Casting the minor characters
We know that most, if not all, of the remaining actors in the pilot will belong to British Actors’ Equity. Certainly at least a few more of the major roles will be filled with, if not exactly big names, experienced and known actors that belong to the guild. The minor characters however will all go to local and no-name actors.
Equity’s website has a directory of actors that belong to the guild. There aren’t a lot on there, but it is fun to browse the directory and see which actors match up to the looks of some of the minor characters. Characters like Hullen, Ser Rodrick, Luwin, Illyrio, etc. all have small amounts of screen time and will probably be cast with some of these unknowns.
When browsing the directory you can specify what region you want to look in. Northern Ireland has a relatively small contingent but it is likely that NI-based actors will be prefered by the producers since they have to spend a certain amount of money on local cast and crew. Doing some more research I turned up a couple of Northern Ireland casting agencies with searchable actor directories, Sashaze Talent Agency and Dealers Agency. Both of these have more actors to look through than Equity’s website. It’s no guarantee that all of these actors are Equity members, but looking at their credits I would assume that most are.
Yeah, this probably isn’t as exciting as speculating whether Sean Bean will get cast as Ned or arguing whether Gillian Anderson or Saffron Burrows makes the better Catelyn. But it is a fun diversion nonetheless. So channel your inner casting director and see if you can find the perfect actor for the minor characters of the pilot!
Spoiler Alert!
Please take care to tag spoilers in your comments by wrapping them with <spoiler></spoiler>. Spoilers in comments are hidden by a gray overlay. To reveal, simply hover or tap on the text!