First cast member and director announced

As was rumored a couple months back, Peter Dinklage has been cast as Tyrion in the pilot of Game of Thrones, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Also Tom McCarthy, director of Oscar-nominated film The Visitor and Dinklage’s breakout film The Station Agent, has signed on to direct.

Tom McCarthy has come aboard to direct HBO’s fantasy pilot “Game of Thrones,” on which the star of his first feature, “The Station Agent’s” Peter Dinklage, has been tapped for a key role.

Based on George R.R. Martin’s best-selling “Songs of Fire and Ice” novels, “Thrones” is described as an epic struggle for power set in a vast and violent fantasy kingdom. Dinklage will play Tyrion, the Queen’s brother who is treated as an outsier because of his size.

Winter Is Coming: Finally, some real casting news! The Dinklage announcement, while not unexpected, is excellent, excellent news. Dinklage is, in my opinion, the perfect actor for the role of Tyrion. Not only is he a great comedic and dramatic actor, but he has the charisma to pull off the role. Plus they have attracted a quality and respected actor, which should bode well for future casting.

McCarthy coming on to direct was an interesting choice. He is primarily an actor, having starred in a couple dozen films, and has only directed the two that I mentioned above. However, with those two films he has shown that he is skilled as a dramatic director. I think it is also important to note that both of his films were character driven pieces. It seems that Benioff and Weiss want to focus on the character interactions in this adaptation, which, in my opinion, is a very good decision.

• Published on 05/06/2009 at 3:36 AM CDT
• Last updated on 10/20/2016 at 4:56 PM CDT