McCann casting official
Confirming what many of us already suspected, Rory McCann has been cast as the Hound in the Game of Thrones pilot. This comes from Jay Tomio of BSCReview who confirmed to me that he received this directly from HBO.
I realize that this has been talked about as for weeks now and is as close to a fact something can be without (to my knowledge, I’m not everywhere and if people with official status are using net-monikers it’s problematic!) being outright stated officially (though the Martin clues, IMDB listing, and knowledge of characters in the pilot and looking at the size of McCann seem to be and is a slam dunk), but if for nothing else but for the purpose of spreading the Martin and A Song of Ice and Fire love and blogging completionism, Rory McCann has been cast to play the Hound (Sandor Clegane) in the pilot to HBO’s potential A Game of Thrones adaptation–that’s official from HBO.
I can’t admit to being familiar with McCann but he’s also listed as being in the James Purefoy starring Solomon Kane film that we’ve talked about at BSC. The cat is clearly big, but not so huge that finding an actor to play his bother if the series gets picked up, as the Mountain is supposed to make even the Hound look rather average in comparison. McCann was also in Hot Fuzz and Alexander.
Winter Is Coming: Not much to say about this casting that hasn’t already been said. I think it is a good fit. Right look, right size, right price. Hopefully he has the acting talent as well. I think he will do fine.
Also I like that HBO is now giving out casting confirmations to TV critics and bloggers. Shows to me that they are recognizing the buzz and demand for news on this project. Maybe I should inquire about getting a little exclusive myself?
UPDATE: GRRM and Parris have checked in with their thoughts on Rory McCann. Both of them raved about his readings, saying his range was very impressive. Read GRRM’s thoughts here and Parris’ here.
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