Daniel Ings‘ Lyonel Baratheon won over A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms fans with his carefree spirit. Their adoration only grew as Lyonel chose to fight in the Trial of Seven, all for a lowly hedge knight he met only a few days ago. In a new interview, showrunner Ira Parker revealed that Ings’ performance greatly helped flesh out the character on screen.
Quick read:
- Daniel Ings played Lyonel Baratheon to perfection.
- Parker compared Ings to actors like Al Pacino and Jack Nicholson.
- The showrunner revealed that Ings’ audition was very impressive.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms‘ showrunner heaped praise on Lyonel Baratheon actor Daniel Ings
Daniel Ings as Lyonel Baratheon in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms | Image: HBO
Although A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is adapted from The Hedge Knight by George R.R. Martin, Lyonel Baratheon‘s role in the original novella is not as significant as in the TV series. This left plenty of room for the creators to experiment with the character. However, without the right actor, it could have quickly gone downhill.
In his interview with the A.V. Club, Ira Parker explained, “It’s not fair for me to say that Lyonel was in any way fully formed on the pages of our scripts. If it wasn’t for Danny, we would have been in a lot of trouble. He should be a f**king superstar. He has such a natural charisma about him, and he’s obviously very fun and funny, but he also has a thing that great actors have, which is unpredictability without doing too much.”
Parker likened Ings to legendary actors such as Al Pacino and Jack Nicholson, noting that they possess “this ability to scare you in a moment where they were just smiling a second ago.” He added that such a range is rare. He also expressed hopes that the Lovesick actor goes on to achieve “huge things” in his career.
Casting Daniel Ings was a no-brainer for Ira Parker
One of the most impressive aspects of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is its faithfulness to the source material. The series’ leads, Dunk and Egg, portrayed by Peter Claffey and Dexter Sol Ansell, are so accurately cast that they seem as though they’ve stepped straight out of the pages of the book.
Recalling Daniel Ings’ casting, Ira Parker said, “Danny Ings is a genius. When he came in to audition, I had seen a few people at that point for that role, and I was beginning to worry that I just hadn’t written this character very well because nobody was giving me what I was hoping for from these scenes. Danny sat down and read this thing like I had fucking scored it for him. So I just went, “Okay, this is easy” when it came to him.”
In a chat with Buzzfeed, Parker revealed how Ansell and Claffey’s casting was one of the “least stressful” decisions. In fact, the 11-year-old’s audition tape was the first one he saw, and he was so impressed that he wanted to cast him immediately.
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