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‘Game of Thrones’ Author George R.R. Martin Comments on Red Viper Casting
Author of the Game of Thrones series, George R.R. Martin, has written a blog post addressing the news that Pedro Pascal will be playing the Red Viper in Game of Thrones season 4.
It was recently revealed that actor Pedro Pascal has been chosen to play the significant role of the Red Viper, more formally known as Prince Oberyn Martell, in the next season of Game of Thrones.
Answering a question on his blog, author George R.R. Martin comments on the casting choice, admitting that while he was not present for Pascal’s audition, he believes the actor will do an excellent job:
“I’ve always pictured the ‘salty Dornish’ as being more Mediterranean than African in appearance,” he writes. “Dark hair and eyes, olive skin.”
Martin goes on to discuss the ways in which Game of Thrones showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff work to diversify the cast, pointing out that while several characters of colour have been killed off, the characters Xaro Xhoan Daxos and Salladhor Saan (who are white in the book series) are portrayed by black actors.
Finally, Martin shares his hope that this trend will continue in future seasons, “when and if” Oberyn’s bastard daughters (who are known as the Sand Snakes) are cast.
“I expect we will see the same diversity as in the books, ranging from Tyene (blond and blue-eyed) to Sarella (light brown skin, as her mother was a Summer Islander),” he writes.
The full comment from Martin can be read below (Beware of mild book spoilers):
I wasn’t present for Pedro Pascal’s audition, but I understand that he really killed it with his reading. And since his casting was announced, the producer of another TV show on which he appeared recently has written me to say how terrific Pascal is, and to congratulate us on the casting. So I suspect that he will turn out to be a wonderful Red Viper.
I do know that David and Dan and HBO do favor having a racially and ethnically diverse cast on the series. It is true that we’ve lost several black characters who appear in the novels (Chataya and Alayaya, Jalabhar Xho, Strong Belwas), but to balance that, characters like Salladhor Saan and Xaro Xhoan Daxos, both white in the books, have been played by black actors. Missandei as well, though in the books the Naathi are golden-skinned, not white.
As for the Dornishmen, well, though by and large I reject one to one analogies, I’ve always pictured the “salty Dornish” as being more Mediterranean than African in appearance; Greek, Spanish, Italian, Portugese, etc. Dark hair and eyes, olive skin. Pedro Pascal is Chilean. (Check out Amok’s version of the Red Viper, that’s how I saw him. Or Magali Villenueve’s beautiful and sexy portrait of Princess Arianne).
When and if the show introduces Prince Oberyn’s daughters, the Sand Snakes, I expect we will see the same diversity as in the books, ranging from Tyene (blond and blue-eyed) to Sarella (light brown skin, as her mother was a Summer Islander). And I expect that the crew of the CINNAMON WIND will all be cast with black actors… assuming, of course, that Sam’s voyage remains in the story.
‘Game of Thrones’ Casts Major Season 4 Role: Oberyn the Red Viper
The most anticipated new role coming to the fourth season of Game of Thrones has been filled! Thanks to EW we now know that Prince Oberyn Martell will be played by Chilean actor Pedro Pascal, who has previously had roles on CBS’ The Good Wife, ABC’s Red Widow and USA’s Graceland.
For those who haven’t read the books, here’s a spoiler-free description of the character: Oberyn is a brash, charming, cunning prince of Dorne (part of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros). His sister Elia was brutally murdered by the Lannister knight Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane when Mad King Aerys was overthrown by Robert Baratheon and the Lannisters. In season four, Oberyn comes to King’s Landing with revenge on his mind.
Oberyn Martell has a pretty awesome nickname too – The Red Viper. What could the story behind this nickname be? We’ll probably find out next season!
“This was a tough one,” showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss said about the casting. “The Red Viper is sexy and charming, yet believably dangerous; intensely likable, yet driven by hate. The boys love him, the girls love him, and he loves them all back. Unless your last name is Lannister. We found a fellow who can handle the job description and make it seem effortless. He wasn’t easy to find and he won’t be easy to stop.”
