a bit overweight.

He's slowed down to a book every 5 years, assuming he finished the next one within the next 15 months. It gets even worse if you consider the last two books as only being half of what the original book 4 was to supposed be. I can't see him finishing this series in 7 books, which pushes the eventual end date out even further. So, yeah. It's a concern.

**SPOILER ALERT** **THERE BE SPOILERS BELOW***

I think the big problem he is running into is that he's just written himself into too many corners. He's certainly written himself into many, many corners and, I think, that's one of the big reasons this last book is taking so long. There are a number of issues that I just don't know how he resolves. Some of the bigger ones, to me at least, are: How does Tyrion become relevant again? How does Arya become relevant? Bran? Dany's dragons? For the last three it's really just a matter of time, but given how slowly time has moved and how many things from the last book demmand immediate attention (the fates of Arya, Brienne, Cersei, and Sansa) , I don't see how time will progress quick enough to get them in a position they need to be (i.e., Bran mastering whatever the hell he's supposed to master, Arya becoming an actual Faceless Man, unless this whole thing is just some frolic and detour, and Dany's dragons being large enough to be ridden into battle and effective at doing so).

**SPOILER ALERT** **END OF SPOILERS***

He said his original plan was to have a 4-5 year gap between books 3 and 4, but then scrapped it once he started working on book 4.

I think he had everything planned out exceptionally well for books 1-3 and knows where he wants to have the series eventually end, but doesn't exactly know how to get to that end point. Book 4 is really about re-setting the pieces after books 1-3 and the focus is beginning to shift as well towards the end game.

It will be a shame if he doesn't finish it, since I'm dying to know what role certain characters will play (assuming they live) in the end.

SEAN BEAN as Ned? Holy fuck-my-eye Jesus, someone give me a paper bag so I can stop hyperventilating. This is too good to be true.

Hey, let Shia be The Hound. He only gets to be a disfigured evil shit anyway. Although it would be very hard to find the kid who played Stanley Yelnats to be much of a menacing figure....

janetfaust you're not alone. I thought Lena was very good as Sarah Connor. I'm still pissed T:TSCC was canceled.

I've never heard of A song of Fire and Ice but I definitely plan to check it out.

Eat shit

Jennifer Ehle = the Definitive Elizabeth Bennet in the Definitive Pride & prejudice adaptation, definitely filmed a long time ago though so it's highly unlikely that she'll do the débutante thing again in ASOI&F.

Sean Bean = Yum.

And Lena Headey can do no wrong ever since she played florist in "Imagine me & you". The film was beyond weak but she was, well, simply lovable.