Lena Headey cast in Game of Thrones
All the major roles for HBO’s “Game of Thones” pilot have been filled in recent weeks - except one.
I can exclusively reveal that Lena Headey, most recently seen as Sarah Connor in Fox’s “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” will play Cersei Lannister, a woman of royal blood who is every bit as smart, cunning and devious as the powerful men around her.
Other cast members include the perfectly cast Peter Dinklage as Cersei’s brother Tyrion, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Cersei’s twin, Jaime, Sean Bean as aristocrat Ned Stark, Jennifer Ehle as his wife Catelyn Stark and Mark Addy as King Robert. HBO confirmed the casting of Headey on Tuesday.
The “Game of Thrones” pilot, an adaptation of a fantasy novel by George R.R. Martin, starts shooting in late October in Northern Ireland.
Interest in the “Thrones” pilot is already at fever pitch: The blogs Winter Is Coming and Westeros have been following the casting avidly, and I can see why.
One “Thrones” fan asked me if this level of interest in a pilot that may not show up on TV for a year or more is normal. No, it’s not. But Martin’s book series tends to inspire a certain kind of deep and abiding loyalty, if not obsession. To read the books of Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” series (four have come out so far) is to be completely immersed in a world that recalls the golden age of knights and chivalry while also showing, through memorable and believable characters, how deeply flawed human nature can be. It’s a world in which honor and fealty don’t mean what they used to and those in power have to contend with an array of threats, sometimes from those closest to them, sometimes from unexpected places.
Don’t let the fantasy label put you off. This is a book series about human beings, and how they respond to difficult challenges. But OK, there are knights, tournaments, battles, bawdy humor, spectacles and freaky creatures from the icy north. There are also deeply moving relationships and wonderfully detailed locales, all of which kept me turning hundreds of pages all summer.
As Time’s James Poniewozik has written, “Thrones” is the kind of complicated, richly appointed, adult drama that HBO tends to do well. Martin “constantly forces you to question whether the ‘honorable’ resolution to a conflict is the best in the long run. The saga is littered with fallen heroes and shattered myths, as well as apparent villains and rogues who make surprising turns,” Poniewozik writes.
In short, if this “Thrones” adaptation is at least as good as HBO’s “Rome,” I’ll be glued to it. Here’s where I inject the note of caution: At this point, “Thrones” is just a pilot and it has not yet been picked up to series. Fingers crossed that its every bit as good as Martin’s many fans hope it will be and we spend 2010 obsessing about HBO’s cool new show.
Source
I can’t even tell you how frakking excited I am for this news - I don’t know anything about the books, but w/ this series being on HBO Lena will finally be able to get the Emmy type of recognition that she deserves!
I can exclusively reveal that Lena Headey, most recently seen as Sarah Connor in Fox’s “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” will play Cersei Lannister, a woman of royal blood who is every bit as smart, cunning and devious as the powerful men around her.
Other cast members include the perfectly cast Peter Dinklage as Cersei’s brother Tyrion, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Cersei’s twin, Jaime, Sean Bean as aristocrat Ned Stark, Jennifer Ehle as his wife Catelyn Stark and Mark Addy as King Robert. HBO confirmed the casting of Headey on Tuesday.
The “Game of Thrones” pilot, an adaptation of a fantasy novel by George R.R. Martin, starts shooting in late October in Northern Ireland.
Interest in the “Thrones” pilot is already at fever pitch: The blogs Winter Is Coming and Westeros have been following the casting avidly, and I can see why.
One “Thrones” fan asked me if this level of interest in a pilot that may not show up on TV for a year or more is normal. No, it’s not. But Martin’s book series tends to inspire a certain kind of deep and abiding loyalty, if not obsession. To read the books of Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” series (four have come out so far) is to be completely immersed in a world that recalls the golden age of knights and chivalry while also showing, through memorable and believable characters, how deeply flawed human nature can be. It’s a world in which honor and fealty don’t mean what they used to and those in power have to contend with an array of threats, sometimes from those closest to them, sometimes from unexpected places.
Don’t let the fantasy label put you off. This is a book series about human beings, and how they respond to difficult challenges. But OK, there are knights, tournaments, battles, bawdy humor, spectacles and freaky creatures from the icy north. There are also deeply moving relationships and wonderfully detailed locales, all of which kept me turning hundreds of pages all summer.
As Time’s James Poniewozik has written, “Thrones” is the kind of complicated, richly appointed, adult drama that HBO tends to do well. Martin “constantly forces you to question whether the ‘honorable’ resolution to a conflict is the best in the long run. The saga is littered with fallen heroes and shattered myths, as well as apparent villains and rogues who make surprising turns,” Poniewozik writes.
In short, if this “Thrones” adaptation is at least as good as HBO’s “Rome,” I’ll be glued to it. Here’s where I inject the note of caution: At this point, “Thrones” is just a pilot and it has not yet been picked up to series. Fingers crossed that its every bit as good as Martin’s many fans hope it will be and we spend 2010 obsessing about HBO’s cool new show.
Source
I can’t even tell you how frakking excited I am for this news - I don’t know anything about the books, but w/ this series being on HBO Lena will finally be able to get the Emmy type of recognition that she deserves!