HBO hasn’t yet announced its Comic-Con plans, but if you’re headed to San Diego, it’s safe to assume Thrones will have a presence this year. Game of Thrones returns in 2014.
If you want to know more about what’s coming for Game of Thrones Season 4 check out this article. And if you’re a book fan eagerly awaiting George R.R. Martin’s next book in his acclaimed A Song of Ice and Fire series, read all the details we know so far on The Winds of Winter.
CW Releases Trailer for ‘Capture’ a ‘Hunger Games’ Styled Reality Show
It’s rare to see a book come to life beyond the movie screen. I’m sure when Suzanne Collins was writing The Hunger Games trilogy she was thinking about tv shows like Survivor and other reality tv shows in which the audience at home gets thrills from seeing the human interactions of people on their screens. Now CW has created a tv reality show named Capture that pits 12 teams against one another for 30 days. There is just one goal: Don’t get caught.
There won’t be any dead children, Capture is a tame version of The Hunger Games, a book by Suzanne Collins in which teams are pitted against one another and fight to the death. I think this turns Collins’ whole moral point upside down. Are we really so like the Capitol in her books that we need this show? Decide for yourself when you see the newly released trailer below:
“In this intense new wilderness competition, 12 teams of 2 will enter a fenced-in enclosure in the middle of the wild, where they must live for one month and compete against each other for scarce resources,” writes The CW in their official synopsis. “With $250,000 on the line, it’s a winner-take-all battle in which the teams must hunt each other down to survive.”
Descriptions of the show indicate that each week one of the teams will be “The Hunters” and it will be that particular team’s job to capture as many of the teams as possible. There will be tracking devices on each of the teams that will display the location of the team if they stop moving for more than three minutes.
Of course, this competition isn’t as intense as The Hunger Games because no one is getting killed. We will just have to see how the ratings will go.
Capture premieres July 31 on The CW.
‘Game of Thrones’ Season 4: Alliser Thorne Returns
Good news GoT book fans! British actor Owen Teale has announced that he will be reprising his role as Alliser Thorne in Game of Thrones Season 4.
Wales Online recently spoke to the Welsh-born Teale about his current theatre project, and in the interview, Teale revealed that he will be back for Season 4 of Game of Thrones.
This season’s 10 episodes will cover the second half of the third book in the series, A Storm of Swords and probably delve into events within A Feast for Crows.
Just in case you’re solely a tv show fan of George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones series, Alliser Thorne was last seen in season 1 of Game of Thrones. He is the Night’s Watch master-at-arms, and also trains new recruits who arrive at the Wall.
In the first season, Thorn tries to force the other new recruits to beat up Samwell Tarly, until Jon Snow comes to Sam’s rescue. This forever turns Thorne against Jon, and prompts him to come up with the mean-spirited nickname “Lord Snow.”
Lord Commander Mormont sends Thorne away from the Wall, to plead with Joffrey Baratheon to send more men to the Night’s Watch to fight the threat in the North.
In Season 4, we will see Thorne return to Castle Black, the same place Jon has journeyed back to.
Game of Thrones season 4 premieres in 2014 on HBO.
For more Season 4 news check out Looking to the Future: ‘Game of Thrones’ Season 4
‘Buffy’ Star Amber Benson Joins ‘Morganville’ Web Adaptation
Buffy star Amber Benson has signed on to play Amelie, Morganville founder, in a Morganville Vampires web series adaptation. New York Times bestselling YA author Rachel Caine has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the adaptation.
The Kickstarter has raised $22,285 of the $75,000 goal to date, and has another 24 days to run before it closes at 11.29am EDT on Thursday 11 July.
After several failed attempts to get a Morganville Vampires adaptation done in a more conventional manner, Caine took matters into her own hands. Teaming up with web producer/director Blake Calhoun (Continuum, Exposed), Caine hopes to bring the story to life in an initial run of six episodes.
It is unclear exactly which of the 14 books the web series will be based on, however it will be called Morganville: The Series.
The Kickstarter campaign offers rewards ranging from a personal twitter shout-out from the author, to a signed DVD of the final product. If you pledge $10,000, you will get a co-producer credit on the series – but that’s for the most die-hard fans.
