We may be a few months from the end of production, but casting news are still coming in! Harry Strickland (commander of the Golden Company, the mercenary group Cersei now seeks to employ with the help of the Iron Bank’s loan and Euron’s fleet,) may be the only named book character cast for season eight, but there have been many other roles. A strange trend among them is that the casting department seems to be looking for improvisation skills, which is rare for a show as tightly scripted as Game of Thrones. Today’s roles keep this up—though there are well-trodden Thrones-type characters too.
First of all, there are five characters in an improv-heavy scene all about haggling over land. Admittedly, that’s not much to go on, but the need for improvisation skills and the mundane context likely means this isn’t a scene of lyrical, baroque language and high-stakes political drama, but more of a humorous skit with smallfolk characters. Nothing can be ruled out, but no mention is made of anyone in the main cast being involved.
We also bring you three other new characters, who are more defined than the previous roughly sketched out improvisers and fit the Game of Thrones mold to a tee.
The first of these is a strong soldier, for a male actor aged 30-40. The production is looking for a “physically intense performance from a strapping squaddie type.” An imposing presence and actual combat skills are specifically required, so this soldier is not the typical random guard; he’ll be involved in an action scene. Rehearsals begin on April 30 and the shoot will take place in Belfast on the week commencing on May 23.
Then there’s a young village girl who will play a rather typical part in Game of Thrones. Stop me if you’ve heard this before: the girl will be attacked by a man in a physically intense scene for which the actress, aged 18-25, will have to go naked above-the-waist. Though the aforementioned soldier doesn’t sound like this villager’s attacker, their rehearsal and shooting dates are exactly the same, so they must share their one scene.
Finally, there is a clean-shaven grieving man, aged 30-40, who will be involved in a highly emotional scene. They are looking for someone who won’t go over-the-top. The lucky actor will shoot the week commencing on June 18, in Belfast.
While the casting department seeks to cast eight more minor roles for season eight, what the rest of us want is for a year to magically pass so we can finally watch the epic ending to this story. Meanwhile, though, filming and casting news will have to do, so: do you have any theories about the scenes in which these characters will be involved?
