Among the many differences between George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels and HBO’s Game of Thrones TV adaptation are the ages of the characters. Pretty much every character on the show is older than their book counterpart. For example, Daenerys is only 13 at the start of the books, while Jon Snow is 14. Some of the changes may have been for the purposes of believability or because talented, dependable child actors are difficult to come by; it may have been harder to buy Robb Stark becoming a military leader an age when most modern teenagers are just getting out of middle school. Still, it’s interesting to think about how the show would be different had the casting department been more literal.
Redditor House Bolton is helping us visualize that by compiling real-life photos of what the actors on the show looked like back when they were the same age as their book counterparts were at the beginning of the story. How would things be different? Take a look:
Does anyone else think Young Michelle Fairley (Catelyn) looks quite a bit like Rose Leslie (Ygritte)? Or Young Joe Dempsie (Gendry) looking a lot like Young Brendan Fraser? And if anything, that picture of Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister) makes him look older.
Anyway, this gives you a good idea of what the characters would have looked like had they stuck to their book ages. Overall though, I think aging the characters up was a good choice. Hardly any of these youngsters look intimidating, especially Jack Gleeson (Joffrey).
As for characters who were left out, like Arya and Sansa Stark, that probably has to do with there not being many early images of Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner out there to use. Like several young actors on the show, Game of Thrones was their first onscreen role.
Anyone else stand out? Should the show have hewed closer to the book ages, or were the changes for the best?
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