Looking to the Future: ‘Game of Thrones’ Season 4
HBO’s hit series Game of Thrones is over for another year after a thrilling third season. After shocking and blowing the minds of fans all over the world, we can already confirm that the next season will be just as thrilling – if not more so!
Although no reports have confirmed an official start date, it’s speculated that Season 4 of Game of Thrones will begin late March/ early April 2014, following the usual scheduling it has been given in the past few seasons.
Season 4 will pick up where we left off, about 2/3 of the way through A Storm of Swords, the book written by Game of Thrones mastermind George R.R. Martin. The filmmakers have been incoroprating future events from later books also, but for the most part we can expect that the next season will cover mostly A Storm of Swords and perhaps a little of A Feast for Crows. Filming for the next season will begin July. Showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss confirmed the filming start date as July 8 in a recent interview with KCRW UpClose.
“Right now we’re writing Season 4,” Benioff and Weiss explained. “We start shooting July 8, and we have to have all 10 scripts ready before we start shooting, because we crossboard the entire season. So, scenes from the final episode might be shot the first week of production. And then we finish shooting, we go straight unto post-production, and also outlining the coming season.”
Three new characters for Game of Thrones season four, as confirmed by Geroge R.R. Martin himself, will be Wildling leader Magnar of Thenn, Margaery’s unimpressive father Mace Tyrell and the Red Viper Oberyn Martell. Since Oberlyn will definitely be seen in season four of Game of Thrones, it’s been rumored that Ellaria Sand, Oberlyn’s lover, will also join the cast of characters.We can’t wait! If you’re feeling some Game of Thrones withdrawal and are a book reader (or TV show fan looking to be spoiled) read up on all the news and facts we have for Martin’s next book in the Song of Ice and Fire series, The Winds of Winter.
‘Game of Thrones’ Books Vs Season 3 Spoilers
If you’re one of the fans who have already consumed the Game of Thrones series in its book form and are eagerly watching the tv show with an air of superiority over those who don’t know what’s going to happen then this article is for you. Spoiler alert for those who are show fans! I watch Game of Thrones with a tv show fan, and sometimes let him know what’s going to happen, but mostly I try to keep it to myself. But a few times this season I’ve been surprised to find I can’t answer his questions, even if I wanted to, because what just happened in the show, definitely did not happen in the books!
There’s a few examples I could draw from but let’s take one of the biggest shockers that came from last Sunday’s big shocker – Robb Stark’s wife is pregnant?! This most certainly wasn’t written into A Storm of Swords although the thought did cross my mind when the unspeakable happened in the Freys household. What makes this change more important for readers than perhaps show viewers is that George R.R. Martin himself wrote this particular episode.
So does this mean that Martin just gave us a spectacular clue for the later part of the series that he has not yet published? If Jeyne Westerling was pregnant with Robb’s child, then he has an heir to follow him onto the King of the North’s throne. But in A Storm of Swords, Robb named Jon Snow as his heir, shortly before his death. So is Martin simply using the tv show to debunk one of the more weaker theories circling Game of Thrones forums? This makes sense, especially if Talisa (Jeyne in the books) dies in the show which could happen if she accompanies Robb to attend the Red Wedding. But if she doesn’t die, and remains at Riverrun like she does in the book, then Martin may have just confirmed the rumor of Jeyne carrying the new King of the North. In the books they had been trying to conceive a child together.
The third theory seems farfetched to me but here it is: ‘The Lannister Honeypot.’ According to this theory, detailed in the following video, Talisa is simply lying about being pregnant. Because she is a Lannister spy. Robb has never been defeated in the field. Tywin knows that, and wanted to defeat him some other way. Having Talisa seduce him into breaking his marriage pact with the Freys is one way to do that.
Changes to the books have been apparent from the beginning of the series:
– Ros never existed in the books, but she served to stand in for the countless whores that were part of the book series.
– Edric Storm and Gendry have merged into one character – Gendry.
You can read all of the book to tv changes over at Game of Thrones Wiki
What are your theories about the Talisa/Jeyne pregnancy? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
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