Game of Thrones on HBO

[CCL]

And the cat's name is Arya to boot.

[Critical]

I didn't even notice that. I love it!

[KatesMom]

Probably doesn't go in here, but I didn't want to put it in celebrity gossip because if you don't watch the show you don't know who they are . . . but TMZ was reporting that Kit Harrington and Rose Leslie (Jon and Ygritte) have been seen canoodling in real life.

[Critical]

I saw the pics on TMZ a few days ago. Can't say I blame them. They're both adorable. Kind of horrid that they can't even have a meal at a restaurant without someone at the next table sneaking pics though....

[Critical]

Highlights of an interview with GRRM (including podcast link to the whole interview):
'Game of Thrones' Season 3 Characters And Scoop From Creator George R.R. Martin

Would have been nice if Maureen Ryan had pronounced Ciaran Hinds' name correctly though....

[KatesMom]

Wow, as much as I LOVE Ciaran Hinds, I'm not sure how I feel about him as Mance Rayder. I kind of had Dominic West in my head when I was reading the book. 'Game of Thrones' casts Mance Rayder | Inside TV | EW.com

I'm sure Ciaran will do a great job. He's just not who I pictured.

This seems wrong to me. I could see Dominic. This guy looks too old. I guess I have to go back and read, but I did not get the feeling that Mance was very old, based on the books.

[Critical]

This seems wrong to me. I could see Dominic. This guy looks too old. I guess I have to go back and read, but I did not get the feeling that Mance was very old, based on the books.

GRRM has said (in that interview I linked to above) that he thinks Ciarin will be great, so I'm going to okay with it too. If the person who wrote the character is happy, then that's good enough for me!

[CCL]

This seems wrong to me. I could see Dominic. This guy looks too old. I guess I have to go back and read, but I did not get the feeling that Mance was very old, based on the books.

I never got the feeling he was young though...I always pictured him as looking like Robert Carlyle who is around the same age as Ciaran Hinds I think. He - Mance - wasn't a new recruit when he absconded right? And he'd been with the wildlings for a while.

[Critical]

I never got the feeling he was young though...I always pictured him as looking like Robert Carlyle who is around the same age as Ciaran Hinds I think. He - Mance - wasn't a new recruit when he absconded right? And he'd been with the wildlings for a while.

Out of curiosity, I checked the Wiki of Ice and Fire, since they usually have descriptions of characters and my memory isn't so good. Here's the description of Mance Rayder:

Mance is a big man, long legged and lean, broad in the chest and shoulders. His once long brown hair is now gone mostly grey, laughter lines appear at the corner of his mouth. [1] He has a sharp face and shrewd brown eyes.[2] He is an unremarkable-looking man in his middle years, with a fondness for music.

Mance Rayder - A Wiki of Ice and Fire

So, maybe Ciaran isn't quite as far from the physical description of Mance as we'd thought I wouldn't call Robert Carlyle a big man - he's actually quite small and wiry. Ciaran is only 6'1", but he's always seemed more imposing to me. I thought they were closer in age too, but Robert was born in 1961 and Ciaran in 1953.

[PhoneGrrrl]

FWIW, Sean Bean was as far from Ned Stark as I imagined, but he totally worked. And I think we all can agree Dinklage's Tyrion is both (a) awesome and (b) far, far more attractive than book Tyrion. What Hinds has going for him is the way he can embody a character. For example, his comportment as Caesar in Rome, the broken Mossad agent in The Debt, and the randy Bud Hammond in Political Animals were all totally different without him even opening his mouth.